Mechanical Handheld Zero-Bit Games from the 1970s
Vložit
- čas přidán 31. 07. 2024
- Take a look at my collection of handheld games from the 1970s that are mechanical, rather than electronic, even though some are deliberately modelled after video games. Since they don't use microprocessors, they could be considered Zero-Bit games.
I made a sort-of sequel to this video "4-Bit Handheld Games: Tron, Scramble, Lupin, and Caveman by Tomy": • 4-Bit Video Games: Tro...
Links:
Electro Tic-Tac-Toe: www.retrothing.com/2007/08/fi...
Blip video by Tech Tangents: • Blip - 1977 Mechanical...
Digital Derby breakdown/repair by Randi Rain: • The breakdown and repa...
Become a patron: / 8bitshowandtell
One-time donation: paypal.me/8BitShowAndTell
Ending music is "Praises Are Spent" from the unreleased album "Sole Behold" by Bedford Level Experiment: bedfordlevelexperiment.bandca...
Index:
0:00 Intro
0:29 Draw Poker (Waco, 1971)
3:12 21 "Black-Jack" (Waco, 1973)
8:50 Drive Yourself Crazy (Tomy, 1976)
14:08 Blip: The Digital Game (Tomy, 1977)
17:39 Digital Derby (Tomy, 1978)
23:41 Strolling Bowling (Tomy, 1979)
27:48 Thanks to my patrons - Věda a technologie
Links mentioned in the video:
Electro Tic-Tac-Toe: www.retrothing.com/2007/08/first-electroni.html
Blip video by Tech Tangents: czcams.com/video/BSvZbcwqlTw/video.html
Digital Derby breakdown/repair by Randi Rain: czcams.com/video/Fh1eAJ1Dtag/video.html
Interesting video.
Randi Rain over and out!
Dude you were "dealt" 3 Jacks, then another got another Jack in the draw? First hand 4 Jacks? Whoa! 🃏 LOL, this was a GREAT VIDEO SIR! I want to sincerely thank you for this! I am a 70's kid. Born in 67, I either had or knew a friend who had most of these games. And also THANK YOU for the warnings, ⚠️ those games were LOUD AS H*LL! Thank you again! I really appreciate content that isn't all X-Box One, PS5, PS4, etc. I do like those systems, I have a PS4 and an Xbox One, but these older games really bring back not just nostalgic memories but great childhood memories and adventures. The vacation rides up north in the back seat of the wagon. Most of those were more of the Mattel sports series games. These were a tad too loud for that, but I still tried. LOL! Again thank you for the great content. I subscribed to you, so I'll be binge watching 👀 your videos! Take care!
I was a RadioShack store manager in the 70's and we sold these every Christmas. Brings back memories!
Oh man I so remember tye old RadioShack commercials back in the 70's. The remote control cars, the handheld games, all price points were there. It was awesome!
Wtf my parents made me play my Gameboy with sound off and they were probably making their parents crazy with these games.
Many weren't as noisy as these are now. The grease has all dried up inside now
LOL.
My mom had legit mental health issues in the 80s....perhaps my 70s toys were the cause
Yup
I probably would have pissed my cute sister off with a Nintendo Game and Watch. No sound off button and there’s not even a on/off button
You know your playing a high stakes game when your cards are screaming as they're being dealt.
My mom worked for Tomy back in the late 70's/early 80's. The quality control dept would frequently give her toys for me to test out, and then I'd fill out feedback forms and give my opinion. I was about 10 back then and had all the toys you featured, but had forgotten all of them except Blip. This brought back memories! Man, don't even get me started on how KICK ASS a Tomy company picnic/party was. Good times!
I had a sonic pinball machine from TOMY. And that sucker. Was. LOUD AS HELL. It had motors it in that just went the whole time you played
Fun pinball game though
Yeah, they sold these things into the mid 80s, if I remember correctly. I was young, and I never had one, but played the driving ones that a friend had.
Awesome job that would have been!
