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Super Bowl Fever: Gridiron Games From The 80s

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1st down and 10. No, I am not talking about “downing” my first beer with ten to go. I am talking about America’s sporting past time, football! What’s bigger than the Super Bowl? It seems nothing much else, except for the FIFA World Cup final and perhaps the 100M sprint at the Olympics.

Well, when it comes to video games based on American football, you had a few choices in the 1980s. Sorry Tecmo Super Bowl, you miss out by a couple of years (Ed: I can hear the collective boos!). Let’s just say, the 80s football games were a tad crude when compared to their more illustrious contemporaries.

So, which gridiron games from the 1980s were (and still are) worthy of a play? We set out to sort the wheat from the chaff and have come up with a list of (somewhat) worthy 80s football video game contenders that will help you pass a few hours and also get you in the mood for the upcoming Super Bowl.  Hut, hut, hut!

RealSports Football [Year: 1982 | Publisher: Atari | Format: Atari 8-bit platforms]
NFL_atariFootball video games had to start somewhere. This is not the most realistic football game, but you have to appreciate it for the time it was released. Overly simplistic with five players on each side, this was the Madden of its day!

10-Yard Fight [Year: 1985 | Publisher: Nintendo | Format: NES]
nfl_10yardAs far as arcade conversions go, this was a crude top-down vertically scrolling football game. However, back in 1985, you didn’t have much choice when it came to football games on the Famicom/NES.

4th and Inches [Year: 1987 | Publisher: Accolade | Format: C64]
nfl_4thBefore the glitzy TV Sports Football on the C64, 4th and Inches was the definitive American football game on the 8-bit micro, with a side-on play field to boot!

TV Sports: Football [Year: 1988 | Publisher: Cinemaware | Format: Atari ST / Amiga / C64 / DOS]
nfl_TVAs the 80s drew to a close, Cinemaware published this very sleek and thoroughly enjoyable gridiron game. This was the genesis for latter football video games. Simply brilliant.

NFL [Year: 1989 | Publisher: LJN | Format: NES]
nfl_NFLIt comes as no surprise that the much loved NES had an embarrassing riches of football games. NFL didn’t get the best reception, but at least you could play one of 28 official NFL teams from 1988. It also featured a packed playbook, which was novel for its time.

Tecmo Bowl [Year: 1989 | Publisher: Tecmo | Format: NES]
NFL_TecmoThis game does not need any introduction – its reputation precedes it. It was the first football game to feature real NFL players. It was only bettered by its sequel, the sublime Tecmo Super Bowl. Get your NES out and play it!

Before you mention it, we are sorry, we had to exclude Cyberball, for obvious reasons, and we also had to forget about any arcade based football games from the 80s. Did we pick any football games you liked (still like) playing? If not, you can throw your helmet at our editor!

Enjoy the Super Bowl!

 

Video Gaming Images

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If you are like me, you enjoy looking at video gaming inspired artwork. I came across Hoodie’s gaming images on the minus network and I thought I would share a few with you. Take a gander!

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iCGnPumdVBpf3 ibjdDiUriAi7Rs iQ7FWqq8OdQOl

There are plenty more where these came from. Hit the Gaming Images gallery to check them all out!

 

Breaking Bad: The NES Cartridge

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breaking-bad-cartridge_A

It’s ok, my jaw dropped too. You can slowly put it back in place. Who wouldn’t want a Breaking Bad (Bad Breaker! – very clever!) inspired NES cart? This is one of many fine NES cartidge artistic works by some very talented artists at 72 Pins.

NES_carts_thin

These created items use classic NES cartridges recycled as an art canvas. Inside the cart, you will find a random vintage game from the original NES lineup that still works! Very cool indeed. All profits go directly to supporting the artists and the teams involved in the creation of these carts.

Check out the rest of their range down below and then hit their site to support the artists!

NES_6

NES_5

NES_4

NES_3

NES_2

NES_1

image source: 72 Pins Blog

Conversion Capers

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garage_3

This article is not about some poor arcade conversion on the C64, which there were plenty. No, what I am writing about here is, is my converting the garage into a gaming room project. After a fair bit of procrastination, I am making some sort of progress on the clean-up. There was a lot of soul searching when decisions were made to either keep stuff or throw it out. Since I have hoarding tendencies, this was quite difficult, hence the procrastination.

