The Game & Watch series was a line of approximately 59 handheld electronic games made by Nintendo and created by Gunpei Yokoi from 1980 to 1991. They each featured a single game that could be played on an LCD screen, in addition to a clock and an alarm. Some of the titles available in Game & Watch format were Donkey Kong, The Legend of Zelda, Mario Bros., Mickey Mouse, and Balloon Fight. For a more complete list, see List of Game & Watch games.
Soon enough, every toy company was copying the footsteps the Game & Watch left behind – such as Tiger Electronics and their Star Wars themed games.
The Game & Watch games are getting a renewal with the Game & Watch Gallery series of games for the Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance. They feature not only the original games, but new, modernized versions as well.
In 2001, the character that must be saved in Fire and Parachute was given an official name, Mr. Game & Watch, in the GameCube game Super Smash Bros. Melee. The Game & Watch system is also Mr. Game & Watch's special level; the level is referred to in the game as Flat Zone, a location in the larger Superflat World.
G&W games became highly collectable, and collector websites such as Nintendo Thumbs started to appear in the late 1990's and early 2000's. The Nintendo Game & Watch series is one of the most popular handhelds avaliable for collection.