I can't imagine how awesome it must have been being a kid whose mom worked there. You were blessed! That's awesome. Now I wouldn't change my Mom for anything but she worked at a factory building motors for Briggs & Stratton. She busted her butt and her work ethic was unbelievable. However your testing of products, That's intense and so cool to hear about! I had so many Tomy games. Blip was a classic. Such wonderful memories and childhood experiences. Toys back then were so different. Not much high technology, but so much more fun! I'd love to hear about the picnics and parties you got to attend. I remember reading about kids whose parents worked for Kenner or Mego. They had the Superheroes lineup of action figures from Mego and the Star Wars prototypes from Kenner. How amazing is that? I was always a huge fan of Mego Superheroes action figures, Star Wars figures, Marvel Legends figures, Hot Wheels, Matchbox cars, and video games of all types. From handheld games to Atari. Mattel 🏈🏉Football🏉🏈, ⚾️🧢Baseball🧢⚾️,🏀🏀Basketball🏀🏀, 🏒🥅Hockey🥅🏒, and ⚽️⚽️Soccer⚽️⚽️. Mattel had handheld for all of them. Sure they were just little red lit dots, but it was so fun. During a trip up north for vacation. Long car rides. On the bus? Whatever, they were great to pass the time. So cool to hear parts of your childhood. Thanks for sharing your experiences and memories. Take care, and enjoy the past, the future looks um, weak? Lol.
@@EdsterIII Weak and bleak! Mom only worked for Tomy for about 2 years. Not sure why she stopped, and she passed in 2018, so I can't ask. Only went to two Tomy picnics. First one was outside at a huge park and it was amazing! Second one was held inside a warehouse, so it wasn't as fun. I have more memories of that first one, the second one I only remember being kinda disappointed cuz it just wasn't the same, being inside a warehouse.
Shouts at top of lungs: "OH YEAH... mhmm, THAT DRAW POKER IS WORKING FINE!"
It's screaming "USE SOME LUBE, FOR THE LOVE GOD MAN!"
Holy volume-knob that stuff was loud. I initially thought the warning at the start of the video was perhaps not necessary -- everybody knows vintage electronics are epilepsy inducing and loud. But in this case -- that warning was definitely warranted! That was loud AF!
Troy McLure: Are you sure it's plugged in? I can't hear a thing!
Dr. Nick: IT'S WHISPER QUIET!
"ARE YOU ENJOYING YOUR NEW GAME?"
"...WHAT?"
just needs a drop of oil on the motor shaft and should be good as new
I have always had a soft spot for 70’s ‘space/computer’ font to highlight how COMPLETELY futuristic something was
Even better if it was a ‘Whatever 2000’
“Draw Poker...a quiet game you can play at the office.”
This is absolutely unreal. At one point in my life, I actually owned the draw poker, blip, strolling bowling, digital derby, drive yourself crazy & blackjack.
Yep, same here. I remember playing Digital Derby and Blip especially, all the time... I'd forgotten all about them until I saw this video.
That strolling bowling game is actually brilliant and almost plays like a mario party minigame
My thoughts exactly. I was like. Is that a Bobomb?
I grew up with that as a favorite. That little wind-up bowling ball was the epitome of random.
That bowling one has got be the cutest and my favourite one by far. I love the idea of a wind up bowling ball with feet.
Bobomb
I remember in the late '60s I played what I think was the first analog standup console driving game. Much like the "drive you crazy" game. Basically, it had a metal rod going from the steering wheel into the machine with a little car on the other end. It floated above a scrolling picture of a road and that was backlit. As the scroll made the road go by, you had to keep the car within the lines. You didn't control the speed of the car and the scroll would keep going faster and faster until you went off the road and then the machine would flash red, make a crashing sound and go dark as it reset the car. Lol.
That Strolling Bowling thing is hilarious
Last time I saw a warning that bold, HAL-9000 was about to terminate the survey team.
Open the pod bay doors .
I love how serviceable stuff was in the past. And especially the Japanese engineers really made sure that their stuff was easily serviceable.
Now it’s even I possible to open many enclosures, let alone fix it.
Yeah, huh? Even Crapple didn't play that antirepair shit game back then. But good luck getting an iphone or crapintosh repaired economically now, if at all!
@@HelloKittyFanMan. You can definitely do it it's not that hard to repair an iPhone yourself. Just don't trying to place your back glass panel because that's the more difficult part
@@TheTrueDoomSlayer: Nah. iPhones have too many security-id.ed parts now. Too many replacement parts won't work without paying crapple a shit-ton just for a part that they've id.-matched for you--if even that, and that's only if you send it to them, and many times you pay a hefty fee for them to just replace the phone with a refurb, and you're screwed if the old phone wouldn't turn on and they wouldn't swap your old storage chip over to the replacement phone!
i have a feeling this type of toy will make a comeback. really cool to see “analogue videogames”
As much as I like the idea of them coming back...I don't think so. I would say if anything we might see a mixture of mechanical meets what we're playing now. Kids today flat do not have the imagination for something like this.
