E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial

History
The game to end all games.

E.T. is widely recognized as one of worst games ever made. E.T., along with many other terrible Atari games released in late 82 and 83, caused the Atari system, and the video game industry, to die. One of the best examples of the quality of a movie game, and was also the very first one.

It's only because the later release of the NES that commercially produced video games are still around today.

It was really, really, bad. It was so bad, the millions of unsold copies that were sent back to Atari by the retailers were buried in a New Mexico landfill, along with the millions of unsold Pac-Man ports.

Gameplay
Well, there really isn't much. You move E.T. around, and he kind of falls into these hole things, but you have no way of knowing what will trigger this falling into holes. There are also men who capture you and bring you back to the town-like screen. When E.T. is in a hole he has to stretch his neck up slowly to get out. If he moves too fast he'll break his neck and die, and have to start back in town. The goal in the game is to walk around and randomly fall into thousands of holes looking for pieces of a telephone. The pieces are randomly placed in the otherwise identical holes. When all the pieces are connected, the player wins the game, but loses his soul.

Manual
ATARI(R) 2600(TM) E.T.* THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL E.T. and the E.T. character are trademarks of and licensed by Universal City Studios, Inc. (C) 1982 Universal City Studios, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

NOTE: Always turn the console POWER switch OFF when inserting or removing an ATARI Game Program(TM) cartridge. This will protect the electronic components and prolong the life of your ATARI 2600(TM) Video Computer System(TM) game.

(C) 1982 ATARI, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

1. HELP E.T. GET HOME!
What kind of crazy planet is this, anyway? We came here to conduct a simple study of primitive planets, and look what happened! These...things...came and scared away my friends. Before I knew it, all my friends boarded our lightship and flew home.

What do I do now? The only one I can trust is that nice little alien-- Ellleeott. He gives me those tasty energy pills (What did he call them? Reeessseess Peeesssesss?) But these other aliens! Every time I get ready to assemble my transgalactic communicatior, they come and take me away. The one with the white coat sticks that temperature measuring device in my mouth (I wonder why he was so upset when it melted?), and the other one in the trench coat keeps muttering those strange sounds (Naaashaaannaall Seeeccuuuureeetteee?) I just want to go home! I hope Elllleeott and I can assemble all the pieces of my communicator before my energy runs out.

Oh, oh. Here come those crazy aliens again. Help me, Elllleeott! Help me get home!

2. GAME PLAY
Your mission is to help E.T. find the three pieces of his interplanetary telephone, call his ship, and guide him to the landing pad in time to be rescued. Do this before E.T.'s energy runs out, and you'll win the round and score points! E.T. transverses six sites on Planet Earth. Four of these are full of pitfalls--they are dotted with deep wells (Figure 1) into which E.T. can fall (Figure 2). A fifth site (Figure 3) shows Elliott's house, the Institute of Science, and the FBI building. Here, E.T. is taken by the scientist to be studied. The sixth site (Figure 4) is a forest setting where E.T. first lands and where the ship will land to pick him up. A round ends when E.T. boards the spaceship. At the end of each round, all your bonus points are displayed. If you want to play another round, simply press the controller button. E.T.'s telephone pieces and the Candy will be redistributed for him to find again. You can play as many rounds as you like, since your bonus points will accumulate.

A game ends when E.T. runs out of energy or when you decide to quit playing.

On each site E.T. moves through various power zones. While in a power zone, E.T. can execute only one of his extraordinary powers. For example, if E.T. is ready to call his spaceship, he must be in a "call ship" zone. As E.T. stands in a power zone, the symbol for that zone appears at the top center of the screen (Figure 4). At the beginning of each new round, the power zones are redistributed on each site.

The power zones are as follows: Find phone piece zone--

*****             Power executed in this zone will reveal to E.T.    ***             shown in Figure 1.) E.T. must go to the telephone piece   ***              and touch it.  Then, via telekinesis, it will move  ***               to the telephone construction site at the top of the                    screen (see Figure 4).  ***
 * whether a part of his interplanetary telephone is
 * **            hidden on the current screen (The part will blink as

Send humans back zone--

*****             scientist back to their respective buildings in * * *              Washington, D.C. * * * * * * *****
 * E.T. can send the FBI agent, Elliott, and the

Eat Candy zone--

****             E.T. eats one of the Candy pieces he's carrying, and ** **             converts it into energy. Figure 1 shows what the Candy ******
 * **           pieces look like.  Note: When E.T. eats a piece of Candy,
 * ** *            the Candy count goes down one point and E.T.'s energy
 * ** *            increases.

