Beat 'Em & Eat 'Em

Last updated
Beat 'Em & Eat 'Em
BeatEmCover.jpg
Developer(s) JHM Ltd.
Publisher(s) American Multiple Industries

GameSource

PlayAround
Platform(s) Atari 2600
Release
Genre(s) Adult
Mode(s) Single-player

Beat 'Em and Eat 'Em [a] is a pornographic video game for the Atari 2600 made by American Multiple Industries in 1982. Players control two nude women; the goal is to catch semen in their mouths, which is falling from a masturbating man on a rooftop, without missing. Its gameplay has been compared to the Atari game Kaboom! . There is also a gender-reversed version of the game titled Philly Flasher that features identical gameplay. Beat 'Em & Eat 'Em has received negative reviews since its release and is an oft-cited example of pornographic Atari 2600 games.

Contents

Gameplay

Players control two nude women on the street who must catch semen in their mouths that comes from a masturbating man on a rooftop without missing. This can be accomplished merely by semen touching the women's bodies before it hits the ground. A more difficult setting requires players to catch the semen before it goes past the women's shoulders. If the player successfully catches all the semen in one round, the two women lick their lips and the game progresses to the next round. If any semen hits the ground, the first turn is over. Players are allowed to miss four times before the game is over. They can gain a turn every 69 points scored (up to two extra turns). Players move both women using the controller's paddle and the game allows each player to control one woman. The game plays similarly to the Atari game Kaboom! (1981). [2] [3] [4] [5]

Philly Flasher is a gender swapped version of the game in which the player controls two male prisoners with their genitals exposed catching lactation from an old witch's breast. Instead of licking their lips, the two men will masturbate if the player successfully catches every drop of lactate.

Release

Beat 'Em & Eat 'Em was published and developed by American Multiple Industries and JHM Ltd. in 1982. [6]

A gender-reversed version of the game was later released in a "double-ender" cartridge along with Cathouse Blues as Philly Flasher, in which the player is tasked with controlling two male prisoners with visibly erect penises as they attempt to catch drops of breast milk lactated by a witch. All gameplay mechanics are identical to the original, save for the fact that when the men catch all the milk, they masturbate and ejaculate. [7] The rights for sales and distribution were taken over by GameSource, which changed the line of adult video games (which included Beat 'Em & Eat 'Em) to "PlayAround". The company created multiple "double-ender" cartridges which included two of these adult games in one. One of these was a compilation of Beat 'Em & Eat 'Em and Lady in Wading. [8] A homebrew port of the game for the NES was developed in 2014 by FG Software. [9]

Reception

Beat 'Em & Eat 'Em has received negative reviews since its release. It is often cited as an example of pornographic Atari 2600 games. [10] [11] [12] [13] The developer had received criticism for this game. [14] Atari HQ identified both the Beat 'Em & Eat 'Em and the PlayAround cartridge a rarity level of 5 out of 10. [15] [16] [17] AllGame rated it two stars out of five. [3] Seanbaby included it in his list of the 10 naughtiest games of all time; he mocked a quote in the manual that chastises players who fail to catch sperm as the sperm "could have been a famous doctor or lawyer" due to the fact that swallowing sperm has the same effect as letting it hit the ground ⁠— namely, it cannot result in conception either way. He also criticized the level of eroticism stating, "There's something non-erotic about skipping past the courting, past the foreplay, past the actual sex, and getting straight to the sperm-swallowing. They might as well have skipped directly to sleeping on the wet spot." [18]

