Anybody tried the re-release of the classic SIMON handheld?

[+wood_jl]

Above is the original classic from 1978, designed by our pal the video game pioneer and inventor, Ralph Baer. This is the one most people had as a kid. You see these on Ebay all the time, but for a really nice one, they don't exactly go cheap. A ton of them are missing the battery doors, etc.

 

Unbelievably, they never quit making these, in some iteration.

 

We had the Super Simon later, when I was a kid. That's the last I owned. I never knew what happened to either with all the moves over the years.

 

 

Some time in the 1990s, they "hipped it up for the new generation" with a clear case and translucent buttons.

 

 

Lots of the reviews for Simon2 say it sucks. Reports are that it's small, the sound is crackly and cheap, it buttons stick, it breaks easily, etc.

 

 

Simon Trickster looks kind of cool. This is from that later 1990s. The color is not in the buttons but in the LEDs so it can "rotate the colors" on the buttons. There are lots of these used on Ebay.

 

 

But finally, this re-release:

 

 

 

This was released in 2013, but I never saw an advertisement, probably because there's so many games and your mobile phone can do 1000x better. But it would still be cool to have a brand new one, and the look and feel of the original are approximated. This would seemingly make a good gift for a middle-aged person or a young child, but anybody in-between might not see the point when they have Android or iOS in their pocket.

 

It's available at Thinkgeek and at Amazon. I couldn't find it at local retailers. I was hoping somebody else here might have an affinity for Simon and tried this? Cheap and flimsy is the way of the modern anything, but I am hoping this is an exception!

[+save2600]

Thanks for the mini-history of Simon! Latest incarnation looks nice, but I miss the look of the stainless steel middle with the slide switch. Passed up an original boxed example yesterday for $5. While it did have both battery covers, the 9v plug was cut off and the C battery terminals were fully rusted out. Figured there's plenty of others out there in better condition, if I *really* wanted one.

[+GoldenWheels]

Wow, I was thinking one of these would be good for my son...seeing the price of ANY of the older ones on Amazon maybe I should just stockpile them as currency. LOL.

[Eltigro]

I haven't played it in years, but yeah, the old original was the one I had. I remember seeing the clear one, but none of the others. And, at least for this particular game or type of game, I don't think phones can do it better. A lot of the fun of this was playing with other people. Something that is difficult to do well on something small like a phone. I can see where an iPad/tablet app would be nice, though.

[akator]

I like the look of the original more as well, but not enough to pay the current price for one. Thanks for pointing out the 2013 remake

[Rex Dart]

Simon? Not when I still have this 12-in-1 monster from Radio Shack!

[Master Phruby]

Even Atari had one of these. I still have my Touch Me.

 

[mckafka99]

I saw the new iteration of Simon at the local Toy's R Us not too long ago. Felt 'thin' to me when I picked it up, but I suppose that's to be expected.

[Metal Ghost]

Simon? Not when I still have this 12-in-1 monster from Radio Shack!

 

I want it I want it I WANT IT!!!! I had one of those when I was a kid and played it all the time! Oh, why did I let all of that stuff just flitter away

[high voltage]

Even Atari had one of these. I still have my Touch Me.

 

Atari had the arcade original, Ralph Baer copied it (revenge for Pong), and later Atari copied Baer, full circle.

Edited November 11, 2013 by high voltage

[Seob]

The ultimate simon http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPemnWIiPdI&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Edited November 11, 2013 by Seob

[SoulBlazer]

Last year I saw some 'mini Simon's' being sold, attacked a keychain. It was a smaller version of the original one, designed just for a quick game by yourself.

[Seob]

Because of this thread i tried the simon i recently bought. I noticed that the red button wouldn't lightup. Haven't opened the unit yet,but is this a easy fix?

Edited November 12, 2013 by Seob

[+wood_jl]

Because of this thread i tried the simon i recently bought. I noticed that the red button wouldn't lightup. Haven't opened the unit yet,but is this a easy fix?

 

I **THINK** that the original Simon used little (incandescent) light bulbs kind of like flashlight bulbs. I seem to recall they can be changed, but it's been too long.

 

 

edit:

 

Here....

 

http://www.hasbro.com/common/documents/3f4e2ca0206011ddbd0b0800200c9a66/620962835056900B10D1688756D7BA4A.pdf

 

.....is the manual that says the bulbs are replaceable!

[BigO]

I hadn't seen that new version yet.

When I saw the title, I thought of this as the "classic Simon handheld":

[RJ]

Our big 3 electronic handheld games growing up in my family were the very top Simon above, Merlin (6AA batts! The size of a phone) & Mattel Electronic Baseball.

[Seob]

I have fixed my simon. The lightblub was not broken. The solderjoints where loose. Fixed it and now it works.

[Chuck D. Head]

Even Atari had one of these. I still have my Touch Me.

 

This was the one I had as a youth. Fun to play and fun to make jokes about the name. I picked up a pair of boxed Tiger Simon clones recently, I will toss up some pics of those for posterity.