Game & Watch

The Game & Watch are a series of around 59 handheld games made by Nintendo between 1980 and 1991. Each featured a game, a watch, and an alarm. Designs varied from game to game, but they usually had a D-Pad on the left and one or two buttons on the right. There usually were buttons to switch between game, watch, and alarm mode as well.

History

Gunpei Yokoi, while traveling on a bullet train, saw a bored business man playing with an electronic calculator. He came up with the idea for a small game to play to kill time.

The Game & Watch series was very popular. Many competitors copied the idea, most notably Tiger Electronics. The Russians created knock offs under the Electronika brand. Because of variations in packaging in different regions, the Game & Watch games have become a popular collectible item.

Of all the Game & Watch games, only Mario Bros. was ported to another system, the Commodore 64. Since the arcade version had already been ported, the Game & Watch version was renamed Mario Bros. II.

Legacy

Game & Watch Gallery

The Game & Watch Gallery series of games are ports of the Game & Watch series to the Gameboy, Gameboy Color, and Gameboy Advance. More recently, the Game & Watch Collection for the Nintendo DS was made available through Club Nintendo.

Super Smash Bros. Melee

In honor of the Game & Watch series, Super Smash Bros. Melee featured a new character, Mr. Game & Watch. He is a stylized version of the characters in the Game & Watch series taking his attacks from various games including Chef, Fire, Vermin, and Judge. His stage, Flat Zone, is a combination of Manhole, Helmet, and Oil Panic.

Nintendo DS

The Multiscreen series of Game & Watch games inspired the look of the Nintendo DS. They both have two screens on top of each other and close in a clam-like style.

• List of Game & Watch Games