Garage_1

So, where am I up to – the flooring has been procured, the door quotes have been obtained and the plan of where the consoles, computers, Dreamcast kiosk, server rack cabinet and arcade machines will go is pretty much set. I may change my mind where things will end up, but for the moment, I am happy with the plan. It would be remiss of me not to mention my wife – she has given me so many great ideas, ones I would not have thought of on my own. So for that, I am eternally grateful! She has an amazing eye for detail and interior design expertise in gaming rooms.

garage_2

The progress has been slow, but this was never a race. The garage conversion can not proceed at this stage till the doors are in place, as dust needs to be kept out to ensure the old retro gear survives. Being this time of year, it is difficult to get tradesmen to do any work, as they are still on holidays. For now, I am remaining patient and still throwing out bits and pieces (reluctantly) to ensure the room does not end up a cluttered mess!

Stay tuned for future progress updates on this project.

 

8-Bit Battle: Atari XEGS vs Commodore 64

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Every third Sunday of each month, the Amiga Users Group gets together to showcase, demonstrate, play games and most importantly, chat with other like minded passionate enthusiasts and collectors.

On this occasion, the club meet was hijacked to pit two 8-bit home computers, the Atari XEGS and the Commodore 64 in a tussle to find which reigned supreme in the 1-byte realm. There was a SX-64 thrown in for good measure, but that never factored in the Atari versus Commodore war.

Assembloids

The Team Atari versus Team Commodore battle royale was the brainchild of Weird and Retro’s Aleks Svetislav (Serby). In his usual selfless way, Serby brought monitors, computers, joysticks and a shed load of games for everyone to enjoy and for the battle to take place. My attention went straight to the obscure games that Serby had in his swag, like Jars’ Revenge for the C64. But there was no time to admire the stash, there was a war waging on the tables!

C64

The two 8-bit systems had battles with each playing their respective versions of Wizard of Wor and Assembloids. Let me say, Assembloids is one heck of an addictive game. Serby warned me about it’s addictiveness – it is fantastic! Before I get sidetracked, my impression of Wizard of Wor was that it looked, sounded and played better on the C64 (sorry Serby!). In regards to Assembloids, it was a dead heat – it looked and played great on both the Atari XEGS and the Commodore 64. The other games played were Missile Command and River Raid. Both of these games were made for the little Atari – they were awesome on the XEGS.

There were no arms or legs lost in this battle, only a few sore thumbs. So, who won this battle of the 8-bit home computers? I’d say it was dead even. Whichever side you were on, you couldn’t lose. Long live the Atari and Commodore!

Weapons Of Mass Destruction
TAC2

Vectrex shenanigans on the C64
narzod

Jars’ Revenge – a homage to Yars’?
Jars

Gauntlet – Some 8-Bit Magic
Gaunt

No Hacking Allowed!
Hack

Human Pong, Tetris, Space Invaders and Pole Position

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Human_pacman

Here is a novel idea, use a group of humans as pixels to depict some of video games’ classic games like, Tetris, Pac-Man and Pole Position to name a few.

Stop motion artist, Guillaume Reymond assembled large groups of volunteer humans (as pixels) for his Game Over project to recreate stop-motion videos of classic video games, complete with self-created sound effects. Enjoy!

Human Pac-man

Human Tetris

Human Pole Position

Human Space Invaders

Human Pong

source: NOTsoNOISY

Arcade Machines: Marquees Of Light

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If you are pressed for space to add those old arcade machines in your home, perhaps these arcade marquee lights are the next best thing. Created by Kyle from Arcade Lights, these arcade cabinet marquees are the real deal (all original) and perfectly hand assembled. You can now save on space (and lots of machine maintenance money) by having these lights proudly hung on your wall.

Hit the Arcade Lights Etsy store now and start drooling, I mean browsing.

AL_EA

AL_Scramble

AL_BC

AL_DigDug

AL_Galaxian

AL_N_PlayChoice

AL_Xybots

AL_pacman

Images source: Arcade Lights