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Launched in Japan on April 28, 1980, Nintendo’s first “GAME & WATCH” portable gaming console pioneered portable entertainment and celebrated its 40th anniversary on Tuesday, April 28.
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Reproduction of the first work in the GAME & WATCH series “BALL”
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“GAME & WATCH” is the first portable game console released by Nintendo in 1980. The idea came from Junping Yokoi, a well-known Nintendo developer: he had accidentally seen an office worker press the button on an electronic computer while traveling on the tram to pass the time, so he was inspired by the development of an LCD game console. Since it was originally designed to give office employees time to travel, they were designed to fit in shirt pockets. The content of the game is simple and has an electronic clock function, so the product name “GAME AND CLOCK (game and clock)” is also derived.
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Unlike today’s popular handhelds that use programmable displays and can replace game software, GAME & WATCH adopts integrated host and game design, and the game is built into the host electronic circuit and not can be replaced. The LCD screen is also a fixed pattern specially designed for specific games. Just like the digital LCD screen of an electronic watch, the screen can only be displayed through a combination of fixed patterns. Sound effects are simply synthesized electronic sounds. Due to its simple structure and low cost, the GAME & WATCH price falls between 5,000 and 8,000 yen, which is similar to the price of current gaming software.
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GAME & WATCH uses a fixed pattern LCD screen, all of which is displayed like this
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Since a game is a console, GAME & WATCH has a variety of styles, including the basic “Silver” series, the “Gold” series with an alarm clock, the “Wide Screen” series with a 1.7 times larger screen, and the double folding screen “Multi Screen” series, “Panorama Screen” series of mirror-reflecting color screens, “Micro Vs. System” series of dual-controller widescreen combat models, etc. From its launch in August 1980 to the last product released in August 1987, a total of 60 games have been released (one of which is not for sale).
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It can be called the GAME & WATCH double-screen game “DONKEY KONG” from the Nintendo DS ancestor
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The protagonist of the black villain who often appeared in the game GAME & WATCH and later became one of the representative characters of Nintendo video games. You can see the figure that appears in the name of “Mr. GAME & WATCH” in the previous “Nintendo Star Battle”.
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After GAME & WATCH successfully developed the market for portable LCD game consoles from scratch, many manufacturers, including CASIO, BANDAI, TOMY, etc., have also continued to launch similar products, with a variety of styles and styles. Almost all products have their own unique design.
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Nintendo, which successfully developed the portable device market with GAME & WATCH, launched the “GAMEBOY” that really established the primary model of today’s portable device on April 21, 1989, 9 years later. It was also directed by Yokoi Junping, a creative developer at Nintendo who previously developed GAME & WATCH, using replaceable ROM cartridges and a programmable dot-matrix black and white LCD screen. Last Tuesday, April 21, it just celebrated its 31st anniversary.
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