In recent weeks, I’ve been organizing our attic to prevent its contents from falling through the ceiling. During this process, I came across my most cherished possession from when I was twelve – a Casio GD-8 Car Race watch. This digital timepiece featured a built-in racing game on its small monochrome LCD display. I used to lend it to tough boys at school to protect myself from bullies, as I was socially awkward and nerdy. I am determined to find this watch again, especially after learning that they are now considered valuable.
Casio began producing digital watches in the 1970s, using technology from their calculator market to compete on price. As the market became saturated in the late 1970s, Casio started exploring new features to attract buyers. They focused on creating multifunctional watches that offered more than just time display, such as phone number memory and music alarms.
Inspired by the success of Taito’s arcade game Space Invaders, Casio released the CA-90/CA-901 in 1981, a calculator watch with a space-themed shoot-‚em-up game. Despite similarities to Nintendo’s Game & Watch series, Casio claims they were not influenced by it. They continued to develop innovative features like databanks, thermometers, and pulse checkers in their watches throughout the 1980s.
Between 1980 and 1985, Casio produced a variety of game watches, including racing games, shoot-‚em-ups, and platformers. These watches were limited by the capabilities of LCD displays at the time, but they were still considered futuristic. While Casio was not the only company producing game watches in the 1980s, they were a significant player in the market.
Today, these vintage game watches are highly sought after by collectors and can fetch high prices. Despite their limited durability, these watches hold nostalgic value for many collectors, reminding them of a time when digital watches were a popular form of entertainment. Es war mein persönliches Referenzhandbuch für die neuesten verfügbaren Modelle; Ich eilte jedes Mal begeistert zur Uhrenabteilung, wenn ein neuer Katalog herauskam, um die neuesten Innovationen zu überprüfen. Die Uhrenindustrie behält ihr Interesse an der klassischen Videospielszene bei. Im Jahr 2022 brachte Timex eine limitierte Edition von Space Invaders-Uhren heraus, die Geräusche aus dem Spiel enthielten, und früher in diesem Jahr produzierte Casio eine ähnlich limitierte Kollektion von wunderschönen Pac-Man-Uhren, was alte Fans wie mich dazu brachte, zur Vorbestellungsabteilung ihrer Website zu eilen. Wenn du in den 1980er Jahren ein leicht nerdiges Kind warst, waren diese Dinge dein Smartphone, deine Apple Watch, dein Griff nach Spielplatz-Cachet. Deshalb möchte ich meine Car Race Uhr finden; es geht nicht wirklich um den potenziellen monetären Wert – es ist das eine, was mich wirklich mit meinem 12-jährigen Selbst verbindet. Trotz all dessen, was auf dem Weg verloren gegangen ist, haben wir immer noch Spiele gemeinsam.