Bassmate Computer update

One of the interesting discoveries of 2013 was the Bassmate Computer.

This alternative Bassmate version comes in a plain white box

Although already out there for close to thirty years (released in 1984), it had never popped up in Nintendo collector circles before.

Inside a polystyrene tray with Bassmate,
thermometer, ziplock bag, batteries and manual

The Bassmate Computer does deserve a place in Nintendo history, as it was engineered by Gunpei Yokoi's R&D1 team.

Telko was the company that invented the Bassmate concept

Yokoi's team used the Game & Watch technology to create this handheld fishing computer.

If these buttons look like Game & Watch controls it's because they are

The Bassmate was produced as an OEM product, for American company Telko. Something that was very unusual for Nintendo to do.

Enter fishing conditions and the Bassmate proposes the best lure and bait

Telko sold the Bassmate under their own name, as well under the 'Probe2000' and 'KMV' labels.

Probe2000 and Telko branded version of the Bassmate

The previous beforemario post that introduced the Bassmate as Nintendo engineered product was illustrated with the 'Probe2000' version. Here you see the 'Telko' version.

Besides these two versions, a third one exists that has a label 'KMV' stickered over the Telko brand.

All three versions of the Bassmate are identical expect for the branding

For more information on the Bassmate, check out this introduction and the 'making of' story.