Call Elliott zone--

*           Elliott will go to E.T.'s rescue when E.T. calls from **  *             this zone. If E.T. has nine Candy pieces, Elliott will *** *             score points for every Candy piece that Elliott takes back *            home (see section 5, SCORING).
 * *             take the Candy, chase away dangerous humans, and leave
 * *               to find a missing phone piece.  Elliott will then bring
 * ***           the phone piece to E.T.  If E.T. has less than nine Candy
 * pieces, Elliott will take the Candy and go back home. You

Move to a new site zone--

**              Executing power in any of these four zones will cause ****             E.T. to immediately move to a new site in the direction ******            indicated by the arrow. **  **

Call ship zone--

* *              E.T. can use this zone to call his rescue ship after ****             the phone is assembled. Once E.T. executes his "call ship" * ** *            power, a clock will appear at the top right of the screen ******            E.T. cannot call his ship when a human is present. (See *  *              Section 4, CONSOLE CONTROLS for exceptions). *   *
 * (as shown in Figure 4). The clock will count down the
 * **** *           time E.T. has to arrive at the landing zone.  In most cases,

Landing zone--

NOTE: Sometimes the ship will still land when Elliott is present. (See Section 4, CONSOLE CONTROLS for details.)
 * E.T. must be on the Landing zone to be rescued. If a
 * * *             human is on the screen when the rescue ship appears,
 * *** *            the ship will leave without E.T. and he'll be left
 * ***            stranded once again.

While trying to get home, E.T. encounters many hindrances. He might fall into a well, the FBI agent can take away his phone pieces and Candy by touching him, the scientist can detain him for scientific studies, or E.T. can simply run out of energy. NOTE: If E.T. has any phone pieces when the FBI agent touches him, the FBI agent will take one of the pieces and hide it in a well. If E.T. has no phone pieces, the FBI agent will take all the Candy that E.T. is holding.

E.T. uses energy when he seeks phone pieces, executes special powers, or when he's escaping from dangerous humans. Although E.T. can replenish his energy with Candy pieces, the supply is limited so they should only be used for energy in an emergency.

If E.T.'s energy expires before he is rescued, Elliott will appear on screen to save the waning E.T. by merging with him. This "emergency measure" results in a revived E.T. carrying 1500 energy units. Elliott can merge with E.T. three times per game. Once during a round, however, E.T. can encounter a wilted flower hidden in the bottom of a well. If E.T. is revives the flower, Elliott is given the ability to merge with E.T. one extra time. If E.T. runs out of energy after the last "emergency measure," E.T. goes into hibernation to await the next rescue attempt.

3. USING THE CONTROLLER
Use your Joystick Controller with this ATARI(R) Game Program(TM) cartridge. Be sure the controller cables are firmly plugged into the jacks at the back of your ATARI 2600(TM) Video Computer system(TM) game. Hold the Joystick with the red button to your upper left, toward the television screen. Use the LEFT CONTROLLER jack for this one-player game. (See Section 3 of your Owner's Manual for further details.)

STARTING THE GAME

Press the RESET switch on your console of press the red button on your Joystick Controller to start the game.

E.T. moves up, down, left, and diagonally in the same direction you move your Joystick. To help E.T. levitate out of a well, press the controller button and push your Joystick forward. To help E.T. make a speedy escape from the FBI agent and the scientist, move your Joystick in the desired direction and press the controller button. Remember, the faster you move, the more energy you'll use!

Press the controller button to execute a power while in a power zone. E.T.'s head will elevate whenever he executes a power.

4. CONSOLE CONTROLS
GAME SELECT SWITCH

Press the GAME SELECT switch to select a game variation. The variations are:

Game 1--All humans present in game. Game 2--Elliott and FBI agent present, no scientist. Game 3--Only Elliott present in game.

GAME RESET SWITCH

Press the GAME RESET switch to start the game. Each time GAME RESET is pressed, the game starts over.

DIFFICULTY SWITCHES

The RIGHT DIFFICULTY switch controls the speed of the humans. In the A position, the humans move faster than in the B position. The LEFT DIFFICULTY switch determines the landing conditions for the rescue ship. If the switch is in position A, Elliott cannot be present on the landing field when the rescue ship arrives. If the switch is in the B position, Elliott can be present when E.T. calls the ship and when it lands.

TV TYPE SWITCH

On a color television, the game will appear in color. On a black and white TV, the game will appear in black and white. The TV TYPE switch is not used in this game.