Addendum- No, I'll tell you where the industry is likely headed. We're going to see a split in tech. On one hand you have the Xbox Series X, PS5, and PC pushing for as much realism as possible (the Steam Deck is just an offshoot of this). Nintendo is going to be closing the book on the Switch next year. I believe the next iteration of Nintendo's "home" offering will be vastly different....how different? Think a pair of sunglasses that functions as a portable screen that can be as big as 100 inches to your eyes. This will also enable Nintendo to ride a lower spec 1440p machine with DLSS giving it a "4K@60FPS look." That will be the next handheld.
My grandfather bought me that Strolling Bowling game. My nephew found it when he was around three and was playing it. When the bowler wound down, he looked at me and said, "Bowl!"
The only word he had said up to that point was "Dad".
Good memories.
I had a Digital Derby. I loved that game. Those sounds bring back some memories!
That game totally blew my mind. Never had it but played it at my friend’s place whenever we hung out.
Me too! Love it.
Why don't you still have it then, Spy? It broke to what you thought was "beyond repair," or...?
I also had that Digital Derby one when I grew up... It worked for a very long time... Sadly long since gone now though...
I had it as well as the Drive yourself crazy one.
The most appropriate sound warning ever. Well played sir.
I owned Blip when I was a kid, and had the "program" memorized so I could play indefinitely without losing.
ah... so it repeats... interesting... so no randomisation at all?
@@neilloughran4437 No, none at all.
Pretty sure I played with Derby, but it's a very fainted memory, those neuron connections haven't fired up for decades. Thank you for them!
I really love the early 70s art on Drive Yourself Crazy; it's quite soothing.
I really love these old handheld games...there's so much cool engineering going on. I got a Digital Derby in almost perfect condition from eBay a few years ago and it's one of the stars in my tiny videogames/homecomputer collection :-) ! BTW...thanks for the great "counter-clockwise-trick" ;-)...
I remember playing with one of those hopping bowling balls at my gransparent's house when I was little... They never had the full game, it was just the ball... I never knew it was part of something more! :)
When I started in Automotive Mechanics back in the early 80's one of the first things that I was taught was when it came time to re-fasten anything (especially plastic), screws always needed to be reversed with slight pressure until the click was heard or felt, then they can be tightened to specifications. You are the only other person I have ever heard repeat that since! 👍🏻 Nowadays the guys just cross thread, laugh and say re-thread as they hammer the fasteners in.😣 Cool vintage game collection, thanks for sharing.
I've heard from a few viewers that knew that old trick, but it seems to have been lost to common knowledge! It's been going around CZcams again lately, so hopefully lots of threads will be saved going forward :)
Oh my God! I had that strolling bowling when I was a kid. The toy was fun and fostered my love of bowling for many years.
😂 Ditto!
I had it too, was pretty awesome watching him open it up. Wonder what happened to it...
Priceless tip on backing out the screws until you hear the click. This is the best use of youtube-- maintaining this arcane, niche knowledge.
I had a Blip, which was a pretty amazing game though brutally difficult. (And we have a Blip now--a friend gave my daughter one when she expressed fascination for the idea.)
Tomy made a lot of mechanical toys that were even simpler than these, like the Waterfuls which just worked by inducing currents in a tank of water to make suspended objects that were close to neutral buoyancy move around. I also had a tiny handheld pachinko game they made that was entirely hand-powered.
Keep it up man, this was really entertaining and informative. Thank you!!
LOVED digital derby back in the day. thanks for the trip down memory lane!
Had not seen Blip though, that was pretty incredible!
GREAT content as always.
Thanks for that! That was fun! I loved these as a kid too and was obsessed with them because I didn'y have them. I particularly wanted Digital Derby and Blip. My obsessions only grew when videogames came just a few years later.
Fantastic breakdown.
Thank you.
Oh the memories.
I used to horde all this stuff.
Sold most of it.
Glad CZcams is here for me to still enjoy watching others keep stuff. Lol.
Thanks for sharing, the construction and operation of digital derby is fascinating.
I had that digital derby! I remember it eating batteries, and it wasnt really as fun as I thought it would be.
None of them were.. Blip was fun for about 5 minutes then the 'excitement' was over.
Woah! The trick about screwing old plastic is GOLD!
The sound of Christmas in the mide 1970s was these games. I had them, all my cousins had them and they'd come over my house and we'd play them for hours. Great memories and good times. Thanks!
I had that bowling game as a kid and I completely forgot it existed until this video thank you so much for the trip down memory lane
This dude is a true gentleman, warning people about the loud noises beforehand.
Thank you for making this. I always wanted to see more about early handheld electronic devices, particularly pre-digitalized ones!
Oh my god!!! OH MY GOD!!!!
