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Videoball, NBA Jam and the magic of on-screen sports
Videoball looks like something you might have played on an Atari 2600 you bought at a garage sale. Played on a single screen, two teams of two triangles fire bullets at a ball, attempting to knock it into their opponents' goal. At its most basic, that's it. It's dead simple, but its complexities start to emerge within a few minutes. Charged shots, defensive walls and deflections all add a layer of high-level nuance to Videoball that serious players are bound to appreciate. On the plus side, it's also a lot of fun. What's really surprising about Videoball, however, is its inspiration: Real-time strategy. Videoball designer Tim Rogers told us at GDC that the concept was born from the idea of reducing a game like StarCraft to a single button. Throw in scoring, thumping music and an announcer and you have something approaching NBA Jam levels of competitive camaraderie – and that was no accident. Videoball is expected to arrive this year on PC and Mac – and possibly other platforms – courtesy of Majesco's indie label, Midnight City.
