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Electric Football Is Back!

by Joshua Fruhlinger on January 9, 2008 at 12:53 PM

Electric Vibrating Football
Back before Atari and Nintendo, when kids had to use their darn imaginations to play a game of football (we say while holding our canes outstretched), there was a game called vibrating (or "electric") football. All you older kids will be glad (or horrified) to learn that a company called Excalibur is bringing back the electric, buzzing table-top game, complete with an NFL license.

For you young'ns, electric football was originally created in 1947 when it was, clearly, one of the most high-tech games a kid could have. It was an electric game that consisted of a plug-in tin football field and a bunch of little football player figures. The vibration made the players move in all sorts of random directions, and the outstretched arms of the players made them "lock" in what we pretended was a tackle (though it looked more like a do-se-do). Yes, that's pretty much all it did. We got a chance to check it out at this year's Consumer Electronics Showcase and, yes, that's pretty much all it still does.

But we don't care. Low tech? Sure. In a world of polygons, real-time shading, and online Madden games, this is an exciting, refreshing kick in the pants, and we're psyched to see it make a return.

Tags: breaking+news, electric, football, old toys, OldToys, top

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