Destructoid founder Niero Gonzalez listed it as the second most sexual Atari 2600 game ever made. [19] Brett Elston criticized early Beat 'Em & Eat 'Em for its depiction of women as "crudely designed slamholes." [20] GamesTM used it as an example of Atari 2600 games that feature masturbation as its core gameplay mechanic. [21] Luke Plunkett noted that Beat 'Em & Eat 'Em was a "relatively harmless" adult game for the Atari, in contrast with Custer's Revenge . [22] Daemon Hatfield expressed amazement that Beat 'Em & Eat 'Em was made 20 years before the controversial Hot Coffee minigame from Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas . [4] PJ Hruschak wrote that games like Beat 'Em & Eat 'Em were more "silly than sexy." [5] Luke of PALGN commented that Beat 'Em & Eat 'Em was "tasteless" and "inappropriate." [23] Steven Poole satirized the News International phone hacking scandal using Beat 'Em & Eat 'Em called Whack 'Em & Hack 'Em in a commentary on the Supreme Court of the United States' ruling that video games are protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and America's "'obscenity' exception" to free speech. [24]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Also known as Mystique Presents Swedish Erotica: Beat 'Em and Eat 'Em

Related Research Articles

<i>Kaboom!</i> (video game) 1981 action game

Kaboom! is an action video game published in 1981 by Activision for the Atari 2600. The game involves a Mad Bomber dropping bombs at increasing speeds as the player controls a set of water buckets to catch them. The gameplay was based on the Atari arcade video game Avalanche (1978). Kaboom! was programmed by Larry Kaplan with David Crane coding the graphics for the buckets and Mad Bomber. It was the last game designed by Kaplan for Activision, who left the company shortly after it was released. The game was later ported by Paul Wilson for the Atari 5200 system.

<i>Custers Revenge</i> 1982 pornographic video game

Custer's Revenge is an adult action game published by American Multiple Industries for the Atari 2600, first released in November 1982. The game gained notoriety owing to its goal of raping a Native American woman who is tied to a post.

<i>Centipede</i> (video game) 1981 video game

Centipede is a 1981 fixed shooter arcade video game developed and published by Atari, Inc. Designed by Dona Bailey and Ed Logg, it was one of the most commercially successful games from the golden age of arcade video games and one of the first with a significant female player base. The primary objective is to shoot all the segments of a centipede that winds down the playing field. An arcade sequel, Millipede, followed in 1982.

<i>Mouse Trap</i> (1981 video game) 1981 video game

Mouse Trap is a maze video game developed by Exidy and released in arcades in 1981. It is similar to Pac-Man, with the main character replaced by a mouse, the dots with cheese, the ghosts with cats, and the energizers with bones. After collecting a bone, pressing a button turns the mouse into a dog for a brief period of time. Color-coded doors in the maze can be toggled by pressing a button of the same color. A hawk periodically flies across the maze, unrestricted by walls.

<i>Pac-Man Plus</i> 1982 video game

Pac-Man Plus is an arcade game that was developed by Namco and released by Bally Midway in 1982. It is part of the Pac-Man series of games.

<i>Jr. Pac-Man</i> 1983 video game

Jr. Pac-Man is an arcade video game developed by General Computer Corporation and released by Bally Midway in 1983. It has the same gameplay as prior entries in the series, but the maze in Jr. Pac-Man scrolls horizontally and has no escape tunnels. The bonus item which moves around the maze changes dots into a form which slows Jr. Pac-Man as they are being eaten.

<i>Robot Tank</i> 1983 video game

Robot Tank is a first-person shoot 'em up written by Alan Miller for the Atari 2600 and published by Activision in 1983. It is similar in design to Atari, Inc.'s Battlezone tank combat arcade video game and more so to its 2600 port. Robot Tank adds different systems which can individually be damaged—instead of the vehicle always exploding upon being shot—and weather effects.

American Multiple Industries, doing business as Mystique, was a company that produced a line of pornographic video games for the Atari 2600 called Mystique Presents Swedish Erotica, which included the games Beat 'Em & Eat 'Em, Bachelor Party and Custer's Revenge. It was one of several video game companies that tried to use sex to sell its games.

