website/content/software/atari-football.md

title, tags, years, params

title	tags	years	params
Atari Football	american football sport	1978	specs screenshots machines company oc_id source label value year of release 1978 label value companies Atari label value type game label value media arcade cabinet label value systems Arcade label value number of players 2 players (versus) label value staff Mike Albaugh, Steve Bristow, Ed Logg, Lyle Rains, Dave Stubbens title subtitle text image with overlays showing the different tactics available null title subtitle text image null title subtitle text image null title subtitle text image null title subtitle text image null title subtitle text image Maintenance manual null title subtitle text image null /museum/misc-arcade-video-games /companies/misc 335 url date https://web.archive.org/web/20230127045632/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/software_detail.asp?id=335 2023-01-27

Atari football is considered the first real sport simulation video game, with its 7 seven players on each team, detailed playfield graphics, 4 offensive tactics and 4 defensive tactics.

Before that, sports games meant pong-type video games such as tennis, hockey or football. But let's face it, there were mainly pong spin-offs, not real efforts to simulate sport rules.

Of course there was also Football for the Magnavox Odyssey, released in 1972; but if the effort was laudable, the system technical limitations prevented the game from being a real simulation.

Apart from that, Atari Football is also the first video game to use a trackball as the controller. A 4 players version was even released in 1979, with 4 trackballs!