Changes: Olympic Video Games

Latest revision as of 06:08, 18 March 2022

"Olympic" video games is a name given to sport video games including more than one event and/or several sports. They are one of the older video game genres, having first appeared with the 1983 arcade classic Track & Field. Since then, numerous titles have been released, usually in the immediate run up to the Olympic Games each game is intended to cover. Official IOC licenses became a norm since the first official game, Olympic Gold, was released in time for the 1992 Summer Olympics.

Evolution and criticism

Companies like Epyx , Accolade, U.S. Gold and Konami developed many of the early games. The genre is often overlooked by the gaming industry and considered little more than a novelty or memorabilia attached to the event, with some considering it as purely an exercise in licensing and merchandise. Gameplay is the common target for detractors, since it usually consists of the 'button mashing' formula used in Track & Field or 'joystick waggling' as used in Daley Thompson's Decathlon.

However, since they are released at regular intervals, they can be used as a way to compare how graphics in computer games have changed over time: from the Color Graphics Adapter graphics of the first Epyx titles to the ever-evolving 3D computer graphics|3D graphics of more modern titles such as Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008.

Some of the more modern games today are developed by SEGA alongside Nintendo as the games both now use their intellectual properties, Mario and Sonic. The only year so far that SEGA had not made one since 2008 was 2018, as Ubisoft obtained the rights from the IOC.

List of Games

Official Games

Barcelona 1992 - Olympic Gold by U.S. Gold
Lillehammer 1994 - Winter Olympics: Lillehammer 94 by U.S. Gold
Atlanta 1996 - Olympic Summer Games by U.S. Gold
Nagano 1998 - Nagano Winter Olympics '98 by Konami
Sydney 2000 - Sydney 2000 by ATD, and Sporty by İTE Media Aps
Salt Lake City 2002 - Salt Lake 2002 by ATD
Athens 2004 - Athens 2004 by Eurocom Entertainment Software
Turin 2006 - Torino 2006 by 2K Sports
Beijing 2008 - Beijing 2008 and Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games by Sega
Vancouver 2010 - Vancouver by Sega, and Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games by Sega
London 2012 - Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games by Sega and London 2012 - The Official Video Game of the Olympic Games by Sega

Unofficial Games

Summer Athletics by Dtp Entertainment
Microsoft Decathlon by Microsoft
Winter Games by Epyx
Summer Games (I and II) by Epyx
The Games: Winter Edition by Epyx
The Games: Summer Edition by Epyx (Official Game of the USOC for the 1988 Summer Olympics)
The Games: Summer Challenge by Accolade
The Games: Winter Challenge by Accolade
Track & Field series by Konami
Sporty by İTE Media Aps

Games on other genres with another Olympic related license

Team USA Basketball, released for the Barcelona 1992 Basketball tournament with a USOC license
Olympic Soccer, released for the Atlanta 1996 football tournament
Izzy's Quest for the Olympic Rings, platformer based on Atlanta Games' mascot
Actua Ice Hockey, released for the Nagano 1998 ice hockey tournament

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-'''"Olympic" video games''' is a name given to sport video games including more than one event and/or several sports. They are one of the older video game genres, having first appeared with the 1983 arcade classic ''[[Track & Field (arcade game)|Track &amp; Field]]''. Since then, numerous titles have been released, usually in the immediate run up to the Olympic Games each game is intended to cover. Official [[International Olympic Committee|IOC]] licenses became a norm since the first official game, ''[[Olympic Gold]]'', was released in time for the [[1992 Summer Olympics]].
+'''"Olympic" video games''' is a name given to sport video games including more than one event and/or several sports. They are one of the older video game genres, having first appeared with the 1983 arcade classic ''[[Track & Field (arcade game)|Track &amp; Field]]''. Since then, numerous titles have been released, usually in the immediate run up to the Olympic Games each game is intended to cover. Official [[International Olympic Committee|IOC]] licenses became a norm since the first official game, ''Olympic Gold'', was released in time for the 1992 Summer Olympics.
 ==Evolution and criticism==
-Companies like [[Epyx]], [[Accolade]], [[U.S. Gold]] and [[Konami]] developed many of the early games. The genre is often overlooked by the gaming industry and considered little more than a novelty or memorabilia attached to the event, with some considering it as purely an exercise in licensing and merchandise. Gameplay is the common target for detractors, since it usually consists of the 'button mashing' formula used in ''Track & Field'' or 'joystick waggling' as used in ''[[Daley Thompson's Decathlon]]''.
+Companies like Epyx , Accolade, U.S. Gold and Konami developed many of the early games. The genre is often overlooked by the gaming industry and considered little more than a novelty or memorabilia attached to the event, with some considering it as purely an exercise in licensing and merchandise. Gameplay is the common target for detractors, since it usually consists of the 'button mashing' formula used in ''Track & Field'' or 'joystick waggling' as used in ''Daley Thompson's Decathlon''.
 However, since they are released at regular intervals, they can be used as a way to compare how graphics in computer games have changed over time: from the Color Graphics Adapter graphics of the first Epyx titles to the ever-evolving 3D computer graphics|3D graphics of more modern titles such as ''Athens 2004'' and ''Beijing 2008''.
+Some of the more modern games today are developed by SEGA alongside Nintendo as the games both now use their intellectual properties, ''Mario and Sonic''. The only year so far that SEGA had not made one since 2008 was 2018, as Ubisoft obtained the rights from the IOC.
-==List of games==
-[[File:London_2012_The_Official_Video_Game_of_the_Olympic_Games_%28VG%29_%282012%29_-_London_Is_Ready_trailer|thumb|300px|right|[[London 2012 - The Official Video Game of the Olympic Games]]]]
+==List of Games==
-[[File:Mario And Sonic At the London 2012 Olympic Games (VG) (2011) - London trailer|thumb|300px|right|[[Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games]]]]
 ===Official Games===
 *Barcelona 1992 - ''Olympic Gold'' by U.S. Gold
@@ Line 14: / Line 14: @@
 *Atlanta 1996 - ''Olympic Summer Games'' by U.S. Gold
 *[[1998 Winter Olympics|Nagano 1998]] - ''Nagano Winter Olympics '98'' by Konami
-*Sydney 2000 - ''Sydney 2000'' by ATD
+*Sydney 2000 - ''Sydney 2000'' by ATD, and Sporty by İTE Media Aps
 *Salt Lake City 2002 - ''Salt Lake 2002'' by ATD
 *[[2004 Summer Olympics|Athens 2004]] - ''Athens 2004'' by Eurocom Entertainment Software
@@ Line 32: / Line 32: @@
 *''The Games: Winter Challenge'' by Accolade
 *''[[Track & Field (arcade game)|Track &amp; Field]]'' series by Konami
+*Sporty by İTE Media Aps
 ===Games on other genres with another Olympic related license===
 *''Team USA Basketball'', released for the Barcelona 1992 [[Basketball]] tournament with a USOC license
 *''Olympic Soccer'', released for the Atlanta 19<u>9</u>6 [[soccer|football]] tournament
-*''Izzy's Quest for the Olympic Rings'', platformer based on Atlanta Games' mascot
+*''Izzy's Quest for the Olympic Rings'', platformer based on [[Atlanta 1996/Mascots|Atlanta Games' mascot]]
-*''Actua Ice Hockey'', released for the [[1998 Winter Olympics|Nagano 1998]] [[ice hockey]] tournament
+*''Actua Ice Hockey'', released for the [[1998 Winter Olympics|Nagano 1998]] ice hockey tournament
 [[Category:Video games]]