PlayAround was formed by Joel H. Martin, co-founder of American Multiple Industries, the first Atari 2600 adult video game company. PlayAround purchased the rights to American Multiple Industries's titles and released them as "double-enders" - extra-long cartridges that had a different game on each end. PlayAround released additional titles unique from those picked up from American Multiple Industries, and made female versions of several of their games to try to tap into another market, which didn't work very well. While the games' themes may be considered adult, the graphics are quite blocky and generally poor enough that it takes quite an imagination to see them as anything more than a novelty.

<i>Bachelor Party</i> (video game) 1982 adult-themed video game by Mystique

Bachelor Party is a pornographic video game for the Atari 2600 by American Multiple Industries in 1982.

<i>Big Birds Egg Catch</i> 1983 video game

Big Bird's Egg Catch is a video game for the Atari 2600 developed by Atari, Inc. and Children's Computer Workshop and published by Atari in 1983.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atari Flashback</span> Line of dedicated video game consoles

The Atari Flashback is a line of dedicated video game consoles produced since 2004, currently designed, produced, published and marketed by AtGames under license from Atari SA. The Flashback consoles are "plug-and-play" versions of the 1970s Atari 2600 console with built-in games rather than using ROM cartridges. The latest home console model, Atari Flashback 12 Gold, was released in 2023 and has 130 games.

A side-scrolling video game is a video game viewed from a side-view camera angle where the screen follows the player as they move left or right. The jump from single-screen or flip-screen graphics to scrolling graphics during the golden age of arcade games was a pivotal leap in game design, comparable to the move to 3D graphics during the fifth generation.

<i>Megamania</i> 1982 video game

Megamania is a fixed shooter video game developed by Steve Cartwright for the Atari 2600. It was published by Activision in 1982. In the game, a pilot of an intergalactic space cruiser has a nightmare where his ship is being attacked by food and household objects. Using the missile launcher from their space cruiser, the pilot fends off the attackers. The game was later released for the Atari 5200 and Atari 8-bit computers.

<i>The Texas Chainsaw Massacre</i> (1983 video game) 1983 video game

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a video game for the Atari 2600 based on the film of the same name. The game was released in March 1983 by Wizard Video Games. It was designed and programmed by VSS, a software development company started by Ed Salvo and several other ex-Games by Apollo programmers.

<i>Dragster</i> (video game) 1980 video game

Dragster, released in 1980 for the Atari Video Computer System, is one of the first video games developed by Activision.

<i>Gremlins</i> (video game) 1984 video game

Gremlins is a 1984 video game developed and published by Atari, Inc. for the Atari 2600. It is a tie-in to the 1984 film Gremlins. Atari released another, substantially different game based on the film for the Atari 5200.

CommaVid Inc. was a game developer and publisher for the Atari 2600 that released six games between 1981 and 1983, plus a programming tool for the console. The company was founded by Dr. Irwin Gaines, Dr. John Bronstein, and Dr. Joseph Biel under the name Computer Magic Video, which was shortened to Com Ma Vid, or CommaVid. It was based in Aurora, Illinois. In addition to developing its own titles, CommaVid ported the arcade game Venture to the 2600 for Coleco.

<i>Virtuoso</i> (video game) 1994 third-person shooter video game

Virtuoso is a third-person shooter video game developed by MotiveTime and originally published by Nova Spring and Elite Systems in North America and Europe, respectively, for DOS in 1994 and then 3DO in 1995.

<i>Fatal Run</i> 1990 video game

Fatal Run is a 1990 post-apocalyptic-themed vehicular combat game developed by Sculptured Software for the Atari 2600 and Atari 7800 and published by Atari Corporation. Along with Klax, this was the last game Atari officially released for the Atari 2600. At 32kB of data, the game was also the biggest ever released for the Atari 2600. The game was only released in Europe.

