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Atari Football
Atari Football was a 2-player 1978 arcade video game developed and published by Atari, Inc. In this game, the sport of American
football was emulated, with players represented by X's and O's. The game was one of the most popular arcade games in its day despite its
primitive graphics. In 1979, Atari released a more challenging 4-player version.
The offensive characters are the O's and the defensive characters are the X's. Select a play with the trackball and press the button. Roll the trackball in the direction you would like to travel. Rolling the control faster will move your X or O faster. Pass the ball by pressing the button. Tackles are made by simply touching the character with the ball.
The four-player game has an additional offensve play: Punt/Field Goal. Use the button to kick the ball.
Although not the first trackball game (the first was a soccer game by Taito), 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 blisters. Nevertheless, Atari Football was as popular as Space Invaders during the 1978 football season, but its popularity waned later on. Many historians credit Atari Football with being the first game to accurately emulate sports. 25 cents would allow 90 seconds of playtime, while adding more quarters would allow longer play.