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"First Released: Arcade (1983), ZX Spectrum and Atari (1984) Now Available On: Xbox Live Arcade  With the London 2012 Olympic Games now under way and the world&amp;#039;s biggest sporting stars jostling for those shiny gold medals, what better time to look back at a great moment in the history of athletics video games? Konami&amp;#039;s Track &amp;amp; Field - first released on arcade in 1983 but then ported to various platforms including the Atari a year later - really set the bar for sports games, introducing an effective yet also finger-punishing style of gameplay.  The official game of the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, Track &amp;amp; Field tasked players with pursuing excellence in events such as the 100 metres, long jump and the javelin. The game featured rather charming retro graphics, and even had a cute digital version of the Chariots of Fire theme to set the sporting mood.   Long before the Nintendo Wii and Microsoft&amp;#039;s Xbox Kinnect system came along and changed the way people play physical video games, all gamers had was their fingers and their wits. But somehow, Track &amp;amp; Field still managed to give them a pretty good workout.  Developer Ocean Software and publisher Konami created a gameplay system that linked the speed of button presses with the speed of the athlete on the screen in a variety of events.  This meant that players needed stamina, hand-eye co-ordination, precision and a genuine thirst for competition in order to excel - a blueprint that has been copied by sports games ever since.  Track &amp;amp; Field also did a good job of actually recreating its individual events. For example, the 100 metres required rapidly alternating presses of two different buttons, simulating the quick steps and rhythm of the sprinter.   110 metre hurdles required the same running technique, but with the added challenge of timing jumps over the hurdles. Long jump and high jump both involved a strong run up and then pressing the action button at the right time to achieve the optimum leap and landing.  Success in the javelin and hammer throw events also required careful judgement of the right angle, but in this case for the release of the different projectiles to send them flying the furthest distance.  As everyone knows, it is not the taking part that matters in sport; it is the winning. Up to four players could compete in Track &amp;amp; Field, either in pairs or taking individual turns.   Players competed in six stages, but could only progress if they met the required qualifying time. Complete all the events successfully and they would be on that podium picking up a medal, brimming with sporting pride.  The World Record for Track &amp;amp; Field was set on December 18, 2008 by American gamer Hector Rodriguez, who racked up an incredible score of 95,350, beating the 23-year-old record set by Kelly Kobashigawa during the Twin Galaxies&amp;#039; 1985 Video Game Masters Tournament in Canada. But away from the legitimate achievements, there was always someone in Track &amp;amp; Field - particularly on the later NES version - who adopted the rather dubious strategy of placing two fingers in their T-shirt and then rapidly sliding them back and forth over the buttons to increase sprinting speed. Even after all these years, we still demand a steward&amp;#039;s inquiry! Do you have any fond memories of Track &amp;amp; Field? Write a comment in the space below!      "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/gaming/retro-corner/news/a395615/retro-corner-track-field/>