Bassmate Computer
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| Developer | Nintendo R&D1 |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Nintendo |
| Type | Series of handheld electronic games |
| Release date | 1984 |
| Introductory price | $80USD ~$Error when using {{Inflation}}: |index=US (parameter 1) not a recognized index.USD in 2024 |
| CPU | Sharp SM5xx family |
| Display | Liquid-crystal display |
| Power | Two LR44/SR44 Alkaline Batteries |
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Bassmate Computer (model number BM-501) (also unknown under a number of different names) is a pocket size electronic databank (also unofficially known as a Fish & Watch) from 1984 and cousin the Game & Watch line of handhelds By Nintendo. The Bassmate Computer was original manufactured by Nintendo and co-designed by the Game & Watch team from Gunpei Yokoi's R&D1 department at Nintendo for Telko and various other companies (like KMV and Probe 2000). The American engineer, Bill Olliges was the inventor and conceived it together with his business partner Ed Miller, who took care of the marketing through his company Telko. The Bassmate Computer was made to help pro bass fishers select the best lure and bait combination for every bass fishing condition. The Bassmate Computer originally came with a manual, a thermometer for testing the water temperature, a waterproof ziplock bag to store the Bassmate Computer and a packet with two Maxell LR44 batteries. Letter productions of the Bassmate Computer was no longer produced by Nintendo, but instead by Chinese manufacturers.
Development[edit]
Bill Olliges became interested in bass fishing and he noticed that most pro’s used a diary to log the fishing information when they caught notable fish. The Idea of a electronic fishing log occurred to Bill Olliges that an electronic 'lookup' might be more user friendly and possibly a viable product. With the help of a few pro’s to assemble and organize their fishing logs, Bill Olliges created a program that, dependent on the existing condition, would display the specific lure to use for those conditions. At this time, Nintendo had just recently released their Game & Watch handheld range and it looked like a good platform for a electronic fishing log. Bill Olliges and Ed Miller knew several executives from Nintendo through Mike Kogen’s Taito company in Japan. They approached Nintendo with the idea for the Bassmate Computer, and they seemed interested in a 'sporting' type product that was not a game machine. Nintendo saw it as an investigating into a new segment of the market and Nintendo wanted to be Telko OEM. After the boss at Nintendo of American saw a Game & Watch in the US, they got the idea of contacting Nintendo for the Bassmate Computer. The boss got in direct contact with Gunpei Yokoi and he though it was a fun project, so Gunpei Yokoi gave the OK to the Bassmate Computer as OEM product. The Bassmate Computer was handled by Takehiro Izushi for the project management and Hiroji Kiyotake for the design. During the design and pre-production stage, Bill Olliges worked directly with the Nintendo team of engineers, programmers and designers in Kyoto to provided the program detail and a rough prototype of what was envisioned. The code for the Bassmate Computer was really hard to put on the small Game & Watch IC and Nintendo had to asked a programmer at Sharp for help. Although the Bassmate Computer is very similar in format to a Vertical Multi Screen Game & Watch, it has it's own unique casing to help keep the appearance different from Nintendo's game products.
Specifications[edit]
The Bassmate Computer is powered by The same IC that is found in a Game & Watch. The Bassmate Computer's hardware is modelled after a Vertical Multi Screen Game & Watch (however, unlike a original Vertical Multi Screen Game & Watch, with the button positions and the rounding of the corners being different and the LCD display being bigger for legality) and uses two LR44/SR44 Alkaline Batteries, the same found in most Game & Watch, which is estimated to last 6 months for LR44 or 12 months for SR44. Unlike a Game & Watch, the Bassmate Computer's code is more complex.
Sequel[edit]
After the success of the Bassmate Computer, more models were created by Bill Olliges and Nintendo had no involved in the production of them do to being too busy with the video game business and declined the additional models. The additional models were the Bassmate II, WalleyMate and Troutmate. The Bassmate II is similar in function to the original Bassmate Computer, but the screen readability has been improved
See also[edit]
- Game & Watch
- Nintendo R&D1
- Nintendo
Notes[edit]
References[edit]
External links[edit]
- A blog post abut the Bassmate Computer at beforemario.com
- A blog post abut the development of the Bassmate Computer at beforemario.com
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