References

  1. ↑ "Beat 'Em & Eat 'Em for Atari 2600 - Technical Information, Game Information, Technical Support". GameSpot . Archived from the original on 2010-12-16. Retrieved 2010-04-26.
  2. ↑ Gonzales, Lauren (2004-03-07). "When Two Tribes Go to War: A History of Video Game Controversy". GameSpot . Archived from the original on 2015-05-09. Retrieved 2013-12-17.
  3. 1 2 Schwartz, Michael; Dykman, Joan. "Beat 'Em & Eat 'Em". AllGame . Archived from the original on 2014-12-10. Retrieved 2010-04-26.
  4. 1 2 Hatfield, Daemon (2010-04-16). "Thirty Years of Nudity in Games". IGN . Archived from the original on 2014-02-23. Retrieved 2014-01-01.
  5. 1 2 Hruschak, PJ (2007-11-17). "Doin' It Atari 2600 Style". Technology Tell. Archived from the original on 2014-01-02. Retrieved 2014-01-01.
  6. ↑ "Vid-Custer's Last Stand". Video Games. Vol. 1, no. 7. April 1983. pp. 12–13 – via Archive.org.
  7. ↑ "Philly Flasher/Cathouse Blues". AtariGuide. Archived from the original on 24 April 2003. Retrieved 2010-04-26.
  8. ↑ "PlayAround". AtariHQ.com. Archived from the original on 2014-01-02. Retrieved 2014-01-01.
  9. ↑ "Beat Em". RetroUSB.com. Archived from the original on 2024-01-15. Retrieved 2023-12-21.
  10. ↑ Ashcraft, Brian (2011-06-23). "What Is America's Fetish This Week? Penises". Kotaku . Archived from the original on 2014-01-03. Retrieved 2014-01-01.
  11. ↑ McCarthy, Dave (2007-11-28). "Sex". Eurogamer . Archived from the original on 2014-01-02. Retrieved 2014-01-01.
  12. ↑ Bogost, Ian (2012-11-27). "Persuasive Games: Wii Can't Go On, Wii'll Go On". Gamasutra . Archived from the original on 2014-01-02. Retrieved 2014-01-01.
  13. ↑ Cooper, Hollander (2013-07-29). "The Top 7... Reasons video game sex will always be weird". GamesRadar . Archived from the original on 2014-01-03. Retrieved 2014-01-01.
  14. ↑ Patterson, Shane (2012-06-23). "Top 10 Entries on Top 10 Lists". GamesRadar . Archived from the original on 2014-01-03. Retrieved 2014-01-01.
  15. ↑ "Beat 'Em & Eat 'Em". Atari HQ. Archived from the original on 2014-01-02. Retrieved 2014-01-01.
  16. ↑ "Beat 'Em & Eat 'Em/Lady in Wading". Atari HQ. Archived from the original on 2014-01-02. Retrieved 2014-01-01.
  17. ↑ "Rarity Key Explained". Atari HQ. Archived from the original on 2013-10-16. Retrieved 2014-01-01.
  18. ↑ Reiley, Sean. "Seanbaby.com - EGM's 10 Naughtiest Games of All Time". Archived from the original on 30 April 2010. Retrieved 2010-04-26.
  19. ↑ Gonzales, Niero (2006-08-25). "Top 5 Most Sexual Atari 2600 Games Ever". Destructoid . Archived from the original on 2014-01-02. Retrieved 2014-01-01.
  20. ↑ Elston, Brett (2007-12-14). "Game Babes: A History". GamesRadar . Archived from the original on 2014-12-23. Retrieved 2014-01-01.
  21. ↑ "Videogames And Sex". 2010-07-28. Archived from the original on 2014-01-02. Retrieved 2014-01-01.
  22. ↑ Plunkett, Luke (2011-10-07). "Rape, Racism & Repetition: This is Probably the Worst Game Ever Made". Kotaku . Archived from the original on 2014-01-03. Retrieved 2014-01-01.
  23. ↑ Luke (2007-03-09). "Top Five Fridays: Most Tasteless Games". PALGN. Archived from the original on 2014-01-02. Retrieved 2014-01-01.
  24. ↑ Poole, Steven (2011-12-19). "Opinion - Videogames Free Speech and Deviancy". Edge . Archived from the original on 2013-04-03. Retrieved 2014-01-01.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.