Television Sport Broadcasting and Technology “If It’S in the (Video) Game, It’S in the Game”
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Christopher Hanson Television Sport Broadcasting and Technology “If It’s in the (Video) Game, It’s in the Game” “If it’s in the game, it’s in the game.” -EA (Electronic Arts) Sports Slogan The interdependence of technology and sport is Further, I contend that the advent of sports video indisputable. It is difficult to conceive of a sport games has furthered the commodification of sport, that does not require some sort of equipment – be a trend which can be tracked through video games’ it a ball, a net, an engine or a timekeeping device. stylistic influence upon broadcast sports. In order Any athletic contest that relies on such external to discuss this reciprocal relationship, I will briefly props for its play reveals the inherent reliance of explore the histories of sport and video games sport upon tools and technology. The advent of before comparing the televised broadcasts of two organized sports and professional leagues has professional sporting events to their interactive accentuated this relationship, as continuously equivalents. revised official rules and regulations dictate equipment standards, from the exact measurements A Brief History of Sport and Video Games of a ball to the precise conditions under which a sport can be played.1 But the union between Much like modern media, both sports and video technology and sport is at its most apparent games were effectively made possible by the when television broadcasting is introduced into arrival of systemized processes of mass production the equation. The close relationship between engendered by the Industrial Revolution. As such, it sport, television and technology has been recently is useful to briefly trace the historical development emphasized by the explosion in the popularity of of both sport and video games in order to investigate video games, specifically sport games. Indeed, while their unique reciprocity; however, in order to do early sport video games drew their presentational so, it is necessary to consider their shared cultural inspiration from television broadcasting, the trend and conceptual lineage. The history of sports is now showing signs of reversal, wherein televised and video games evince their mutual reliance on broadcasts are taking their technological cues industrialization and technological development; from video games. I argue that this relationship however, both find their basis in a more culturally has been adopted as an industrial strategy as and historically fundamental element: play. Johan both television broadcasters and game developers Huizinga famously notes the significance of play mimic each other’s televisual style in an attempt in his seminal work Homo Ludens with his opening 2 to sell their products in multiple media channels. statement, “Play is older than culture.” Huizinga Producing Television 53 Jennifer Clark, editor, Spectator 28:1 (Spring 2008): 53-64. teleVISIoN SPoRt establishes that play precedes the development of since their inception in the 1950s; the massive culture, noting the play of animals. He explores the increase in computational and graphic processing anthropological roots and formal characteristics of power was accompanied by a progression from play, and then traces the roles it has in influencing simple lights and grainy black-and-white screens ritual, business and politics.3 Huizinga’s observations to the high-definition screens of today. But these are indicative not only of the pervasive influence of forms of digital media in turn owe much of their play upon culture, but also of the degree to which development to organized sports. The influence play structures contemporary society. The potency of sports upon video games has been clear since of the multiple cultural valances of play is clearly their inception, as several of the earliest digital evinced by its centrality in regards to behavioral games were conceived as emulative experiences practices ranging from interpersonal relationships of sporting events. At the Brookhaven National (i.e. “the game of love”) to financial markets (i.e. Laboratory, a government nuclear research facility, “playing the market”).4 The economic and cultural William A. Higinbotham created what some significance of play is brought into sharp relief believe to be the first computer game, Tennis for by the sport and video game industries—both Two. Higinbotham, who had previously worked in of which are fiscally structured around play and early radar research and engineered timing devices simultaneously reliant on technology. As John for atomic bombs, created a two-player tennis Rickards Betts argues, the Industrial Revolution game for entertaining visitors to the facility.9 and technological innovation played a central role Independent of Higinbotham’s creation, students in allowing for the emergence and evolution of at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology modern sport; the importance of industrialization (MIT) created Spacewar four years later as a two- is the late-19th century to organized sport evinces player experience pitting two spaceships against that technology played a necessary role in sport one another in a duel. long before both television and video games.5 But the video game industry did not blossom Following the first commercial sports broadcast until Nolan Bushnell created a commercial version of Major League Baseball (MLB) and National of the MIT game which he entitled Computer Space, Football League (NFL) games in 1939, American and used the nominal royalties from this adaptation sports and television have been inextricably tied to finance the creation of a new company named to one another.6 Indeed, David Rowe deems the Atari and its first original game.10 Pong debuted liaison between sport and television so intimate in 1972 and its immense success fueled the rapid that that he likens it to a marriage—albeit a growth of both Atari and the video game industry as somewhat contentious one.7 This relationship a whole. That these early games were based around has grown profoundly over the years as an competition between two players is by no means increasing number of media outlets offer sports- accidental, as technical limitations in early games dedicated programming as part of broadcasting often restricted the types of games that could be and narrowcasting strategies and leverage created. Hardware and software constraints initially ever-more specialized technologies to enhance prevented game developers from realistically televisual spectatorship, further demonstrating the simulating a computer player with artificial pronounced linkages between the technological intelligence (A.I.), especially as the graphics and financial facets of the industrial practices of themselves were particularly processor-intensive.11 sports broadcasting.8 As such, early games were severely limited in their Much like modern organized sports, video representational capacities, and many resembled games are similarly dependent—if not more simple board games rather than graphically realistic so—on technology. Video games could not exist figures. The popularity and widespread availability without computer processors, memory, or screens, of Mattel’s handheld electronic games in the mid- and the rapid development of these technologies 70s reinforces its utility as an example of an early has dramatically transformed the video game iteration of rudimentary representational graphics. landscape. The televisual and narrative experiences Rather than requiring a television or computer offered by video games have evolved considerably monitor to play, these games were self-contained 54 SPRING 2008 HANSoN and handheld—a by-product of the popularity of iconic and, ultimately, indexical representations. both home video games and pocket calculators. In these early stages, sport video games attempted The games were built around the light-emitting merely to emulate the fundamental aspects of the diodes (LEDs) which could be controlled by the rules of these sports, rather than to imitate the player. In this form, video games offered players an spectator’s experience. on-screen “avatar” in the form of simple red light. The demonstrated financial potential of such Akin to a marker or button used in a children’s rudimentary games stimulated explosive economic board game, these monochromatic red lights could and industrial developments; home consoles soon imply virtually nothing about began to be sold by multiple the on-screen players, other companies and the birth of than their relative positions the personal computer market to one another. The first followed suit. The presence of game in the Mattel Series multiple hardware platforms was Auto Race (1976), in provided the ideal market which players would direct for independent software a single red light through publishers to peddle their the “traffic” of other “cars”— wares to multiple outlets. namely, other red lights. One such company was Players accumulate points Electronic Arts (EA), created by successfully maneuvering by ex-Apple employee through multiple waves of Trip Hawkins in 1982. As red lights, each succession a shameless promoter and representing a lap around a somewhat of a huckster, race course. This simple game Hawkins recognized the was enormously popular (the selling power of athletes and entire handheld sports series contacted the agent of NBA generated in excess of $400 star Julius “Dr. J” Irving to million in sales), prompting ask if “his client would be Mattel to follow-up the willing to let Electronic Arts automobile racing game with use