5. SCORING
There are four ways to earn special points in the game: by keeping E.T.'s energy count up, by carrying Candy onto the rescue ship, by giving Elliott pieces of Candy, and by collecting more than 31 Candy pieces in a round. Your score is displayed on the screen at the end of the game, or when E.T. boards the rescue ship.

PENALTY

After E.T. collects 31 Candy pieces, he loses 700 energy units for each new Candy piece he picks up. The energy units are subtracted from E.T.'s energy count in the *next* round played.

Bonus points are scored as follows:

Candy Pieces carried onto Rescue Ship               490 points each Candy Pieces given to Elliott                       770 points each Candy Pieces after the 31st piece                   1000 points each Remaining energy                                    1 point per unit

6. HELPFUL HINTS
This game manual provdes the basic information you'll need in order to rescue E.T. But remember, E.T. is an adventure game and adventure games are full of surprises. So, keep your eyes and mind open, experiment with various techniques, and expect the unexpected! The following are just a few hints to help you get E.T. rescued before his energy runs out. As you play the game, you'll discover other strategies.

1. Use the wells as escape zones. Since humans can't go into the wells, E.T. can deliberately fall into one if a threatening human approaches. Remember, floating in and out of wells costs energy.

2. Since the game is set up so that only one human at a time can be on the screen with E.T., you might occasionally want to let the scientist capture E.T. This way, the FBI agent can't get our hero and take away precious phone pieces.

3. Give Elliott as many pieces of Candy as possible. The more you give him, the more bonus points you score at the end of the game.

4. To pause play, allow E.T. to fall into a well. You can leave him there as long as you like without endangering E.T. or subtracting from his energy. When you're ready to play again, levitate E.T. out of the well and resume the game.

5. Sometimes E.T. will fall back into a well after he has levitated up to the planet surface. To prevent this, move E.T. right or left immediately after the scene changes from the well interior to the planet surface. E.T. will move from the well onto solid ground, in the same direction you move your Joystick.

ATARI, INC. Consumer Division P.O. Box 427 Sunnyvale, CA 94086

TIPS ON GETTING E.T.(TM)* HOME FAST!
START WITH GAME 3

Learn to play E.T. by playing Game 3--the easiest game variation--first. Set both DIFFICULTY switches to the B position. After you've mastered Game 3, move on to the more difficult game variations. Check your game manual for more information about game variations. Press GAME SELECT until a 3 appears at the top of your screen. Then press GAME RESET to start the game. You're ready to go!

ATARI(R) Studios, Inc.
 * E.T. and the E.T. character are trademarks of and licenced by Universal City

(C) 1982 Universal City Studios, Inc. All Rights Reserved. (C) 1982 Atari, Inc. C020807 Rev. 1

Help E.T. find three hidden pieces of his interplanetary telphone. The phone pieces are concealed inside deep wells--use E.T.'s special powers to find the right wells. A '?' will appear when E.T. is in the right power zone to find a phone piece. Once E.T. has collected all three pieces, he must make his long-distance call and arrive safely at the landing zone, where a rescue ship will come to pick him up.

HOW TO CONTROL E.T.(TM)*
E.T. moves in the same direction you move your Joystick. To move E.T. fast, press the red button on your controller while he is moving--but watch out for wells! To make E.T. use one of his special powers, press the controller button while E.T. is standing still. E.T. will execute the power shown in the "power zone" indicator at the top center of the screen. (See pages 3-5 in your game manual for detailed information about power zones.)

LEVITATING OUT OF WELLS
Even experienced extraterrestrials sometimes have difficulty levitating out of wells. Start to levitate E.T. by first pressing the controller button and then pushing your Joystick forward. E.T.'s neck will stretch as he rises to the top of the well (see E.T. levitating in Figure 1). Just when he reaches the top of the well and the scene changes to the planet surface (see Figure 2), STOP! Do not try to keep moving up. Instead, move your Joystick right, left, or to the bottom. Do not try to move up, or E.T. might fall back into the well.

CALLING THE SHIP
After you've assembled the telephone, you must call E.T.'s spaceship. Find the "call ship" zone (it can be anywhere on the planet surface) and press the controller button. A countdown clock will appear at the upper right corner of your screen (see Figure 3). Now hurry! E.T. must find his landing zone on the forest screen and be waiting there when the countdown ends. You did it! You've won--E.T. has finally reached home!

12/1982, Remember
Every year at Christmas time millions of gamers will put themselves through excruciating pain by purchasing terrible games based on terrible summer blockbusters to pay penance for this massive and unthinkable sin. Lest we forget.