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swordquestMar 1, 2010
This is definitely the coolest video game history vid I’ve seen in some time. Watch it first then I’ll give you my take on it. I’d never heard of the game Swordquest for the Atari 2600 until I saw this video. Would I have liked it as a kid? No way. It required way too much effort to play it and I hated comic books. But I do respect it because it was a time when video game contests really meant something. The thing that really gets me about the above vid is that it is one of the very few game contests that gave you seriously awesome prizes, as in the kind you’d be proud to display in your home. Not some dopey-ass store discounts, not some stupid coupon book.. none o’ that. We’re talking about the real true-blue stuff here. I really like it when companies offer prizes that you really want. And unfortunately it will never happen again. Why never? Because where there’s gamers on the internet there are cheaters. Companies have tried to run gaming contests before using internet. All failed. This is why prizes today are nothing but dopey discounts and coupons, because it’s something a company can afford to lose even if someone cheated to get them. It’s too bad that’s the way it is these days, but it was awesome someone put a vid together showing how it used to be. 3 commentsPost a comment
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Wow! That was a really awesome video. Thanks for sharing that. I’ve never heard of this game either, but then again, even the latest game in the series is older than me by three and a half years, haha! Surprised this series doesn’t get more attention in “history of gaming” videos and articles. And the prizes? Very cool :)
Swordquest does show how far game console companies were willing to go for a good promotion. But like the video said, it happened at the wrong time when the North American video game crash was in full effect:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_video_game_crash_of_1983
If the contest had happened even as little as one year earlier, it probably would have gone to completion and somebody would have won the sword.
It’s really too bad. It was such a great promotion too, not to mention a great video game idea.