Back to Dick’s Gadget Warehouse for a look at a real early video game.

It’s 1994 and Sega introduces the Pocket Arcade games. The PR people who wrote the copy for these little gizmos went a little overboard. Here’s some copy from a Sega Pocket Arcade games ad: “Turbo-Charged LCD Action! What are these things? High tech vegetable peelers? Space age remote controls? NOT! They're Sega Arcade Games you carry in your pocket. But where the screen? Just push a button and the concealed screen pivots into view and you're ready for challenging Sega game action.” The Arcade Game I have, Ecco Dolphin has a screen that doesn’t pivot into view. The cover pops open as you would expect, and there’s the tiny screen. The game? Ecco is a young dolphin whose safe ocean haven is destroyed when a sudden storm tragically separates him from this family. Ecco must safely navigate his way through the ocean in search of his family. On his way he finds frenzied sharks, stinging jellyfish and dangerous coral reefs. Your job is to guide Ecco in his quest to find his missing family. Compared to games today, about 17 years later, this is pretty tame, maybe even lame stuff. You can see how bare bones video details was back then. Thanks to the website IB Nelson for the screen shot. He’s the guy who designed the Sega Pocket Arcade games.

www.ibnelson.com

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