Friday, January 13, 2012

Nintendo Computer Othello (コンピューター オセロ, 1978) - Leaflet

In the mid 1970s, Nintendo started making arcade games. One of the earlier of these was Computer Othello (コンピューター オセロ), which is the topic of the leaflet shown here. [A second leaflet can be found here.]

Nintendo Computer Othello (1978)

The Computer Othello arcade allowed for one person to play the game othello (also known as reversi) against a computer opponent. It was also possible for two people to play head to head.


The leaflet dates from May 20th 1978. The date is printed on the back as "S53 5,20", where "S53" stands for "Showa 53" , which is 1978 in the formal Japanese calendar.

Nintendo Leisure System logo and company addresses

During the first years that Nintendo was involved in arcade machines, these were sold under the name of Nintendo Leisure System (任天堂レジャーシステム). Interestingly, their head office (本社) is listed to be in Tokyo, not Kyoto (as was - and is - the head office of Nintendo).

Full Leaflet (front and back)

In 1980, Nintendo would release a home version of Computer Othello. This is the infamous and rare Computer TV Game CTG-HC10.

Also check out my visit to collector Isao Yamazaki, who has a working Computer Othello in his collection.

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