Dude... Blip... my dad bought me one of those when I was like 9 or 10 years old... I have no clue what happened to it... but I never would have remembered even having it had you not shown it... I remember now... but its been a long time... since I saw it.... at least 35 years probably more... but I remember now... as soon as you got ready to switch your blip on I suddenly remembered the noise it made and the light doing that mooove over there and pause and mooove over there and pause... oh my gosh... the fond memories... omg thank you so much for ... oh my gosh just thank you so much.. my dad is long gone now... both my parents are... but you brought me back to my childhood and memories of my dad... It feels like it was just yesterday yet... so long ago...
I had Blip..it was really ingenious, it was a pong game but the ball was analogue...I know this because I discovered screwdrivers at about seven years old and took it to bits lol
I always find these sort of old handheld games to be super interesting. Thanks for sharing.
I could actually see myself playing the bowling game all afternoon on a rainy Saturday. Fun stuff, great video! Glad I found your channel 😊
Even with the grinding noises this is one of the most relaxing videos on CZcams
Thanks for the warnings!
Too few big CZcamsrs mind the audience like that, it’s very much appreciated.
Subscribed.
I played all of these back in the day (but not the 2nd poker game). I had forgotten about them. I knew the sounds they would make, especially Blip. Thanks so much for bringing them back.
Thanks for sharing these. I played most of them as a kid but hadn't thought of them since.
So many memories. I had a few of these ! Thanks !
Wow... The idea, creativity and design of this last car game is mind blowing. Cool video. Greetings from Poland :)
I have vague memories of Blip & Digital Derby. Most probably from my Auntie. She used to live opposite us & collected games & stuff. I remember she had one shelf just full of Rubiks cubes & various other puzzles. Great vid man! Subbed. :)
What a great collection. I have Blip and I remember Digital Derby from my childhood. A friend of mine had it. Too much fun!
Oh man this is fantastic! Brings back some amazing memories from christmas celebrations from my youth. My folks spoiled me pretty hard with early lcd games, and I can vividly remember getting a racing game. Fancy deep tabletop model with a giant honking speaker instead of a tinny piezo, two speeds, and amazingly varied sounds. Overtake, low gear, high gear, crash.. It's the best lcd racing game I've ever played, and I was so hooked on it, eventually the folks didn't let me play it on the dinnertable because the sound was so loud, so I had to play it in the kitchen with the door closed instead :) Good times.
I've been hunting for it ever since I got an ebay account. Haven't found it yet though..
Now I feel really old. I remember all of these. And I actually had the bowling one as a Christmas gift in the 80s. I wished I knew how much the value of these are now. Great video & thanks!
Thx for the trip down the memory lane. I totally forgot about the bowling game and digital derby, used to own both in the 70s.
WOW I had the bowling game and forgot all about it! just another memory tucked away. Its amazing to think the power of memory when you can recall old memories like that.
Thanks!!
I remember getting Digital Derby for Christmas in the late 70's. Loved it!
I remember it having some issues and my Dad took it apart and fixed it.
Ahhh, the good ol' days! =)
Cheers,
VT
I had a tomy baseball pinball game I loved! The strolling bowling i had an loved!! Thanks for bringing back some great childhood memories.
Thank you for showing. You showed very interesting mechanical handhelds that I also like. Greetings from RetroGameCity 🙂
I played "Digital Derby" for hours growing up. Nice collection!
Thanks for the trip down memory lane. I remember all these handhelds from my childhood.... Forgot how loud they were. Lol
Ah, Suzi and Melissa. So instructive.
OMG that was a great trip down memory lane. My brother and I had Drive Yourself Crazy -- at some point after getting bored of it I remember making our own paper scroll road by taping pieces of paper together -- it was crappy but it was fun. Our neighbour across the street always had the cool new electronic toys including Black-Jack, Blip and Digital Derby. Not quite the same 0-bit style toy but Mattel Vertibird was my favourite. I would spend hours playing with that. Great video Robin!
Yes! Love these unique videos
CZcams recommendations are giving me good content for once! You've got yourself a new subscriber, this was very interesting.
Tough to pick up that split! I had digital derby and the strolling bowling. Good stuff and a nice stroll down memory lane. Thanks for the video!
I just discovered your channel and love it so much! :)
Wow. I think I had all of these. What a blast of nostalgia! Especially the instruction sheet for the draw poker game!
Oh wow! I actually had the Digital Derby as a kid! What a joy to see one of these again after so many years!
Thank you for the volume warning. I will watch another day.
