The U.S. National Video Game Team (USNVGT) was an American

esports Esports (), short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, played individually or as teams. ...

team in the early 1980s. It was founded in July 1983 in

Ottumwa, Iowa Ottumwa ( ) is a List of cities in Iowa, city in and the county seat of Wapello County, Iowa, United States. The population was 25,529 at the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. Census. Located in the state's southeastern section, th ...

, United States by Walter Day and Jim Riley as part of the Electronic Circus tour, with Steve Sanders as the first captain. After the Circus folded, Day re-established the team with himself as the captain, taking the team on a bus tour. The team challenged the players of arcades across the country and attempted to challenge other countries through visits to foreign embassies. In the years that followed the team ran numerous competitive contests. Mark Hoff and Joel West

History

* January 14, 1984: Working with the Twin Galaxies Intergalactic Scoreboard, the USNVGT conducted the 1984 Coronation Day to crown the 1983 players, manufacturers, and magazines of the past year. * February 12, 1984: The U.S. National Video Game Team attends the February 1984 AMOA Expo in New Orleans, beginning a long tradition of reviewing new games for the video game industry. * February 1012, 1984: Canada-USA Video Game Team Conference is organized by USNVGT. * The first annual U.S. National Video Game Team competition was held in 1985.

Arcade video game An arcade video game is an arcade game that takes player input from its controls, processes it through electrical or computerized components, and displays output to an electronic monitor or similar display. All arcade video games are coin-oper ...

s at the competition included the

fighting game The fighting game video game genre, genre involves combat between multiple characters, often (but not limited to) one-on-one battles. Fighting game combat often features mechanics such as Blocking (martial arts), blocking, grappling, counter- ...

Karate Champ , originally known as , is a fighting game developed by Technōs Japan and released in arcades by Data East in 1984. A variety of moves can be performed using the dual-joystick controls using a best-of-three matches format like later fighting ga ...

'' (1984), the

beat 'em up A beat 'em up (also known as brawler and, in some markets, beat 'em all) is a video game genre featuring hand-to-hand combat against a large number of opponents. Traditional beat 'em ups take place in Side-scrolling video game, scrolling, 2D c ...

title '' Kung-Fu Master'' (1984), the run-and-gun shooter ''

Commando A commando is a combatant, or operative of an elite light infantry or special operations force, specially trained for carrying out raids and operating in small teams behind enemy lines. Originally, "a commando" was a type of combat unit, as oppo ...

'' (1985) and the

sports video game A sports video game is a video game that simulates the practice of sports. Most sports have been recreated with video games, including team sports, track and field, extreme sports, and combat sports. Some games emphasize playing the sport (such ...

'' Gridiron Fight'' (1985). * April 8, 1986: The U.S. National Video Game Team is authorized by the Guinness Book of World Records to organize contests. * In 1986, the USNVGT continued on without Day under Jeff Peters and Steve Harris with Donn Nauert as team captain. The team extended their reach to include publishing the ''Top Score Newsletter'' and '' Electronic Game Player Magazine'' a short time later. Nauert appeared in television commercials for the

Atari 7800 The Atari 7800 ProSystem, or simply the Atari 7800, is a home video game console officially released by Atari Corporation in 1986 as the successor to both the Atari 2600 and Atari 5200. It can run almost all Atari 2600 cartridges, making it the ...

and served as the referee for Incredible Sunday on ''

That's Incredible! ''That's Incredible!'' is an American reality television show that aired on the ABC television network from 1980 to 1984. In the tradition of '' You Asked for It'', '' Ripley's Believe It or Not!'' and '' Real People'', the show featured people ...

'', a three-game competition on the

Nintendo Entertainment System The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on 15 July 1983 as the and was later released as the redesigned NES in several test markets in the ...

that served as a precursor to the Nintendo World Championships 1990. * April 1, 1987: U.S. National Video Game Team Conducts 1987 Video Game Masters Tournament for Guinness. * July 12, 1987; The U.S. National Video Game Team organizes the 1987 Video Game Masters Tournament for Guinness Record Book. *1991–1994: Every month ''Electronic Gaming Monthly'' (''EGM''), published a full-page high-score table titled "The U.S. National Video Game Team's International Scoreboard".

U.S.National VideoGame Team Tournaments

In 2016, Lonnie McDonald won a USNVGT "cutthroat rules" Joust tournament on the game at the Let's Play Gaming Expo before defeating John Newcomer - the creator of the game - in a special live exhibition match.

References

{{reflist Esports teams based in the United States Video game culture 1983 establishments in the United States