Game & Watch

As many gamers know, Nintendo released the Game & Watch in 1980. It was a series of handhelds developed by the late Gunpei Yokoi after he’d seen a bored commuter playing with his handheld calculator on the way to work. He pitched the idea of a handheld gaming device that doubled as a watch to Nintendo and Sharp, and the rest is history. Many different types of Game & Watch were developed over the years, ranging from the basic LCD model to colour models and even a “multi-screen” model, serving as the precursor to the Nintendo DS, launched in 2004. (And the clamshell design was re-used with the Game Boy Advance SP, but that’s beside the point)

These handhelds assumed some good popularity during its eleven-year tenure, though admittedly, I had never heard of a single one. Never saw one, either. I was quite “in the know” when it came to several of Nintendo’s earliest gaming platforms – NES, SNES, Game Boy and its later iterations – but the Game & Watch flew right by me, so to speak. I’m sure it was largely because I grew up without video games, and only the biggest names and highest sellers caught my attention. Well, that and I wasn’t even born in 1980. In 1991, I was eight years old. It’s quite easy for something like that to slip under the radar when I was a non-gamer in a non-gaming family.

So, when did I finally hear about Game & Watch? About five years ago, which puts me at the age of thirty-three. I was a small part of the retro gaming community on Instagram and was learning more and more about the countless games I’d missed over the years, both in childhood and adulthood. Someone had made a post about Game & Watch, and I was completely confused. What the heck was that thing? Kind of looked like a Game Boy Micro… but much older.

As I learnt more about it, the more intrigued I became. The legendary Gunpei Yokoi, who created the Game Boy and WonderSwan, designed the Game & Watch before all of that? I knew I had to get my hands on one of those things, at least to study and marvel over the design.

…Unfortunately, my quest ended before it could begin. Even in 2016, prices on any Game & Watch were astronomical, at least to this broke gamer. I couldn’t justify coughing up at least $100 on just one handheld. So I contented myself with admiring photos and reading even more about the development of the Game & Watch… and try not to let jealousy consume me. It didn’t seem right that literally all Game & Watch handhelds were so insanely expensive.

In early 2020, Nintendo announced two new limited-time items for the thirty-fifth anniversary of Mario: Super Mario 3D All-Stars for the Switch, and for the first time in nearly thirty years: a brand-new Game & Watch that featured Mario. The handheld had a colour LCD screen, rechargeable batteries and three – yes, three – Mario games. Gaming sites that covered this new Game & Watch showed a plethora of features and extra goodies, all packed into one little handheld device.

I was ecstatic. I knew it wasn’t the older models of Game & Watch, but to get my hands on a new model? It was almost unreal. I saw the $50 price tag and knew it was more than I wanted to pay, but if I wanted one of these things without paying some insane price, I’d have to bite the bullet and come up with $50. The difficulty of buying one increased when no pre-orders were available, and only seemed to be sold at three retailers: Amazon, GameStop and Best Buy. I was surprised Walmart and Target didn’t have any but worked on a game plan to make my purchase on day one.

On the night of 12 November 2020, I sat at my computer and had tabs open for all three retailers. Whoever had the handhelds available first, I’d order a copy immediately. I waited and waited. And kept waiting. Finally, after what felt like ages and countless page refreshes, at midnight, Best Buy’s site showed the Game & Watch was available. When I tried to order one, the site crashed. I angrily went to GameStop’s site, which didn’t have the handheld listed at all. Amazon’s page still showed it unavailable.

Disappointment settled in. Would scalpers snap up all the handhelds before I had a chance to even get one? I still didn’t want to pay $50 but knew it was the only way I’d get a Game & Watch at a semi-reasonable price. But what could I do? No one seemed to have the thing besides Best Buy, and the site went down at exactly midnight. I grabbed my mobile and left my room, still unhappy about the whole thing.

