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Strangest Atari Game?


Ze_ro

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I think we can all agree that there's some very bizarre games out there. With games like Sneak n' Peek and Final Approach, you have to wonder what the company was actually thinking when they made the game (I actually think Sneak n' Peek was kinda cool... but you have to agree that it's a weird idea for a game).

 

Not only are there games based on weird ideas, lets not forget games like Tooth Protectors, Tax Avoiders, and Chase the Chuckwagon, where the creators and/or mode of distribution was rather strange. And of course, who could forget "Name This Game"? I can't even imagine what people buying this game must have though... at least with the name "Tomb Raider", you have some idea what the game is about (Well, there's a tomb in at least one of the games... and you do sorta raid it).

 

So, which do you think is the strangest of the strange?

 

--Zero

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Crackpots: throwing plants at spiders! Of all the ways there could be to kill spiders, I still have to see someone throwing a vase at it!

 

Of course conceiving Barnstorming and Freeway requires a lot of fantasy, Stampede comes close second.

 

But thinking about it, during the Atari Ages all the vigeogame world was new, so even a concept like a space shooter that may look so normal today, was new. There was no clear distinction of which concepts could go videogame and which not.

And people used to like experimenting new ideas, too..

 

Rasty.-

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I think it's a strong point of the Atari's game collection that it has such a variety. When you look at the selection of games for the Playstation, the variety is almost non-existent (Especially with Capcom making the same damn game over and over again). With the Atari, if your game wasn't innovative, then it had nothing to offer, since the graphics couldn't really be much different from the game that it's copying.

 

--Zero

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Come on guys I cant believe no-one mentioned the strangest title yet! I mean, yeah I agree, Atari was the pioneer of video games. And you were very limited to what you could do with the 2600, and companies were having to come up with some pretty wild ideas to try and come up with a game that was "fresh" But lets face it. Helping a kid eat all the spaghetti his mama brings him is just downright bizarre! And thats just the game Spectravision advertised back in the 80's!!

 

Mangia

 

I'm not sure the game was ever released, but I remember even as a kid thinking...WHAT THE HELL!!???

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Kids.

Star Raiders is far from "sucked" material...though it was also far from the original computer version.

Haunted House may lack the visuals of the more recent Resident Evil series, but at least we didn't have to wade through all that crappy dialog (or wait for doors to open).

Dragster is all about speed, you either got it or you don't.

But Panda games are crap...I don't think you need to narrow it down to just one title

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Sure DONKEY KONG is great fun but really, what the hell?? Also I think YARS REVENGE, especially for when it was released, was rather bizzare in concept don't you think? Also, TAZ, if you don't know, is odd as can be - you don't even get to see Taz, the tazmanian devil, because he is spinning around all the time and all you do is try to grab hamburgers from "moving conveyor belts" or something...why?? What??Who?? And lets not forget SURVIVAL RUN, if you've ever played this, is completely wacked, like if you stare at the screen for too long the 3d simulated scrolling actually hypnotizes you and you forget what the object of the game is but by this point you don't really care....

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I absolutely suck at Star Raiders but it is a great game. That video touchpad might as well be one big button saying "kill me now". - anyway - this thread was about odd games, we all know the Atari had a slew of bad games (though the ones mentioned were not - dragster rules) which is why we had that videogame crash.

I agree with the above, most Atari games are odd and that's what makes em great. it seems Nintendo are attempting the same thing on the new Gamecube - I hope they can pull it off. I don't want to live in a world of driving games, fps and beat-em-ups. Gimme monkey ball any day (yeah - I know that's Sega)

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quote:

Originally posted by Spector:

Is it true that Donkey Kong got it's name from a badly written fax? (It was meant to be called Monkey Kong) Or is that rubbish?

 

Rubbish.

 

From "Game Over" by David Sheff:

 

quote
When the game was complete, Miyamoto had to name it.  He consulted the company's export manager, and together they mulled over some possibilities.  They decided Kong would be understood to suggest a gorilla.  And since this fierce but cute kong was donkey-stubborn and wily (don-key according to their Japanese/English dictionary, was the translation of the Japanese word for stupid or gooofy), they combined the words and named the game "Donkey Kong."
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Spector, Rhindle The Red has it right. I also have "Game Over" and that's the official version at anyrate. Donkey was just a bizzare Japanese translation of "silly" or "stupid" or "Stuborn". Which is good because I spent hours looking for a freaking donkey in that game the first time I played it and wondered why??? And I'm not the only one who was traumatized by this.

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there is also another theory (that i dont prefer im just posting is FYI)

supposedly while going to create the artwork for the cabinets, a fax was sent with the words, Monkey Kong to be put on the marquee and etc. but, the fax was of low quality and was Monkey was seen as Donkey, so, the artists and printers just printed out Donkey Kong for it. once the people in charge finally seen the mistake, they had realized that it was too late to change it to "Monkey Kong" as so many were printed off.. So it stuck and was shipped out as, Donkey Kong

now i still prefer the japanese translation theory, but none the less this theory can be valid just as well as the other one can.

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