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{{short description|1978 video game}}
{{more citations needed|date=October 2017}}
{{more citations needed|date=October 2017}}

{{Infobox video game
{{Infobox video game
| title = Football
| title = Football
| image = Atari Football Poster.png
| image = Atari Football Poster.png
| caption = ''Atari Football'' arcade flyer.
| caption = Arcade flyer
| developer = [[Atari, Inc.]]
| developer = [[Atari, Inc.]]
| publisher = {{vgrelease|NA|Atari, Inc.|JP|[[Namco]]<ref name="MAD">{{cite web |title=Foot Ball |url=https://mediaarts-db.bunka.go.jp/id/M729748 |website=Media Arts Database |publisher=[[Agency for Cultural Affairs]] |access-date=31 May 2021}}</ref>}}
| publisher = Atari, Inc.
| designer = Steve Bristow
| designer = Steve Bristow
| programmer = Michael Albaugh<ref>{{cite news |last1=Stilphen |first1=Scott |title=Michael Albaugh interview |url=http://www.ataricompendium.com/archives/interviews/michael_albaugh/interview_michael_albaugh.html |access-date=2 May 2021 |work=Atari Compendium |date=2017}}</ref>
| programmer = Michael Albaugh<ref>{{cite news |last1=Stilphen |first1=Scott |title=Michael Albaugh interview |url=http://www.ataricompendium.com/archives/interviews/michael_albaugh/interview_michael_albaugh.html |access-date=2 May 2021 |work=Atari Compendium |date=2017}}</ref>
| series =
| series =
| engine =
| engine =
| released = {{vgrelease|NA|October 1978<ref name="atari_production99">{{cite web|title=Production Numbers|url=http://www.atarigames.com/atarinumbers90s.pdf|publisher=[[Atari]]|access-date=19 March 2012|year=1999}}</ref>}}
| released = {{vgrelease|NA|October 1978<ref name="atari_production99">{{cite web|title=Production Numbers|url=http://www.atarigames.com/atarinumbers90s.pdf|publisher=[[Atari]]|access-date=19 March 2012|year=1999|archive-date=10 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130510143012/http://www.atarigames.com/atarinumbers90s.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>|JP|September 1979<ref name="MAD"/>}}
| genre = [[Sports video game|Sports]] <small>([[American football]])</small>
| genre = [[Sports video game|Sports]]
| modes = [[Single-player video game|Single-player]], [[Multiplayer video game|multiplayer]]
| modes = [[Single-player video game|Single-player]], [[Multiplayer video game|multiplayer]]
| platforms = [[Arcade game|Arcade]], [[Atari 2600]]
| platforms = [[Arcade video game|Arcade]], [[Atari 2600]]
}}
}}


'''''Football''''' (also known as '''''Atari Football''''') is a 1978 [[List of American football video games|American football video game]] developed and released by [[Atari, Inc.]] for [[Arcade video game|arcades]]. Players are represented by [[X]]s and [[O]]s. While predated by [[Sega]]'s ''World Cup'', ''Football'' is credited with popularizing the [[trackball]] controller and is also the first non-[[racing game|racing]] [[vertically scrolling video game]].<ref>{{cite web|author=Words: GamesRadar US on October 8, 2010 |url=http://www.gamesradar.com/f/gamings-most-important-evolutions/a-20101008102331322035/p-2 |title=Gaming's most important evolutions |publisher=GamesRadar |date=2010-10-08 |access-date=2013-02-13}}</ref> It distributed in Japan by [[Namco]] in 1979.
'''''Football''''' (also known as '''''Atari Football''''') is a 2-player 1978 [[Arcade game|arcade]] and [[Atari 2600]] console-game.<ref name="AF AG">{{cite web | url = http://allgame.com/game.php?id=9555 | title = Atari Football - Overview | publisher = [[allgame]] | access-date = 2009-08-13}}</ref> It was developed and published by [[Atari, Inc.]]. In this game, the sport of [[American football]] is emulated, with players represented by [[X]]s and [[O]]s. The game was one of the most popular arcade games in its day.{{citation needed|date=January 2017}} 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 (video game)|Tempest]]''.


