[Football] History of old football computer games

[Dick Swiveller]

Having done a lot of game capture footage for a couple of films, I decided to have a play at putting together a short video myself. So what better than the early history of football computer games. Covering 1979-1992, it has footage from 26 games across many systems. This only covers 8 bit computers so no Kick Off or SWOS but I know there are a few old gamers on here who might be interested. It ranges from well known games to mail order games and just plain stinkers.

 

[5mins-from-amex]

I can remember playing International Superstar Soccer on the commodore 64 with my brother back in the day.

 

[Dick Swiveller]

I can remember playing International Superstar Soccer on the commodore 64 with my brother back in the day.

If you mean International Soccer then it is 5:50 in

 

[brakespear]

Looks good, will watch at some point - I wonder if 'Soccer Supremo' (a mail order management game that for some reason is my favourite) is in there.

 

[Gregory2Smith1]

The Double by Scanatron on the Commodore 64 was brilliant

the Albion weren't too shabby either,based on the 85-86 season

 

[Dick Swiveller]

Looks good, will watch at some point - I wonder if 'Soccer Supremo' (a mail order management game that for some reason is my favourite) is in there.

There were so many management games that I barely scratched the surface. There is even a Dumbarton management game.

http://www.worldofspectrum.org/infoseekid.cgi?id=0018779

A quick count shows over 100 management games for the Spectrum alone! Those were the days when you can write a game in your bedroom and sell it in a mag. Similar now with apps but nowhere near as prevalent as it was in the early 80s.

 

[Dick Swiveller]

The Double by Scanatron on the Commodore 64 was brilliant

the Albion weren't too shabby either,based on the 85-86 season

The Spectrum version is in the video about 19:10. I was a C64 boy but wanted to mix it up a bit.

 

[Gregory2Smith1]

that Brighton v Palace in there

when Brighton scored I did a fist pump

then when it was disallowed I gave the finger

sad old ******* I know

 

[Gregory2Smith1]

was Football Director on the Spectrum?

played that on C64,also very good

 

[Dick Swiveller]

was Football Director on the Spectrum?

played that on C64,also very good

Very much so. It always annoyed me because if you did well, it would up the skill level until you lost.

 

[JBizzleBeard]

It was all about Kick Off 2!

 

[JBizzleBeard]

Just finished watching it all. Enjoyed that thanks! Will you do a follow on?

 

[DarrenFreemansPerm]

I can remember playing International Superstar Soccer on the commodore 64 with my brother back in the day.

Only allowed into Steve's room by special invitation. That room was always a mystery to me, I remember he 'caught' us playing Gran Turismo in there once, I was terrified

 

[thisistips]

That is fantastic. I have never seen so many Cryff turns on one video. And some good results in there as well .

 

[Dick Swiveller]

Just finished watching it all. Enjoyed that thanks! Will you do a follow on?

Glad you liked it. I may well do a follow up but don't know if I would do newer machines. I did a lot of capture for the From Bedrooms to Billions series of films but my laptop doesn't like recording the Amiga/ST type of machines as much. With all of the detail on the pitch and the fast scrolling, the video encoder has a fit with Kick Off 2. I may well visit some of the obscure football management games that were around. I have one called Scottish League Football that must have had quite a small target audience. I might also go with other sports games from the 80s as they were some intriguing games available.

Truth be told, I want a reason to play these games. I collect old computers and games but as a collector. I never seem to get around to playing them. I have helped save images of obscure games, typed in games from magazines for posterity, collected umpteen computers and refurbished them. I have so many ways of playing these games, it is daft that I don't.

 

[DavidRyder]

That was a great watch, thanks! I was really into the management games of the 80/90s - somehow I miss their simplicity, I find today's offering just too complex and I can't get into them.

 

[ExmouthExile]

That was a nice trip down memory lane. I remember my dad getting the first game in the video (the intellivision one) and I remember how amazed I was as a 14 year old, I'd never seen anything like it, it was like a new chapter had begun in my life! I had every football game you can think of on the ZX81, Spectrum and Commodore 64, but I especially liked Emelyn Hughes International Football (or Soccer) and the mail order 2 cassette game 'Mexico 86', one cassette was for the qualifiers and the other was for the tournament, I played it fairly recently on a Spectrum emulator thinking I could recapture the thrill of playing it the first time round and thought it was shit.

 

[Official Old Man]

Back in the very early 80's I had a spectrum and started putting all the Albions games on it. Very basic of course compared to modern spreadsheets, but none the less I could get who played in which game, scores etc. I had the idea of writing to all the football league clubs to get the rights to compile programs to sell.
I've always wondered what would have happened if they said yes and I still owned those rights?

 

[Easy 10]

I was totally addicted to Kickoff 2.

When the Albion were away, I used to spend all Saturday afternoon in my room listening to the commentary whilst playing endless Kickoff 2 League and Cup competitions, often having a cheeky Thunderbird. Happy days.

 

[5mins-from-amex]

Only allowed into Steve's room by special invitation. That room was always a mystery to me, I remember he 'caught' us playing Gran Turismo in there once, I was terrified

Aaarrrggghh argh mum mum quick,

What's wrong?

**** OFF!

Nothing like getting cramp while playing sim city...