Game & Watch

Game & Watch
Game & Watch of the Silver series with the game "Ball"
Manufacturer	Nintendo
Type	Series of handheld consoles
generation	2nd generation of consoles
publication	April 28, 1980  unknown  unknown
Main processor	Sharp SM5xx (4-bit)
Graphics processor	none
Storage media	a different built-in game depending on the model
Controller	Control elements were individually adapted for each game, therefore different depending on the model
Units sold	approx. 43.4 million
Most successful game	unknown
predecessor	none
successor	Game Boy
info	Nintendo's first handheld consoles

Game & Watch is the name of a 56-part (official) and 57-part (unofficial) series of electronic LCD game consoles from Nintendo , which started with the game Ball on April 28, 1980 and on October 14, 1991 with the game Mario the Juggler was deposed.

All Game & Watch consoles had a single pre-installed game and were mostly designed to match the game. If you wanted to play a different game, you had to purchase a new Game & Watch with a different preinstalled game - an expansion of the games portfolio, for example with game modules , was neither possible nor intended. All Game & Watches were handheld game consoles with a built-in alarm clock , hence the name Game & Watch . They were produced until the mid-1990s. These game systems were divided into different series and so-called "screen sizes". The Nintendo Game & Watch consoles were sold around 43.4 million times worldwide.

The successor to the Game & Watch series was the Game Boy , which supported interchangeable modules.

Series

Game & Watch (yellow special edition) with the game Super Mario Bros.

Game & Watch of the Multi Screen series with the game "Mario Bros."

Game & Watch of the wide screen series with the game "Fire"

Board from Game & Watch with the game "Mario Bros."

Two Game & Watches from the Crystal Screen series (left) and one from the Super Color series (right)

Game & Watch of the tabletop series with the game "Mario's Cement Factory"

Below in chronological order:

• Silver series (small screen, silver housing)
• Gold series (small screen, gold-colored housing)
• Wide screen series (full-size screen, gold-colored housing)
• New Wide Screen series (full-size screen, colored housing)
• Multi screen series (two screens, can be opened horizontally or vertically)
• Tabletop series (miniature game machine)
• Panorama series (hinged and colored screen)
• Super Color series (large and color screen)
• Micro vs. System series (with large screen and two pads for 2 players)
• Crystal Screen Series (large and transparent screen)

Within these 10 series, 59 different official games with different editions were produced. A game that cannot be assigned to any of the above screen sizes has been given away to winners of the Famicon Grand Prix F1 Race ( フ ァ ミ コ ン グ ラ ン プ リ F1 レ ー ス , Famikon Guran Puri F1 Rēsu ). This game is therefore rare and is also referred to by fans as the 60th Game & Watch.

All games have a slot for either one or two button cells , a monochrome or colored liquid crystal screen and at least one fire button and a directional pad. In Germany and Austria, the games were also sold by the company Bienengräber under the name " tricOtronic" . All these games are now relatively difficult to come by. You can still find them, for example, at internet auctions, flea markets or on fan-swap lists. There were various new editions of the Game & Watch games, e.g. B. a series of wristwatches as well as the handheld games Nintendo Mini Classics , which are similar in appearance to a Game Boy, are only smaller, and as DSi Ware titles on the Nintendo DSi . The character "Mr. Game & Watch", who plays the leading role in some games, was only picked up by Nintendo again in the GameCube game Super Smash Bros. Melee and its successors were also involved.

Overview of Game & Watch games

An overview of Game & Watch games; sorted by order, model number and introduction date:

Silver series

• Ball (AC-01, April 28, 1980)
• Flagman (FL-02 Jun 5, 1980)
• Vermin (MT-03, July 10, 1980)
• Fire (RC-04, July 31, 1980)
• Judge (IP-05, October 4, 1980)

For the game Fire see also Bouncing Babies .

