Game & Watch

[hamfist]

Someone sent me this article last night, which goes into some detail about the development of the Nintendo Game & Watch handhelds in the early 80's.

I played on these loads as a kid. I had popeye :


and my brother had fire :


then later I got donkey kong:


Popeye and Fire were sort of similar in that you had to 'catch falling things' and cope with multiple falling things at once as the game progressed, and the action sped up on all 3 games as it progressed.

One of the lovely things I remember was the rhythm they had - they ticked along on a sort of clock, and as they sped up of course that rhythm sped up too. As multiple objects became involved, the rhythms sort of syncopated.

So did you have any of these ? Did your parents play them while you were in bed and beat your high score (thanks mum...) ?

[studpuppet]

I had Donkey Kong, which I kept through to adulthood and eventually gave to a female colleague as a wedding present. We'd gone on a business trip once to Singapore and I discovered that she was handheld game crazy (we must have looked at every Pokemon and Tamagotchi display while we were there). It was a small informal wedding (reception in the pub across the road from the registry office), and when she opened the package she squealed and ran across the room to hug me, because it was the best wedding present she'd had. I had to replace it a few years later for lots of money...

[Hollow]

You should try the popular emulator library RetroArch...it has an excellent G&W simulator...worth trying if you can't afford the real thing.

[samadriel]

Oh man, I remember that octopus one, it has cool artwork for an LCD game. I didn't have any Nintendo G&Ws myself, I just played on friends' copies, (Donkey Kong was great) but I had a really cool Ninja Turtles one in 1990, I think it was made by Konami.

[Bazooka]

Oh man, I remember that octopus one, it has cool artwork for an LCD game. I didn't have any Nintendo G&Ws myself, I just played on friends' copies, (Donkey Kong was great) but I had a really cool Ninja Turtles one in 1990, I think it was made by Konami.

Yes Konami, Tiger Electronics was a company that made the vast majority, they also created Furby.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiger_Electronics



I had the Power Rangers one:

[colacentral]

I had a Tim Burton's Batman one, which was probably Tiger. I remember for some reason it was possible to beat it and get an ending, and I had no real clue how to play the game, as fighting doesn't come across too clearly in three frames of animation on those weird screens.

[madhair60]

Here is a website where you can play a lot of classic LCD games in-browser.

www.pica-pic.com

[momatt]

I'd like to give one of these to a kid now, telling them that I used to spend hours playing it and ask what they thought of it.

They'd think I was a fucking idiot.  And rightly so.

[Barry Admin]

I think BMX Flyer was my favourite. Colour LCD screen, cool music (which I just listened to on YouTube, wow), and a  compelling gameplay loop. Probably still have it somewhere.



Lasercolour! I'm afraid I don't remember much about G&W, but Fire brings back memories. And I think I had a factory one as well? Ah ok yeah, it was this Mario game, pretty sure I had that.

How amazing is it that you can just go straight to YouTube to check these things out, or even play them in your browser? Just being able to see and hear BMX Flyer again with no fannying about is extraordinary.

[Sherman Krank]

and my brother had fire :

Seeing that picture unlocked a dusty old room in my brain and after looking at the Wikipedia page I now recall that I had Ball, Fire, Parachute, Turtle Bridge and Oil Panic.

I can also now remember being in a shop and having to choose between Oil Panic and Donkey Kong and choosing Oil Panic because what the hell is a Donkey Kong?

[biggytitbo]

I left my dual screen Donkey Kong in front of the central heating and it completely melted :(

[Penfold]

I think I had Chef but I'm not sure.

I definitely had this though.


I remember being good at it but that is probably a lie.

[hamfist]

I think BMX Flyer was my favourite. Colour LCD screen, cool music (which I just listened to on YouTube, wow), and a  compelling gameplay loop. Probably still have it somewhere.



Lasercolour! I'm afraid I don't remember much about G&W, but Fire brings back memories. And I think I had a factory one as well? Ah ok yeah, it was this Mario game, pretty sure I had that.

How amazing is it that you can just go straight to YouTube to check these things out, or even play them in your browser? Just being able to see and hear BMX Flyer again with no fannying about is extraordinary.

oh that - especially the screen - reminds me of the Lupin game I had, that didn't last long for some reason - I only have vague memories - but this vid shows some of the gameplay

[hamfist]

Here is a website where you can play a lot of classic LCD games in-browser.

www.pica-pic.com

You lovely lovely person ! Just done some donkey kong

[buzby]

I've still got my Donkey Kong 2 dual screen one somewhere, still in it's box:

It was given to me by my uncle as a present - he ran the Littlewoods photographic studio and the staff could buy the samples they were sent to photograph for a nominal sum.

[Beagle 2]

Ah man, I had loads of these, and in fact I just got a bit upset remembering my mum secretly buying a baseball game I fell in love with at a market stall and giving it to me when I got home, god bless the old bird.

I had Donkey Kong as well, but this was my absolute favourite. Awful, shrill sound effects, must have driven my parents loopy.

[ASFTSN]

I used to have:



which technically isn't G+ but same remit

and



Brilliant little things, at least to me at the time.  I like how the Tiger ones have large colourful artwork on the case, pub quiz/slot machine style almost.

[ASFTSN]

The anodised (?) metal casing and squashy buttons of the Game and Watch are actually quite appealing, design-wise I reckon..

Just had flashbacks of a bitter argument with a school friend after I told him I had a 'Game and Watch' and then when I brought it in to school to show him he called me a liar because I'd said I had a 'Game Watch' which of course are two very different things

[Panbaams]

My sister had an LCD Donkey Kong game that wasn't a Game & Watch, but was in a mini red arcade cabinet. Can't find it on Google Images, however.

I had one of these:



And this:



... They're still somewhere at my parents' house, I believe. I'm fairly sure they both still work.

[Small Man Big Horse]

I loved these as a kid, and know I had a good few of them, though for some unknown probably strange reason it's Snoopy Tennis that I remember enjoying the most.



Unsurprisingly if you've got a boxed and working game and watch they go for a decent amount on ebay.