For The Love Of Crappy Games

You've often heard that Atari 2600's E.T. movie tie-in game is the worst game ever. I didn't think that was true when I was playing the game back when it came out when I was seven years old.

Now, I'm not saying that it's a great game, and drawing strictly on memory (I haven't played it since and have no desire to) I can remember plenty of frustrating things about it. Then again, I can also recall the experience not being all bad, and as far as childhood memories go, you can't complain about that. This doesn't just have to apply to the past, however; it can apply to any game.

Obviously, I, and all the people here at Game Informer, review games for a living, and our scores reflect our honest opinions about those titles. But people forget that a game doesn't have to get a 9 or even an 8 to be fun. Sometimes even a bad title has some good qualities, and I know that you've played games where it didn't matter what score it got – you just liked it in some way.

While we take our scores seriously, you don't have to. I get a lot of mail from readers who take issue with a score that I, or someone here, might give a game, and that's fine by me. Have your own opinion. Let's talk about the game and agree and disagree. If you like a title, regardless of its shortcomings, then don't let someone stop you. Especially not the guy who once had fun playing the so-called worst video game ever made.