A key factor in the creation and purpose of a sports game is simulation. Different games do this different ways, but miniaturizing the sport is an effective way to do this. As such, one would be remiss not to include one of the strangest, yet most entrancing sports games ever created. That game is electric football.
1947 saw Tudor Games release what was essentially a vibrating table on which little football men would move around.
Electric football was a very interesting game because there really is no way play a game, as there was absolutely no way to control the players. There was a dial to intesify or quell the vibration of the field, and the players had tabs on their bases which could control their speed, but that was about the extent of it. Players also broke any number of football rules, including illegal contact, illegal block in the back, excessive spinning, off-sides, and scoring in the wrong end zone amongst others. Still, in its heyday the game sold an incredible amount and is admired to this day.
I awoke to another chilly and damp fall morning, not that I’m complaining. Fall is my favorite season, after all. The smell of crisp autumn air; the sounds of honking geese and rustling leaves; and taste of warm comfort foods, like the potato and pancetta soup I made yesterday.
While legions of people occupy their virtual sports time with video games, it’s interesting to look at just how far the simulation of sports has come. For nearly as long as professional sports have been popular, people have found ways to shrink them down in to related, yet entirely different, games and simulations.
So starts a series in which I will look back at what we can call “sports games.” While clearly a redundant title, a sports game, simply put, is a game based off of an organized sport.
Chronologically speaking, the first thing I could think of was stickball. Now, you may be thinking “hold on, that isn’t a simulation, that’s a sport,” but I include it here because while it may be closer to an actual sport than say a sports toy, the game is an adaptation. The important thing is that it embraces the imagination, which is the entire basis of a sports game.
I missed the stickball era, and as a suburban kid, I had little league and grassy fields to play around in. As such I’m even more fascinated with all the ins and outs and the shear inguinity and resilance of the game. I mean check out that photo, there’s that intangible charm that comes from legions of babies playing on cobbled roads. That wagon is no slouch either.
Our local and regional teams at Eagles Trace (one of Erickson Retirement Communities in Texas) rose to the occasion as Houston was battered by Hurricane Ike and we continue to recover over the next weeks and months.
I have written a post that tries to capture some of the incredible events that took place during the first couple of days. I’ve posted the story on my blog. (p.s. let me be clear, I was not there. I have taken some liberties and am sure I have missed some details, but I think you will get the gist of the story).
1947 saw Tudor Games release what was essentially a vibrating table on which little football men would move around. 
