''Video Olympics'' is a

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

programmed by Joe Decuir for the

Atari 2600 The Atari 2600, initially branded as the Atari Video Computer System (Atari VCS) from its release until November 1982, is a home video game console developed and produced by Atari, Inc. Released in September 1977, it popularized microprocesso ...

. It is one of the nine 2600

launch title This list includes terms used in video games and the video game industry, as well as slang used by players. 0–9 A ...

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 ...

published when that system was released in September 1977. The cartridge is a collection of games from Atari's popular arcade ''

Pong ''Pong'' is a table tennis–themed twitch arcade sports video game, featuring simple two-dimensional graphics, manufactured by Atari and originally released in 1972. It was one of the earliest arcade video games; it was created by Allan Al ...

'' series. A similar collection in arcade machine form called '' Tournament Table'' was published by Atari in 1978. ''Video Olympics'' was rebranded by

Sears Sears, Roebuck and Co. ( ), commonly known as Sears, is an American chain of department stores founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwald, with what began a ...

as ''Pong Sports''.

Gameplay

The games are a collection of bat-and-ball style games, including several previously released by

as arcade games. The games use the Video Computer System's paddle controllers, and are for one to four players (three or four players requires a second set of paddles).

Games

''Video Olympics'' includes 50 games and variations: *

- The classic

table tennis Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...

simulation. * Super Pong - A ''Pong'' variation where each player has two paddles. * Robot Pong - A solitaire ''Pong'' variation. * Pong Doubles * Quadrapong - A four-player, four-wall ''Pong'' variation. * Foozpong - Based on Foozball, this ''Pong'' variant has the players control a vertical three-paddle column. * Soccer * Handball - A handball simulation. *

Ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

* Hockey III - An

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

simulation where players can catch and shoot the puck at the opposing goal. * Basketball - A

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

simulation. * Volleyball - A

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

simulation where the traditional (''Pong''-style) left-right volley is swapped for a top-bottom volley. Players can volley or

spike Spike, spikes, or spiking may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Books * ''The Spike'' (novel), a novel by Arnaud de Borchgrave * ''The Spike'' (book), a nonfiction book by Damien Broderick * ''The Spike'', a starship in Peter F. Hamilto ...

Reception

The cartridge and its individual games were reviewed twice in ''

Video Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) syst ...

'' magazine. In the Winter 1979 issue of ''Video'', the cartridge was reviewed as part of a general review of the

Atari VCS The Atari 2600, initially branded as the Atari Video Computer System (Atari VCS) from its release until November 1982, is a home video game console developed and produced by Atari, Inc. Released in September 1977, it popularized microprocessor- ...

where it received a review score of 8.5 out of 10, and its constituent games were characterized as "old standbys" but "still lots of fun". A more thorough review appeared in ''Videos "Arcade Alley" column in the Summer 1979 issue where the release was generally praised for "tak ngAtari's ''Pong'' concept and explor ngit to the limit." Individual games were singled out as well, with praise for Volleyball and Robot Pong (described as "astonishingly good"), and criticism for Handball (for its use of a visually disturbing ''blinking'' paddle rather than an ''absent'' paddle to indicate inactive players), and Basketball (described as primitive compared to Atari's own 1978 version of ''Basketball'').

References

External links

''Video Olympics''
at Atari Mania {{Atari 2600 1977 video games Atari 2600 games Atari games North America-exclusive video games Pong variations Multiple-sport video games Video games developed in the United States

Gameplay

Games

Reception

See also

References

External links