''Football'' was the second highest-earning arcade video game of 1979 in the United States. That year Atari released a more challenging four-player version of the arcade game programmed by [[Dave Theurer]], who later created ''[[Missile Command]]'' and ''[[Tempest (video game)|Tempest]]''.
⚫
==Gameplay==
===Arcade version===
Although not the first [[trackball]] game (predated by [[Sega]]'s ''World Cup'' in March 1978),<ref name="Famitsu"/><ref name="Sega"/> ''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 [[blister]]s. Nevertheless, ''Atari Football'' was as popular as ''[[Space Invaders]]'' during the 1978 football season, but its popularity waned later on.{{citation needed|date=January 2017}} ''Atari Football'' is sometimes credited as one of the first games to accurately emulate [[sports]]. Twenty-five cents (or one American [[Quarter (United States coin)|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]].<ref>{{cite web|author=Words: GamesRadar US on October 8, 2010 |url=http://www.gamesradar.com/f/gamings-most-important-evolutions/a-20101008102331322035/p-2 |title=Gaming's most important evolutions |publisher=GamesRadar |date=2010-10-08 |access-date=2013-02-13}}</ref>


An [[Atari 2600|Atari VCS]] home version of ''Football'' was published in 1978.<ref>{{cite web |title=Football |url=http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-2600-vcs-football_7652.html |website=Atari Mania}}</ref> It uses blocky representations of players instead of Xs and Os. In 1982, Atari replaced it with ''[[RealSports Football]]''.
===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.<ref name="Creative Computing">{{cite journal |last1=Ahl |first1=David H. |title=Atari Video Computer Cartridges - Football |journal=Creative Computing |date=October 1979 |volume=5 |issue=10 |page=[https://archive.org/details/creativecomputing-1979-10/page/n41 38] |url=https://archive.org/details/creativecomputing-1979-10 |access-date=4 September 2019}}</ref>


⚫
==Gameplay==
⚫
==Development and release==
{{Empty section|date=January 2023}}
⚫
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 [[List of association football video games|association football (soccer) game]] that had used trackball controls.<ref name="Albaugh">{{cite news |last1=Stilphen |first1=Scott |title=Michael Albaugh interview |url=http://www.ataricompendium.com/archives/interviews/michael_albaugh/interview_michael_albaugh.html |access-date=2 May 2021 |work=Atari Compendium |date=2017 |quote=I saw a soccer game with one (I remember only that it was Japanese, and a soccer game. Taito is plausible)}}</ref><ref name="Kent">{{cite book|first=Steve L.|last=Kent|author-link=Steven L. Kent|year=2001|title=The ultimate history of video games: from Pong to Pokémon and beyond : the story behind the craze that touched our lives and changed the world|publisher=Prima|isbn=0-7615-3643-4|page=118|quote=Contrary to a popular notion, Football was not the first game to use a trak-ball controller. According to Dave Stubben, who created the hardware for Atari Football, Taito beat Atari to market with a soccer game that used one. According to Steve Bristow, when his engineers saw the game, they brought a copy into their lab and imitated it.}}</ref> When the team saw the game, they brought a cabinet to their lab and imitated the trackball controls.<ref name="Kent"/>
[[File:Atari.Football.1978.Arcade.png|thumb|Arcade screenshot]]
⚫
==Development==
⚫
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 [[List of association football video games|association football (soccer) game]] that had used trackball controls.<ref name="Albaugh">{{cite news |last1=Stilphen |first1=Scott |title=Michael Albaugh interview |url=http://www.ataricompendium.com/archives/interviews/michael_albaugh/interview_michael_albaugh.html |access-date=2 May 2021 |work=Atari Compendium |date=2017 |quote=I saw a soccer game with one (I remember only that it was Japanese, and a soccer game. Taito is plausible)}}</ref><ref name="Kent">{{cite book|first=Steve L.|last=Kent|author-link=Steven L. Kent|year=2001|title=[[The ultimate history of video games: from Pong to Pokémon and beyond : the story behind the craze that touched our lives and changed the world]]|publisher=Prima|isbn=0-7615-3643-4|page=118|quote=Contrary to a popular notion, Football was not the first game to use a trak-ball controller. According to Dave Stubben, who created the hardware for Atari Football, Taito beat Atari to market with a soccer game that used one. According to Steve Bristow, when his engineers saw the game, they brought a copy into their lab and imitated it.}}</ref> When the team saw the game, they brought a cabinet to their lab and imitated the trackball controls.<ref name="Kent"/>


