Video Game Vintage Title: Beat 'Em & Eat 'Em

Beat 'Em & Eat 'Em

Beat 'Em and Eat 'Em is a pornographic video game for the Atari 2600 video game console by Mystique in 1982. Distribution was handled by American Multiple Industries until distribution changed to Game Source. Players control two nude women; the goal is to catch sperm falling from a masturbating man on a rooftop without missing. Its gameplay has been compared to the Atari game Kaboom! by GameSpot, Allgame, IGN, and Technology Tell. It was followed by a gender-reversed version of the game called Philly Flasher. It features identical gameplay to Beat 'Em & Eat 'Em. Beat 'Em & Eat 'Em was also released in a bundle that included the game Lady in Wading.

Beat 'Em & Eat 'Em has received negative reception since its release and is an oft-cited example of pornographic Atari 2600 games, such as Destructoid founder Niero Gonzales who listed it as the second most sexual Atari 2600 game ever made. Seanbaby included it in his list of the 10 naughtiest games of all time. It holds a rarity level of 5 out of 10 according to Atari HQ's rarity scale. Luke Plunkett felt it was more harmless than other porn games for the Atari such as Custer's Revenge. It was used as part of a satire of the News International phone hacking scandal and the US' "'obscenity' exception."

ReceptionBeat 'Em & Eat 'Em has received negative reception since its release. It is often cited as an example of pornographic Atari 2600 games. The developer had received criticism for this game. Atari HQ identified both the Beat 'Em & Eat 'Em and the PlayAround cartridge a rarity level of 5 out of 10. Allgame gave it two stars out of five. 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. 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." Destructoid founder Niero Gonzalez listed it as the second most sexual Atari 2600 game ever made. Brett Elston criticized early Beat 'Em & Eat 'Em for its depiction of women as "crudely designed slamholes." GamesTM used it as an example of Atari 2600 games that feature masturbation as its core gameplay mechanic. Luke Plunkett noted that Beat 'Em & Eat 'Em was a "relatively harmless" adult game for the Atari, in contrast with Custer's Revenge. Daemon Hatfield expressed amazement that Beat 'Em & Eat 'Em was made 20 years before the video game sex controversy Hot Coffee. PJ Hruschak wrote that games like Beat 'Em & Eat 'Em were more "silly than sexy." Luke of PALGN commented that Beat 'Em & Eat 'Em was "tasteless" and "inappropriate." 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 the US' "'obscenity' exception" to free speech.