Computer Sports Games: Football, Baseball, Basketball, Hockey, Soccer

In the late sixties, Electronic Data Controls Corporation released a series of electronic board games under their "Computer Games" line, primarily consisting of two-player sports games. The games typically used large wooden game boards depicting the playing field and a game matrix of various results. Each end of the game board had a set of buttons (i.e. offense and defense) that, depending on the combination pressed, would cause a light to illuminate next to one of the rows on the game matrix. The players would then consult the appropriate column of the matrix to find out what happened. Computer Sports Games combined five sports titles into one game. In the original 1972 edition, the football field was pre-printed onto a large wooden board. Two double-sided overlays were provided to allow the other sports to be played on the same board. Plastic markers are used to record the position of the ball/puck and show other game stats. This was followed by the more compact 1974 release. Instead of using the oversized wooden boards characteristic of the original EDC games, this edition uses a smaller plastic board which only displays the game matrix. Two double-sided cardboard overlays contain the matrices for the other sports. The individual playing fields are printed on cardstock panels.