Football (1978 video game)

''Football'' (also known as ''Atari Football'') is a 1978 American football video game developed and released by Atari, originally for arcades and then the Atari 2600 console. In this game, the sport of American football is emulated, with players represented by Xs and Os. It is also notable for its use of a trackball; while predated by Sega's ''World Cup'', ''Football'' is credited with popularizing the trackball. The game was distributed in Japan by Namco in 1979.

''Football'' became the second highest-earning arcade video game of 1979 in the United States. In 1979, Atari released a more challenging four-player version of the arcade game programmed by Dave Theurer, the creator of ''Missile Command'' and ''Tempest''.

Gameplay

Arcade version

Although not the first trackball game, predated by Sega's ''World Cup'' in March 1978, ''Atari Football'' was the game that is credited with popularizing the trackball. Considered physically exhausting to play, ''Atari Football'' involves spinning the trackball as fast as possible to win the game. Just 90 seconds of play could result in sore palms, and longer could cause blisters. Nevertheless, ''Atari Football'' was as popular as ''Space Invaders'' during the 1978 football season, but its popularity waned later on. ''Atari Football'' is sometimes credited as one of the first games to accurately emulate sports. Twenty-five cents (or one American quarter) would allow 90 seconds of playtime, while adding more quarters would allow longer play. It was also the first non-racing video game with vertical scrolling.

Console version

On the Atari VCS/2600 the game consisted of two teams of green and white players, each of four men, playing against each other. In a first game-option, before each play the player can select a formation, and then during each play the player controls their movement as a unit using the joystick controller. In a second game option, the player only chooses the formation with the play being carried out automatically according to a pre-selected plan. A third game-option is similar to the second except that the user may kick or punt at any time.

Development and release

The game was designed by Steve Bristow and programmed by Michael Albaugh, with the hardware engineered by Dave Stubben. The game's use of a trackball was inspired by an earlier Japanese association football (soccer) game that had used trackball controls. When the team saw the game, they brought a cabinet to their lab and imitated the trackball controls.

An earlier association football game that used trackball controls was Sega's ''World Cup'', released seven months earlier in March 1978. However, Steven L. Kent reported in 2001 that Stubben attributed the earlier trackball soccer game to Taito. In a later 2017 interview, Albaugh said he was uncertain which company it was from, but remembers it was from a Japanese company.

Atari's ''Football'' was released in October 1978.

Reception

''Football'' was the second highest-earning arcade video game of 1979 in the United States, below only ''Space Invaders'' (1978).

In his October 1979 review of the Atari VCS version of the game in ''Creative Computing'', David H. Ahl gave the game a positive review. He praised particularly the gameplay which he described as "boast nglively action".

See also

* List of Atari 2600 games
* ''RealSports Football'' - 1982 American football game from Atari
* ''Gridiron Fight'' - 1985 American football game from Tehkan (Tecmo)
* ''Cyberball'' - 1988 American football game from Atari

References

External links

''Atari Football''
at the Killer List of Videogames

The Atari Football Restoration Site

{{1970s Atari arcade games

1978 video games
American football video games
Arcade video games
Arcade-only video games
Atari arcade games
North America-exclusive video games
Multiplayer and single-player video games
Trackball video games
Video games developed in the United States