I sat in the living room and complained to my mom about it, then decided to try again from the mobile browser. I went to Best Buy’s site, and lo and behold, the page was up and running for the Game & Watch. I had to do some strange thing by waiting five or ten minutes – maybe to keep scalpers away? – but it finally let me place the order. I put in my information as quickly as possible, and once the order confirmation was in, I sat back and let out a sigh of relief. I’d finally be able to get my own Game & Watch.

Later that morning, I received an email that told me the order was ready for pickup. I normally don’t like being in that part of the city – it’s one of the two busiest places – but I hopped on the highway and headed over there. Before I knew it, I’d picked up my very first Game & Watch, and stared at it in awe.

It was… small. Quite small, really. But gosh, it sure was beautiful, too. I was very happy to have it, though I was uncertain if I should take it out of its box. It was a collector’s piece, for sure, and I had all the Mario games on it for the original hardware (well, Lost Levels was on my Super Mario All-Stars cart but that’s the only way we got it in the West for many years), save for the “Ball” game. But was it really worth taking it out of the box for it?

Needless to say, I left it factory sealed.

Several months later, I was blown away by another surprise: a second Game & Watch was planned for release, this one themed after The Legend of Zelda series for its thirty-fifth anniversary. I couldn’t believe it. Not only did we have a new Game & Watch after three decades, but TWO of them?! This one would include three Legend of Zelda games as well as a Link variant of a classic Game & Watch game called Vermin. It was even better than the Mario one, and for the same price to boot.

Since I worked for a certain big-box retailer, I decided to not place a pre-order anywhere (besides not really having the money to do so), and instead waited for the store to have it in stock in November. About a month before its release, I spoke with a manager in the Electronics department, asking if we’d be getting the Zelda Game & Watches. He said yes, it was on the planogram. I was glad, as it meant I could just buy the handheld whilst at work and not deal with online ordering, possible shipping costs or going out of my way to pick it up somewhere.

Two weeks before it released, I spoke with the same manager, asking if he could hold one of the Game & Watches for me when it came in. He said he could, but only if there were extras that wouldn’t fit on the shelf. I understood and left it at that. To my surprise, a few days before it was released, the manager sought me out and told me he’d gotten in the Game & Watches and could hold one for me. I apologised and explained I wouldn’t have any money until that Thursday, a day before it was supposed to go on sale. It was disappointing, but I also hadn’t expected to get the chance to buy the handheld several days before launch.

On Thursday, 11 November, I was paid… and no manager in sight. I tried and tried to look for him but apparently, he wasn’t working that day. I couldn’t find any electronics associate when I had the chance to get away from work, regardless if it was for lunch break or when I got off that night. I was again disappointed, knowing my chance to get the handheld even a day before launch was shot.

The next morning, I awoke early and went to the store closer to home – I live at the north end of town but work at the store at the south end of town. I’d gone under the pretence of doing a little holiday shopping, but I knew my real motive as I headed towards the back of the store where the Electronics department lied. I sought out an employee and asked for the Legend of Zelda Game & Watch. He told me he had it in stock and went to fetch it from the glass-enclosed case for higher-priced Nintendo items. A second employee talked to me about it a bit, and I told him about owning the Mario one from the previous year, how I was excited to get my hands on a second Game & Watch.

The first employee returned shortly thereafter and rang up my purchase. I attempted to use my employee discount card, but sadly, it didn’t give me a discount. However, I’d noticed the price of the Game & Watch was much lower than the previous one, by several dollars. That was good enough of a discount for me, I thought to myself as I popped my bank card into the card reader to complete the purchase. Within moments, I had my bag in hand, holding my second-ever Game & Watch.

I was so excited to get this, I took a picture of it in my car. That's the backseat in the background

It also goes without saying I left that one factory sealed as well. Whilst I may not ever get any of the older Game & Watch handhelds, at the very least, I can say I own two of the newest ones and love how they look on my gaming shelf. I also can’t help but wonder if Nintendo is planning to release any more Game & Watches; it would be great to get even more of them to display with the two I already own.

(French narrator voice) Ah, such beauty, such majesty~

*Thank-you to Wikipedia for the info about the Game & Watch series