An earlier association football game that used trackball controls was [[Sega]]'s ''[[List of Sega arcade video games|World Cup]]'', released seven months earlier in March 1978.<ref name="Famitsu">{{cite book |title=Sega Arcade History |date=2002 |series=[[Famitsu DC]] |publisher=[[Enterbrain]] |page=34 |url=https://archive.org/details/segaarcadehistoryfamitsudc/page/n35 |lang=ja}}</ref><ref name="Sega">{{cite web |title=WORLD CUP（ワールドカップ） |url=https://sega.jp/history/arcade/product/15316/ |website=[[Sega]] |access-date=2 May 2021 |language=ja}}</ref> However, [[Steven L. Kent]] reported in 2001 that Stubben attributed the earlier trackball soccer game to [[Taito]].<ref name="Kent"/> In a later 2017 interview, Albaugh said he was uncertain which company it was from, but remembers it was from a Japanese company.<ref name="Albaugh"/>
An earlier association football game that used trackball controls was [[Sega]]'s ''[[List of Sega arcade video games|World Cup]]'', released seven months earlier in March 1978.<ref name="Famitsu">{{cite book |title=Sega Arcade History |date=2002 |series=[[Famitsu DC]] |publisher=[[Enterbrain]] |page=34 |url=https://archive.org/details/segaarcadehistoryfamitsudc/page/n35 |language=ja}}</ref><ref name="Sega">{{cite web |title=WORLD CUP（ワールドカップ） |url=https://sega.jp/history/arcade/product/15316/ |website=[[Sega]] |access-date=2 May 2021 |language=ja}}</ref> However, [[Steven L. Kent]] reported in 2001 that Stubben attributed the earlier trackball soccer game to [[Taito]].<ref name="Kent"/> In a later 2017 interview, Albaugh said he was uncertain which company it was from, but remembers it was from a Japanese company.<ref name="Albaugh"/>


Atari's ''Football'' was released in October 1978.<ref name="atari_production99"/>
Atari's ''Football'' was released in October 1978.<ref name="atari_production99"/>

==Ports==
⚫
On the Atari VCS, 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.<ref name="Creative Computing">{{cite journal |last1=Ahl |first1=David H. |title=Atari Video Computer Cartridges - Football |journal=Creative Computing |date=October 1979 |volume=5 |issue=10 |page=[https://archive.org/details/creativecomputing-1979-10/page/n41 38] |url=https://archive.org/details/creativecomputing-1979-10 |access-date=4 September 2019}}</ref>


==Reception==
==Reception==
''Football'' was the second highest-earning [[1979 in video games|arcade video game of 1979]] in the United States, below only ''[[Space Invaders]]'' (1978).<ref>{{cite journal |title=Video Games |journal=RePlay |date=November 1979}}</ref>
''Football'' was the second highest-earning 1979 in the United States, below only ''[[Space Invaders]]'' (1978).<ref>{{cite journal |title=Video Games |journal=RePlay |date=November 1979}}</ref>

⚫
In his October 1979 review of the Atari VCS version of the game in ''[[Creative Computing (magazine)|Creative Computing]]'', [[David H. Ahl]] gave the game a positive review. He praised particularly the gameplay which he described as "boast[ing] lively action".<ref name="Creative Computing" />


==Legacy==
⚫
In his October 1978 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[ing] lively action".<ref name="Creative Computing" />
Although not the first [[trackball]] game, predated by [[Sega]]'s ''World Cup'' in March 1978,<ref name="Famitsu"/><ref name="Sega"/> ''Atari Football'' is credited with popularizing the trackball.


