Ball

Overview

Ball holds a unique place in gaming history: it is the very first Nintendo Game & Watch ever produced. Released on 9 April 1980 in Japan and later worldwide, Ball was designed by Gunpei Yokoi — the legendary Nintendo engineer who would go on to create the Game Boy — and manufactured by Nintendo R&D1. Its production run of more than a million units proved that there was a mass market appetite for portable electronic gaming.

The concept for Game & Watch came to Yokoi on a Shinkansen bullet train when he observed a bored businessman idly pressing the buttons on a pocket calculator. Yokoi envisioned a device that was thin enough to slip into a shirt pocket, powered by cheap watch batteries, and entertaining enough to pass the time on a commute. Ball was the proof of concept that turned that vision into a global phenomenon.

Gameplay

The premise of Ball is refreshingly simple: the player controls a juggler who must keep multiple balls in the air simultaneously. Using the left and right buttons, the juggler's hands are shifted to catch and toss each ball. The game begins with two balls and, as the score increases, a third ball is added, dramatically increasing the difficulty.

Game A begins with two balls and is considered the normal difficulty mode. The juggler moves at a moderate pace, and the penalty for missing a ball is immediate: a miss registers a Miss, and three misses end the game.

Game B starts with the accelerated three-ball juggling sequence from the outset, making it considerably more demanding for experienced players. The scoring window for a high score is much tighter in Game B.

The elegantly minimal design masks a surprisingly deep skill ceiling. World-record players have achieved scores well into the thousands. The clock function was displayed directly within the game screen, with a small indicator in the corner showing the time — making it a functional timepiece as well as a game.

Legacy & Reissues

Ball's commercial success in Japan was so decisive that Nintendo immediately greenlit the entire Game & Watch program. Without Ball's million-plus sales, the series — and arguably the trajectory of Nintendo itself — might have looked very different.

Ball was later recreated in the Game & Watch Gallery series for Game Boy (1997), which included a modernised version featuring Mario characters alongside the original "classic" mode. It also appeared as a mini-game in several later Nintendo titles.

In 2020, Nintendo released a special limited-edition Game & Watch: Super Mario Bros. unit to celebrate Mario's 35th anniversary. In 2021, a Game & Watch: The Legend of Zelda unit followed, each containing Ball as a bonus game — a charming nod to where it all began. These modern re-releases introduced Ball to entirely new generations of players.

The original Ball unit is now a sought-after collector's item. Mint-condition examples with original packaging command significant premiums on the secondary market, and the game is considered essential to any serious Game & Watch collection.