Release Date of the First Nintendo Game & Watch: Ball (Silver) – April 28, 1980

The first Nintendo Game & Watch device, Ball (Silver), was released in Japan on April 28, 1980.

Key Facts

• Creator: Gunpei Yokoi (Nintendo R&D1). Inspired by a businessman playing with an LCD calculator on a train.
• Technology: Sharp LCD (Segment‑based, not dot‑matrix), LR44/SR44 Button Cell (or 2× AA for Table Top / Wide Screen), Single Game per Unit.
• Series: Silver (1980) → Gold (1981) → Wide Screen (1981) → Multi Screen (1982, Clamshell – DS ancestor) → Table Top (1983, Color) → Panorama (1983, Mirror) → Super Color (1984) → Micro Vs. System (1984, 2‑player) → Crystal Screen (1986, Transparent LCD).
• Total Units: 59 Distinct Games (60 including Mario Bros. re‑release). 43.4 Million Units Sold Worldwide.
• Legacy: Established Nintendo in handhelds. D‑Pad invented for Donkey Kong (Multi Screen, 1982) by Yokoi. Direct lineage → Game Boy (1989) → DS (2004) → Switch (2017).
• Modern Revival: Game & Watch: Super Mario Bros. (2020) & Game & Watch: The Legend of Zelda (2021) – Emulation on STM32, USB‑C rechargeable, Clock/Timer modes.