Nintendo Game & Watch Series and Collections

Nintendo Game & Watch was one of the first handheld devices to be introduced and it enjoyed much success. This device offered the chance to engage in great games on the go and each unit was sold with a different game installed. With 60 titles in total, Nintendo Game & Watch series enjoyed top sales and there were different series that were created to offer advanced technology and an enhanced gaming experience. With the Nintendo games and great action. Game & Watch paved the road for the Gameboy that would later be released.

Silver and Gold Series of Game & Watch Introduced

The Game & Watch Silver series was the first to be introduced in 1980 and players from around the world got to enjoy some great games. The very first unit was sold with the Ball game and other games that were found in the Silver series included Flagman, Vermin, Fire and Judge. These games were compact and very basic, usually being controlled with just two buttons. Since these games were played on a small screen, there was simple gameplay offered. The Game & Watch silver series got its name from the solver coloured faceplate that was used on the device.

In 1981, Nintendo Game & Watch Gold Series was released and this offered some new games that were a bot more complex and required the use of additional control buttons. Unfortunately, the Gold series was limited in terms of game titles, only offering 3 games, which included Manhole. Helmet and Lion. As with the silver series, the gold series got its name from the golden faceplate, though the quality of games did not improve much overall. Even though there are just three games offered, sales continued to rise for Game & Watch and players from all over the world were even more drawn to Nintendo products, awaiting the next release of series.

Game & Watch Releases Widescreen and Multi-Screen Series

In 1981, Nintendo wanted to expand the offering of games and provide players with a more appealing and engaging experience, so the Widescreen Game & Play was introduced. This offered a 30% larger playing area, so the graphics and controls were much more enhanced. Many of the games that were released were well-known cartoon characters, including Popeye, Mickey Mouse and Snoopy. One of the top Widescreen series games was Octopus, which was a game that filled the screen with an Octopus and the objective was to avoid the tentacles to collect a treasure.

The Widescreen format of the Nintendo Game & Watch remained a popular device and many more games were released throughout the decade, including Mario, Juggler and Turtle Bridge. As the demand for more enhanced games became an issue, Nintendo redesigned the Game & Watch to offer the Multi-Screen unit. This introduced the D pad for the very first time and offered two screens to present a larger playing area and more action. The most popular titles offered with this series were Donkey Kong and Mario Bros. The widescreen series was one of the most popular of all Game & Watch series released.

Game & Watch Leads to the First Gameboy

Following many years of success and some great titles. The Nintendo Game & Watch series was replaced by the Gameboy, an innovative handheld device that allowed players to switch cartridges to play various game titles. The device made use of a similar LCD technology as the multi-screen series of Game & Watch and added more resolution for a better visual experience. The Gameboy was an instant hit and sold millions around the world.

The Gameboy competed with other handheld devices like NEC's TurboExpress and Sega's Game Gear, but it always outsold rivals and remained one of the hottest gaming consoles on the market. Many of the games from Game & Watch were sold as a collection, allowing players to play multiple games on a single cartridge, which was great for those that found those initial games to be engaging and thrilling. The original Gameboy was sold until the early 2000s when Nintendo replaced it with the new Game Boy Advance.

To this day, the Gameboy is an iconic device from Nintendo and any players still use these devices to enjoy great game titles. It all stems from the first handheld Game & Watch device offered and through different series and great games, players developed their love for Nintendo products.