Bassmate Computer in latest Nintendo Dream

This month's edition of the Japanese magazine Nintendo Dream includes an article on the Bassmate Computer.

April 2014 edition of Nintendo Dream

As regular readers of this blog will recall, the Nintendo co-developed and manufactured Bassmate fishing computer was discovered as Nintendo item some time ago by collector Sander Slootweg and introduced to the world through beforemario.com.

The article in Nintendo Dream was written by Florent Gorges, based on our joint research from June last year. The magazine is available on newsstands in Japan now, as well as at online retailers like Amazon Japan.

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.

How the Bassmate Computer came to be

In the previous post, we introduced the Bassmate Computer; a pocket electronic databank from 1984, targeted at bass fishers. The Bassmate was manufactured by Nintendo and co-designed by the Game & Watch team from Gunpei Yokoi's R&D1 department.

Bassmate Computer by Telko / Probe 2000 / KMV (1984)

American engineer Bill Olliges was the inventor of the Bassmate. He conceived it together with his business partner Ed Miller, who took care of the marketing through his company Telko.

In an earlier stage of his career, Bill was involved in the American arcade business, as was Ed. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, they both worked as executives for the American devision of Taito and later for Florida based Centuri inc.

During its heyday, Centuri was one of the top US suppliers of video arcade games. Many of their machines where licensed from Japanese companies, in particular Konami. The list of games they manufactured and distributed includes hits like Phoenix, Vanguard, Track & Field, Time Pilot and Gyruss.

After the demise of the video arcade industry in the mid 1980s, Bill started an engineering firm called Proton Engineering, which he is still involved in today. 

[Update: Almost five years after the first publication of this story, Bill Olliges passed away in February of 2018].

 

Bill Olliges holding a WalleyeMate II, one of the products
that was created after the success of the Bassmate

Bill explains where the idea for a fishing computer came from and how Nintendo got involved.

Bassmate Computer (1984): a newly discovered member of the Game & Watch family tree

Chances are high that you have never heard of Game & Watch BM-501. I had never heard of it myself, until a few weeks ago, when fellow Nintendo collector Sander mentioned that I should take a look at the Bassmate Computer; a pocket size electronic device that helps select the best lure and bait combination for every bass fishing condition. Sander had spotted it during one of his regular searches on eBay.

The Bassmate I saw was sold under the name of a brand called "Probe 2000" and dated from 1984. At first glance, it seemed like a regular sporting aid, be it one that was quite advanced for its time.

However, when checking out the image on the back of the box, something dawned on me. That shape seemed rather familiar! It looked just like a Game & Watch Multi Screen!

When taking a closer look, it appeared that everything matched; the overall design of the case, the hinges, the connector between the bottom and top part, the shape of the buttons - they all looked like they came straight out of the kitchen of the handheld master from Kyoto.