Basketball Games

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Oh, how far we have come! Computer basketball games, like other computer sports games, depend on realism to fuel the game interest and enjoyment. Probably the first basketball game was created for the Atari 2600 – crude, rude and . . . . words can fail you trying to describe basketball on the Atari. But it was popular – why you say. Because there was nothing else like it.

Pretty soon, all the upcoming game consoles had a video basketball game. But they all lacked the realism of game play because the technology just couldn’t handle it. Besides, nobody had any licensed games, you could barely tell if there was any difference between Magic Johnson and Larry Bird.

The first licensed game appeared on the Apple II. Published by Electronic Arts, it was soon ported to other computers. This video basketball game was only one and one – you chose either Dr J or Larry Bird – you had no other choices. You could almost say the EA Sports got its start with its original video basketball games.

Because of the absence of licensing, earlier games could be pretty bizarre. One game even had blind referees which allowed all sorts of dirty tricks to be pulled – including pulling down your opponent’s shorts. It became a popular novelty game.

But in 1991 one company, Tecmo, changed the game so to speak. Because of their license, they were able to plug in the full 1991 schedule along with every real player on every team. Stats also became an integral part of the game.

EA Sports released an early video basketball game in 1989/90 which featured the Chicago Bulls and the Lakers. The game had less than half the NBA teams and commentary that scrolled along the bottom of the screen. You’ve come a long way baby! Today’s games are cutting edge and include almost every basketball league imaginable.


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