''NFL Challenge'' is a video game for

MS-DOS MS-DOS ( ; acronym for Microsoft Disk Operating System, also known as Microsoft DOS) is an operating system for x86-based personal computers mostly developed by Microsoft. Collectively, MS-DOS, its rebranding as IBM PC DOS, and a few ope ...

released in 1985 by XOR Corporation. It uses statistical models for not only the NFL season, but also the outcome of a single football game.

Game play

Unlike most football games, this one was more abstract. The players acted as coaches, picking the offensive or defensive plays from a series of nested menus. The computer then ran the plays against each other, using the pre-configured abilities of the teams and players picked. There was no interaction once the play was called, other than making a decision to accept or deny a penalty if called. This made for an abstract game, unlike others where the player actually participated in the offense or defense. One of the user changeable features of the game was the fact that you could create or edit your own dream team, or enhance the performance of a particular current player who was having a good season, via a simple text edit of the roster files. The rosters were all named by team with player numbers as opposed to names being stored, but you easily determine which player was which and arrange trades, enhancements, or create an All-Pro team to play against regular teams.

Reception

Computer Gaming World ''Computer Gaming World'' (CGW) was an American computer game magazine published between 1981 and 2006. One of the few magazines of the era to survive the video game crash of 1983, it was sold to Ziff Davis in 1993. It expanded greatly through ...

'' called ''NFL Challenge'' "the finest computer sports game I've ever seen. It is a high-tech, state-of-the-art simulation that is truly remarkable in recreating the 'feel' of a professional football game". It cited the documentation, detailed and accurate playbook, and team statistics as strengths, while lack of player names or statistics was a weakness, and concluded "'' Visicalc is the program that sold Apple computers, ''NFLC'' may be the one that sells IBM PC's to sports gamers". Wyatt Lee reviewed the game for ''

'', and stated that "still, to this date, the cream of the crop."

Cultural references

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

used the simulation in

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

for a program called '' NFL Dream Season''. Historic NFL teams were computer-simulated against one another in an eight-week season, then playoffs, then the "Dream Bowl". ESPN used the computer simulation results to play back the game using NFL Films footage to make it appear that one was watching an actual game. The

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

defeated the

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

21-20. The following year, ESPN broadcast ''Dream Bowl II'', with the defending champion 1978 Steelers pitted against the then-Super Bowl Champion

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

. Even with John Stallworth out early in the game due to an injury, the Steelers defeated the 49ers in overtime after a Joe Montana pass was intercepted around midfield by Mel Blount, who returned the interception for a touchdown.

Steve Sabol Stephen Douglas Sabol (October 2, 1942September 18, 2012) was an American filmmaker. He was the president and one of the founders of NFL Films, along with his father Ed. He was also a widely exhibited visual artist. Sabol was born in Mooresto ...

, NFL Films president, disagreed with the simulation result, feeling that San Francisco had a better team. XOR made available the ''Dream Season'' disk after the show's run, with the actual teams used by ESPN's program.

Legacy

The company went out of business in the early 1990s, after advertising ''NFL Challenge Premium Edition'', which never made it to market. There were several customers who had prepaid for the product, only to never receive the game.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nfl Challenge 1985 video games XOR Corporation games National Football League video games DOS games DOS-only games Video games developed in the United States