Gunpei’s Voyage: 1 –

The Bell Tolls for Thee…

Greetings Leaguelettes!

It is I: The never released master robot, villain: ChairMan!

Neat, but not quite…

Anyway, despite the fact that we’re in the throws of Console Mega-Wars Month; I’ve decided to come before you today with a little something that veers from the norm.

And I do mean little.

Ball-in-a-cup!

This, my friends; is the Game & Watch. A little hand held device that serves as both…well… a game, and a watch!

Brain child of Nintendo engineering master Gunpei Yokoi, the Game & Watch had come about as a result of a fated train ride in 1979. While on his merry way via Shinkansen (Or bullet train), Mr. Yokoi had observed a businessman playing boredly on his calculator.

What better way, Yokoi thought; to literally kill time than to have a little game built in amongst a time keeping device?

In April, a year later– the Game & Watch was born.

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Versions & Features

This handy-dandy little device came in one of 59 flavors, each with game modes A and B available. Normally, these modes would offer little more than a change in difficulty, with a few exceptions.

It should also be noted that while a 60th Game & Watch game was produced, it was only given away as a contest award and is therefore considered fairly rare.

Aside from it’s primary gaming functions, the Game & Watch was also equipped with a standard clock or an alarm, and in some cases both.

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The Man, The Myth, The Mallet?

You see, every Game & Watch game followed this large-nosed, funny little man on his various day-to-day adventures as…a ball catcher… or a chef.

Well, I’m sure that while some of you may not recognize the handheld I’ve showcased today– there is no doubt in my mind you know the gentleman shown above.

Mr. Game & Watch as he’s known by, was Nintendo’s way of paying homage to their past by including him as a fighter in the vastly popular franchise: Super Smash Brothers.

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In the end, while this may not be a console per-say; I felt like it would be madness not to include it in our pre-crash conglomerate of gaming glory.

What do you folks think? Was the Game & Watch revolutionary?

Do you feel it deserves a place in fame for the good it did Nintendo? Or is it a marred scar on the face of the gaming world?

Let us know what you think~

We’re adjourned.

#Gaming #Nintendo #GameDesign #ConsoleMegaWarsMonth #GameampWatch #Games #Consoles #Hardware #TheChairman #TheHBCL