Merlin (game console)

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Merlin - the electronic wizard
Merlin - the electronic wizard at work
Manufacturer Parker Brothers
Type Handheld console
generation 1st generation of consoles
publication
world 1978
Storage media none (fixed games)
Online service none
Units sold > 5 million
predecessor none
info first commercially successful handheld console

Merlin (also Merlin - the electronic magician , stylized as MERLIN the electronic magician ) is a handheld console that was brought onto the market in 1978 by the American toy manufacturer Parker Brothers (Parker for short). The console was very successful at the time and already sold over five million times in the first series production in the USA alone. It also remained one of the most popular handheld consoles for much of the 1980s. A new version of "Merlin" was released in 2004 by the Milton Bradley Company .

Merlin was developed by Bob Doyle, a Harvard professor and inventor who previously worked at NASA , his wife Holly, and his brother-in-law Wendl Thomis.

Merlin is shaped like a rectangular box (similar to a cordless phone) that was 9 inches long, 3 inches wide, and 2 inches deep. The weight of the device is 250 grams, with batteries 391 grams. The playing field ("display") consists of a matrix of eleven buttons, each with an integrated red LED light. The playing field is built into a plastic housing (upper part red, lower part brown), on which four additional buttons for selecting and controlling the games are attached. The device also has a loudspeaker for reproducing sounds. The on / off switch is located on the top right, and on the opposite side on the left is the connection for an external power supply unit to supply the console with power.

Games

Six different games could be displayed on the playing field with its simple arrangement (and a simple music sequencer , see below), which could be played against the computer. These goods:

  • Tic-tac-toe
  • Music machine ( see below for more information)
  • Echo (a kind of senso )
  • 17 minus 4 (named after 17 and 4 , a kind of blackjack )
  • Magic Square (a puzzle game where you had to light up all the lamps except the middle, upper and lower ones)
  • Mindbender (a version of Mastermind , in Germany this game was called Code-Breaker )

Merlin could also be used as a kind of musical instrument (music machine) in that each button served to control a musical note, which could be recorded (maximum 48 notes) and then played back. This feature made Merlin one of the first sequencers made for the consumer.

Merlin: The 10th Quest

In 1995 Parker Brothers published a revised version of Merlin in the USA - the electronic wizard under the name Merlin: the 10th Quest . The device had an LC display and instead of the usual six games there were now nine games in the device. These goods:

  1. Swords & Shields , similar to Tic-Tac-Toe
  2. Seek the Grail
  3. Castle Keep , numbers guess between 0 and 99
  4. Spell Bender , similar to Memory
  5. Mindcaster , similar to mastermind
  6. Magic Square
  7. Singing Sword
  8. Ghost Walk
  9. Dragon Dance

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Bob Doyle mini-bio. Accessed January 30, 2019 .

Web links