Filmmaker Zak Penn grew up as an avid gamer - an influential factor in his decision to direct the enlightening documentary Atari: Game Over, which examines the disappointing demise of ‘70s and ‘80s video game pioneer Atari.
Game Over – made as part of a documentary series produced by Microsoft’s (now shuttered) Xbox Entertainment Studios called Signal to Noise – also documents the unearthing earlier this year of millions of unsold game cartridges that were buried by Atari in the New Mexico desert after the company’s collapse.
Penn said that initially, he envisioned making a documentary that essentially went nowhere, which would have come to pass if the excavation of Atari products had ended up being a bust.
Zak also addresses the widespread idea that Atari’s iconic video game ET was the worst title ever made. “It’s not actually, and that’s partly what the movie’s about – is how this false myth of it being the worst game ever came about. I mean, it’s not good, but it’s so far from the worst game ever, it’s crazy.”
He points out that the “worst game ever” perception didn’t even exist until about until 20 years after the game was discontinued. “It was kind of retroactively declared the worst game ever because it had been buried – and that’s kind of the point of the movie,” Zak said.
Zak recalls a comparison he made between the digging operation of old Atari cartridges and a major part of the actual ET game – in which players get stuck in a landfill and cannot play further.
“It’s kind of this hall of mirrors, everything kind of reflects back on itself… that fact that everybody tries to get out of the hole, you fall back in. We actually had that problem as we were digging it up – it looked like the excavator was going to fall into the hole because of the winds.”
Watch the full episode to also hear Zak talk about making a name for himself writing several Hollywood blockbusters, including Marvel-themed movies X-Men and X-Men 2: The Last Stand, The Incredible Hulk, and The Avengers.
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