Take Your Home Arcade To The next Level With A Track Ball
While when making your dream home arcade machine a track ball may be low on your list of priorities. At the end of the day adding a track ball to your arcade is actually pretty easy to do and it will not break the bank either. The track ball these days is some people think is just something of a forgotten thing. But while the track ball is seen as something that was just in the 80’s, arcade games that made use of a track ball have been being made well into the 00’s. Anyway let’s take a look at why track balls are awesome..
The Origins Of Track Ball Games
What the first actual arcade track ball game is, is actually something that is still debated to this day. Atari released a game in 1978 simply called Football which is often regarded as the first game to have a track ball or as Atari called it Trak-Ball! But it has been said, rumoured for years that Atari actually copied the idea from a Japanese soccer game which was made by Taito and released a little while earlier.
Track Ball In The 80’s
When you think of track ball games the early ones that will probably pop into your mind are games like Centipede, Missile Command and Marble Madness. These were arcade games in the 80’s that made just great use of the track ball and games like Marble Madness for example would have people standing at an angle slapping that track ball with everything they had trying not to let their marble fall of the level. Many of these games would be ported to home systems and as a result home consoles of the era such as the Atari 2600, 5200 and the ColecoVision would have track ball accessories released for them as there were multiple arcade games that made use of the track ball released each year.
Track Ball In The 90’s
While not as many games would make use of the track ball in the 1990’s there still were a handful of games released during the 1990’s. The Golden Tee Golf series started in 1990 and still to this day can be found in many arcades and sports bars all over the world. The action/strategy game Rampart was also released in the early 90’s and made great use of the track ball. One of the most interesting games to be released using the track ball was SegaSonic The Hedgehog which was released in 1993 and was a Sonic The Hedgehog game that made great use of the track ball.
Track Ball Now!
While the arcade scene as a whole is not what it once was there still have been a few track ball games that have made it into arcades the last few years. The Simpsons Bowling was a very popular bowling game made by Konami that was released in 2000 and worked wonderfully well with the track ball. The Golden Tee series even got a few new games in the 00’s. So while there may not be a new track ball game released each year. It’s cool to see that some developers still are willing to make track ball games.
Here At DIY Arcade we have two amazing track ball options for you guys to look at. We have a regular sized 3 inch track ball that can really make your home arcade look unique and bring back those memories you have of playing Centipede as a kid in your local arcade. But we also have a very reasonably priced smaller track ball that will work amazingly well, but not take up a ton of space.
