''Pelé's Soccer'', originally released as ''Championship Soccer'' (and using that name in modern compilations for

trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from others ...

reasons), is a 1981 sports game from

Atari, Inc. Atari, Inc. was an American video game developer and home computer company founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. Atari was a key player in the formation of the video arcade and video game industry. Based primarily around the Sunny ...

for the Atari Video Computer System. Endorsed by the famous

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

Pelé Edson Arantes do Nascimento (; born 23 October 1940), known as Pelé (), is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a forward. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time and labelled "the greatest" by FIFA, ...

, it features ball-handing and goal-keeping techniques using the joystick.

Gameplay

Each team has one forward, two defenders, and a goalkeeper on the field at all times. The player's goalkeeper is always controlled by the computer unless they save a shot. Each game consists of two halves of various time lengths (depending on the game settings being used). All the forwards and backs run in their proper formation. There are 54 different game variations (27 single-player and 27 multiplayer) that allow for different speeds, game lengths, and goal sizes.

Releases

Originally planned for a 1980 holiday season release, ''Championship Soccer'' was delayed until February 1981. The game received the personal endorsement of Pelé himself, who appeared in commercials and even went on promotional tours for the game. The endorsement came late in the development process of the game, as the original release bore the ''Championship Soccer'' name on both the box and the text-label cartridge, but Pelé's name and endorsement were appended to the cover of the instruction manual. As Atari shifted to picture-label cartridges, the game's name was formally changed to ''Pelé's Soccer''. Sears, under their

OEM An original equipment manufacturer (OEM) is generally perceived as a company that produces non-aftermarket parts and equipment that may be marketed by another manufacturer. It is a common industry term recognized and used by many professional or ...

licensing deal with Atari, Inc., released the game under their Tele-Games brand, simply titled ''Soccer'', and using the original ''Championship Soccer'' box art; although the game program was unchanged, the Tele-Games release never bore the Pelé name. When Atari Corp. relaunched the 2600 in 1986 alongside the Atari 7800 ProSystem, which was backward-compatible with the 2600, they re-released ''Pelé's Soccer'' as a budget title to bolster the consoles' lineups. These releases are notable for the modifications to the 1981 black label design, featuring a copyright date of the year of production along with "Atari Corp." replacing "Atari, Inc.", and for the printing error of "Atari Game Program Instructions" beneath the title instead of the advisory "Use with Joystick Controllers". Modern compilations of Atari 2600 games, such as ''

Atari Greatest Hits The ''Atari Greatest Hits'' series is composed of two compilations of retro Atari arcade games & Atari 2600 games ported to the Nintendo DS. While listed on the Atari web site as free for iOS & Android, ''Atari Greatest Hits'' has been remo ...

'', ''

Atari Vault ''Atari Vault'' is a collection of one hundred video games that Atari had produced for arcade cabinets and its Atari 2600 home console system, dating from the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. The collection was developed by Code Mystics, who had helmed si ...

'', and the

Atari Flashback series The Atari Flashback series are a line of dedicated video game consoles designed, produced, published and marketed by AtGames under license from Atari SA. The Flashback consoles are "plug-and-play" versions of the Atari 2600 console. They contain ...

, revert the game's name to its original title of ''Championship Soccer'' for trademark purposes, as the original endorsement deal has long expired.

Reception

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pele's Soccer 1981 video games Atari 2600 games Atari 2600-only games Association football video games North America-exclusive video games Cultural depictions of Pelé Video games based on real people Video games developed in the United States Single-player video games