Before NBA Jam and the NBA 2K basketball series, there was Atari’s Basketball. Released in 1979, just in time for the arcade heydays of the early 1980s, it was the first basketball game to use a trackball as the input mechanic and a 45-degree angled side view. Not only did this become part of the playbook for basketball games that followed, but Basketball was also the first sports game where the pixelated sprites players controlled actually looked like people. The game unit’s neon graphic design is also uniquely of its time and reflects the burgeoning videogame aesthetic.
This is complete footage of the 1979 Atari Basketball upright arcade machine, designed and programmed by Chris Downend. Video via ScottithGames.
Related works
Collection
Not in ACMI's collection
Previously on display
10 August 2023
ACMI: Gallery 1
Credits
Collection metadata
ACMI Identifier
P181276
Curatorial section
The Story of the Moving Image → Games Lab → GL-02. Cluster 2 → GL-02-C02
Object Types
3D Object
Arcade Game/Game