XP Arcade: Football Champ

If you ask Tomohiro Nishikado, the first-ever original Japanese video game was 1973’s Soccer. And you could ask Nishikado — or look at his career history on his website — since he was the one who developed it for Taito, and did so at a time when Pong clones were what went to market. Not the first Japanese-developed video game, no — not even the first for Taito, where Nishikado worked, as that was Pong clone Elepong — but original work? Soccer released in November of 1973, the same month as a few other Taito releases like Pro Hockey, Astro Race, and another Nishikado joint in Davis Cup, but it was finished before the rest. Hence Nishikado’s claim to fame. Well, one of them — the man did create Space Invaders and all.Whether Soccer actually was first — there is some debate on the subject — what is known for sure is that it wasn’t a direct Pong clone, but it was a variant on the theme, at least, as many video games of the day were (including more than one other title by Nishikado, such…