Great vid - I have a Digital Derby i bought years ago but could not figure out why it doesn't work - will definitely watch the detailed one you mentioned. Thankyou🙏
Had the digital derby and a couple of those miniature arcades growing up in the 80s. Good times. Thanks for the video
Nice vid. I have all but the bowling one. I have the Tomy CompuBowl though, along with Digital Daredevil, Hit & Missile, Digital Diamond and Cosmic Clash. A couple of them (Cosmic Clash and Digital Daredevil) are so intricate and full of gears, etc., it's very daunting looking inside (I had to repair them once). Truly amazing mechanics.
"Suzy and Melissa to teach you" reference received. 😎👍
This video was awesome. I had all of these at one point. Good luck with 7-10 split with the bowling.
OMG i had that bowling game and Blip as a kid, and didnt remember either for 40yrs until i saw your thumbnail
Love these! One of my favorites is a large Micro Electronics baseball. Was given to me as a "hand me down" a a kid, from a family friend with older children. Just a couple red lights and some switches. But I can play it for hours.
I currently have a completely mint tomy BLIP which has only ever been used a few times, and I only get it out of the box rarely to show people or have a game. It is actually more fun than you think!
This guy is VERY entertaining! 😃 BRAVO ! !
I had a babysitter who had those last two. Cool!
Also that closing song is a banger. Thanks!
I have all of these except Strolling Bowling. When thrift store shopping a couple decades ago I managed to spot a Coleco Donkey Kong electronic game sitting on a toy shelf and started searching for those old 1970s and 1980s electronic toys from my childhood. I've amassed quite a collection of electronic nerd joy.
I had drive yourself crazy!!! Wow what a blast from the past.
Fun video! I had Blip & Digital Derby. DD was such a fun game!
Wow I had some of these growing up in the 80's. Didn't realize I was using old toys my parents got in the 70's. I'd kill for a portable bowling game like that now. Thanks for a nostalgia trip
You have the original boxes intact too as if they were never opened. Great job👍
Amazing video! When I go to any arcade (the largest arcade in the world, Funspot, is an hour north from me) I love exploring the machines that were made before video games became a regular staple of arcades. That's partly the reason I love electromechanical pinball so much. Quick suggestion if you're worried about the sudden loudness of your audio: Get a compressor/limiter plugin. You can definitely find free ones on the internet. The compressor with reduce the gain of sudden volume spikes and a limiter will make sure the volume doesn't go over a certain level. That being said I had a laugh at the cacophony these machines made. I imagine they drove parents nuts on long car rides back in the day!
Not sure how I missed this video but awesome! I remember Blip and Digital Derby: have not thought about these at all since the 70s. I'd never have remembered Blip from the name alone but for sure I recall it after seeing it. All these were eclipsed by the oncoming LED/LCD games that were just about to hit but they still have a lot of charm I think!
My jaw actually dropped when I started this video. I had most of these and had completely forgotten about them. Well, off to ebay to re-buy my childhood...
Fantastic collection!!!! Compliments!
Strolling Bowling made me laugh, I moved to eastern Canada recently, no 5 pin bowling on this side eh, just Candlestick bowling. Take off eh!
Holy cow, thanks for the headphone warning! That first one still took me by surprise! 😄
I had Digital Derby, my parents bought it at a yard sale for $1 around 1980. That freaking game is indestructible, it spent years being battered, taken on vacations, at the bottom of a toy box, even left out in the rain a couple times, then it was stored in an old shed for 25+ years. I found it about five years ago, stuck some batteries in it and it still worked perfectly.
I had the drive yourself crazy and the strolling bowling game, I totally forgot about these until I saw your video, thank you.
I have a Blip on the shelf in front of me :) That Poker game needs some serious oil in the motor bearings!
Must be a glitch in that game, because my boxed one does the same thing. Haven’t opened to see if it’s gears or motors
Thanks for the audio warning! So many people leave that warning out!
Cool! Thx for sharing - especially the internal workings, and fixes you had to do. I had Draw Poker in the early 70's (Jr. Hi), and loved playing it all the time :) I wonder where it is now...
Blip looks amazing!
I had to come back after watching this video last night and say we were going through my grandpa's old workshop today and we found one of the Waco games with the wood grain box and everything. It's a slot machine! Can't wait to see if I can get it working again.
I had all of those except for the first driving game with no score. My brother and I drove my mother nuts playing “Blip”! I must confess that my favorite was always “Strolling Bowling”! I bet if I looked through my kids toys I could find the little bowling ball again. Nice stroll down memory lane. I do remember that we had a shooting game that shot BB’s in a sealed plastic in closure, we used that thing till it wore out.
Man, what a trip down memory lane! I had the driving game and my cousin had the bowling game. We spent many car trips playing them.
Good tip on the counterclockwise action for screwing plastic back together, I’ll keep it in mind for next time.