"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 CGA graphics of the first Epyx titles to the ever-evolving 3D graphics of more modern titles such as Athens 2004, Beijing 2008, and London 2012.
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
Salt Lake City 2002 - Salt Lake 2002 by ATD
Athens 2004 - Athens 2004 by Eurocom Entertainment Software
Torino 2006 - Torino 2006 by 2K Sports
Beijing 2008 - Beijing 2008 and Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games by Sega
Vancouver 2010 - Vancouver 2010 and Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games by Sega
London 2012 - London 2012 and Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games by Sega
Sochi 2014 - Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games by Nintendo
Rio 2016 - Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games by Nintendo
Microsoft Decathlon by Microsoft (1981)
Track & Field series by Konami (1983-)
Hes Games by HESware (1984)
Summer Games (I and II) by Epyx (1984–85)
Winter Games by Epyx (1985)
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 (1991)
Gold Medal Challenge by Capcom (1992)
Sergei Bubka's Millennium Games by Midas Games (2000)
Summer Athletics by dtp entertainment (2008)
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