Gold series

• Manhole (MH-06, Jan 29, 1981)
• Helmet (CN-07, February 21, 1981)
• Lion (LN-08, April 28, 1981)

Wide screen series

• Parachute (PR-21, June 19, 1981)
• Octopus (OC-22, July 16, 1981)
• Popeye (PP-23 August 5, 1981)
• Chief (FP-24, September 8, 1981)
• Mickey Mouse (MC-25, October 9, 1981)
• Egg (EG-26, October 16, 1981)
• Fire (FR-27, December 4, 1981)
• Turtle Bridge (TL-28, February 1, 1982)
• Fire Attack (ID-29, March 26, 1982)
• Snoopy Tennis (SP-30, April 28, 1982)

New wide screen series

• Donkey Kong Jr. (DJ-101, Oct. 26 1982)
• Mario's Cement Factory (ML-102, June 16, 1983)
• Manhole (NH-103, Aug. 24 1983)
• Tropical Fish (TF-104, July 6, 1985)
• Super Mario Bros. (YM-105, March 8, 1988)
• Climber (DR-106, March 8, 1988)
• Balloon Fight (BF-107, March 8, 1988)
• Mario the Juggler (MJ-108, October 14, 1991)

Multi screen series

• Oil Panic (OP-51, May 28, 1982)
• Donkey Kong (DK-52, June 3, 1982)
• Mickey & Donald (DM-53, November 12, 1982)
• Greenhouse (GH-54, December 6, 1982)
• Donkey Kong II (JR-55, March 7, 1983)
• Mario Bros. (MW-56, March 14, 1983)
• Rain Shower (LP-57, Aug 17, 1983)
• Life Boat (TC-58, October 21, 1983)
• Pinball (PB-59, December 5, 1983)
• Black Jack (BJ-60, February 15, 1985)
• Squish (MG-61, April 17, 1986)
• Bombsweeper (BD-62, June 15, 1987)
• Safebuster (JB-63, January 6, 1988)
• Goldcliff (MV-64, October 19, 1988)
• Zelda (ZL-65, August 26, 1989)

Panorama series

• Snoopy (SM-91, Aug. 30 1983)
• Popeye (PG-92, Aug. 30 1983)
• Donkey Kong Jr. (CJ-93, October 7, 1983)
• Mario's Bombs Away (PB-94, November 10, 1983)
• Mickey Mouse (DC-95, February 28, 1984)
• Donkey Kong Circus (MK-96, Sep 10, 1984)

Super color series

• Spitball Sparky (BU-201, February 7, 1984)
• Crab Grab (UD-202, February 21, 1984)

Game & Watch the Micro vs. System series with the game "Punch Out !!"

Micro VS. System series

• Boxing / punch-out !! (BX-301, July 31, 1984)
• Donkey Kong 3 (AK-302, Aug 20, 1984)
• Donkey Kong Hockey (HK-303, Nov 13, 1984)

Crystal Screen Series

• Super Mario Bros. (YM-801, June 25, 1986)
• Climber (DR-802, July 22, 1986)
• Balloon Fight (BF-803, Nov. 18, 1986)

Special Editions

• Super Mario Bros. (Special Edition) (YM-901, August 1, 1987)
• Ball (Club Nintendo Edition) (RGW-001, April 1, 2010)

Web links

Commons : Game & Watch  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• http://www.gameandwatch.ch/ (German, English)
• http://www.handhelden.com/ (English)
• http://www.replacementdocs.com/download.php?list.34 Instructions for most Game & Watch games (English)
• http://www.spielwaren-suche.de/sammeln/handheld-sammeln.htm Handheld consoles with original packaging (German)
• http://handheld.remakes.org/online.php Emulators (English)
• http://www.madrigaldesign.it/sim/ Emulators (English)
• Pica Pic - Online Flash versions of various Game & Watch games
• lcdgames.js - Online JavaScript versions of some Game & Watch games
• Iwata asks: Game & Watch

Individual evidence

1. ^ Iwata Asks. Retrieved January 22, 2019 .