Hobbies And Interests
Foto-Electric Football
Created in the 1940s, Foto-Electric Football was a simple game, and one of the first of its kind. In it, players matched up against each other using offensive and defensive overlay cards for their play calling. When the cards were set on the play board, the device would randomly select an outcome, and a bulb would light up to tell the players how many yards had been gained on the play. The game adhered to the standard rules of American football, while limiting the combatants to 30 plays per quarter. The game kept track of down, score and plays remaining on a scoreboard while a miniature football was used to keep track of field position.
Pro Star Electric Football
Long before Coleco began making full-fledged video game systems, the company produced many electronic sports games, including Pro Star Electric Football. As the offensive and defensive players slid across a flat board at random (the board "vibrated", causing the men to move around), the player controlling the quarterback had to physically place the ball in his hand, then hit a lever that launched the ball. If it ended up connecting with an offensive player, it counted as a completed pass. The same technique was used for field goals and point-after attempts, with the kicker&'s leg launching the ball between the uprights. The game included a scoreboard that players could update manually.
Coleco Head-to-Head Football
Another football contribution from Coleco, Head-to-Head Football was a takeoff of the company&'s earlier hand-held football games, which were all one-player devices. This game had two sets of buttons, one on each side of a small screen. Players alternated between offense and defense, guiding their players through the motions via buttons with arrows going forward and backward or side-to-side. When an offensive player and a defensive player (represented by small red dots or arrows) collided on the screen, they would disappear. If the ball-hander was touched, the down would end. The down number and yards to go were listed after every play, and the game included a special button for kicking, punting and field goals.