==See also==
==See also==
{{Portal|Video games|American football}}
* [[List of Atari 2600 games]]
⚫
* ''[[Gridiron Fight]]'' - 1985 American football game from [[Tehkan]] (Tecmo)
* ''[[Cyberball]]'' - 1988 American football game from Atari
* ''[[Cyberball]]'' - 1988 American football game from Atari
⚫
* ''[[RealSports Football]]'', 1982 American football game from Atari


==References==
==References==

Latest revision as of 21:35, 20 April 2024

Football
Arcade flyer
Developer(s)Atari, Inc.
Publisher(s)
Designer(s)Steve Bristow
Programmer(s)Michael Albaugh[3]
Platform(s)Arcade, Atari 2600
Release
Genre(s)Sports
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Football (also known as Atari Football) is a 1978 American football video game developed and released by Atari, Inc. for arcades. Players are represented by Xs and Os. While predated by Sega's World Cup, Football is credited with popularizing the trackball controller and is also the first non-racing vertically scrolling video game.[4] It distributed in Japan by Namco in 1979.

Football was the second highest-earning arcade video game of 1979 in the United States. That year Atari released a more challenging four-player version of the arcade game programmed by Dave Theurer, who later created Missile Command and Tempest.

An Atari VCS home version of Football was published in 1978.[5] It uses blocky representations of players instead of Xs and Os. In 1982, Atari replaced it with RealSports Football.

Gameplay[edit]

Arcade screenshot

Development[edit]

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.[6][7] When the team saw the game, they brought a cabinet to their lab and imitated the trackball controls.[7]

An earlier association football game that used trackball controls was Sega's World Cup, released seven months earlier in March 1978.[8][9] However, Steven L. Kent reported in 2001 that Stubben attributed the earlier trackball soccer game to Taito.[7] In a later 2017 interview, Albaugh said he was uncertain which company it was from, but remembers it was from a Japanese company.[6]

Atari's Football was released in October 1978.[2]

Ports[edit]

On the Atari VCS, 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.[10]

Reception[edit]

Football was the second highest-earning 1979 in the United States, below only Space Invaders (1978).[11]

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[ing] lively action".[10]

Legacy[edit]

Although not the first trackball game, predated by Sega's World Cup in March 1978,[8][9] Atari Football is credited with popularizing the trackball.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Foot Ball". Media Arts Database. Agency for Cultural Affairs. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Production Numbers" (PDF). Atari. 1999. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 May 2013. Retrieved 19 March 2012.
  3. ^ Stilphen, Scott (2017). "Michael Albaugh interview". Atari Compendium. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  4. ^ Words: GamesRadar US on October 8, 2010 (2010-10-08). "Gaming's most important evolutions". GamesRadar. Retrieved 2013-02-13.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ "Football". Atari Mania.
  6. ^ a b Stilphen, Scott (2017). "Michael Albaugh interview". Atari Compendium. Retrieved 2 May 2021. I saw a soccer game with one (I remember only that it was Japanese, and a soccer game. Taito is plausible)
  7. ^ a b c Kent, Steve L. (2001). The ultimate history of video games: from Pong to Pokémon and beyond : the story behind the craze that touched our lives and changed the world. Prima. p. 118. ISBN 0-7615-3643-4. Contrary to a popular notion, Football was not the first game to use a trak-ball controller. According to Dave Stubben, who created the hardware for Atari Football, Taito beat Atari to market with a soccer game that used one. According to Steve Bristow, when his engineers saw the game, they brought a copy into their lab and imitated it.
  8. ^ a b Sega Arcade History. Famitsu DC (in Japanese). Enterbrain. 2002. p. 34.
  9. ^ a b "WORLD CUP（ワールドカップ）". Sega (in Japanese). Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  10. ^ a b Ahl, David H. (October 1979). "Atari Video Computer Cartridges - Football". Creative Computing. 5 (10): 38. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  11. ^ "Video Games". RePlay. November 1979.

External links[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Football_(1978_video_game)&oldid=1219947721"