[ Retro Scan of the Week ] Final Four ’97

Monday, April 1st, 2013

MCA Mindscape NCAA Basketball Final Four '97 1997 Ad advertisement - 1997It’s that time of year again…

I’m not a big fan of sports, and I’m not a big fan of sports games (Blades of Steel for the NES is probably my favorite — off the top of my head). But having grown up in the heart of ACC basketball country surrounded by great and once-great teams (UNC, Duke, NCSU, Wake Forest, etc.), I have a soft spot for the ACC and NCAA college basketball tournaments. I tend to watch a couple games a year.

So I can’t tell you much about NCAA Basketball Final Four ’97, because I’ve never played it. The closest I’ve come was NBA Live ’97 for the SNES, and that was pretty fun for a basketball game.

[ From GamePro, April 1997, p.35 ]

Discussion Topic of the Week: What’s your favorite basketball video game of all time?

[ Retro Scan of the Week ] Atari Basketball Catalog

Monday, January 19th, 2009

Atari Catalog p 21 - 1982Click above to see the full page scan

Here’s a scan of Basketball’s appearance in a 1982 Atari product catalog for their 8-bit home computer line. Basketball, programmed by Alan Miller, is notable for possibly introducing the first obviously black video game character. And hey, it’s also the first game I remember playing.

[ From Discover the World of Atari Home Computers, 1982 ]

Discussion topic of the week: What is the significance, if any, of the first black video game character appearing in a basketball game, rather than a game based on another subject matter?

If you use this image on your site, please support “Retro Scan of the Week” by giving us obvious credit for the original scan and entry. Thanks.