Blips, beeps and blurs: Mattel goes back to the future with its games

Kirk Baird

Monday, Oct. 14, 2002 | 8:28 a.m.

What do you think of when you hear the word Mattel? Plush toys, Barbies, game boards, Hot Wheels, Matchbox cars?

In late 1977 the toy company changed its image forever by releasing the precursor of today's modern generation of toys "Football," one of the first hand-held electronic games.

Housed in a 4-inch white plastic case with a small screen painted to resemble a football field, the object of the game was to move one bright red blip past five computer-controlled blips, avoid being tackled, and either score a touchdown or a field goal.

Just like the real-life sport, a player had four downs to move 10 yards. But in this case, there were 10 blip spaces and you needed to get a first down to continue your march toward the end zone.

The player eventually either scored, punted or turned the ball over after four downs, trying once again as the opposing offense.

Admittedly primitive by today's standards, "Football" was a technological wonder of its time, even rivaling the popular home video-game systems, which had yet to evolve past "Pong" and its variants.

Not surprisingly, "Football," along with "Auto Race," the other Mattel hand-held game released in 1977, proved immensely popular, both selling millions of units at roughly $40 a pop.

Less than a year later Mattel released "Baseball" and "Football 2," which gave players the ability to pass, as well as run backward, features the original "Football" was sorely lacking.

Other games Mattel released included "Basketball," "Soccer" and "Hockey," as well as a hand-held game based on a popular sci-fi TV series, "Battlestar Galactica: Space Alert."

"They were an unprecedented success in the '70s," said Phil Jackson, Mattel vice president of marketing for games and puzzles.

It wasn't until more than 20 years later that a company employee realized the potential of the hand-held games' popularity was still there.

"One of our designers believed there was an opportunity to reintroduce this game. Because this guy was passionate about it, he looked through customer service requests," Jackson said. "We had hundreds of requests to send (customers) any games we have in the archive."

Mattel also noticed that the nearly 25-year-old games were fetching upwards of $300 on eBay.

To capitalize on this demand, the toy company decided to test the market once again with "Football."

The initial fall 2000 limited run of "Classic Football," as Mattel now dubbed the game, sold out. The following year the palm-sized electronic toy became one of the best-selling games in the industry, Jackson said. It was a success mainly fueled by nostalgic middle-age males wanting to revisit their childhood.

But the games have also found their way into the hands of younger generations.

"It's interesting," Jackson said. "The kids role their eyes, 'Oh God, it's so old' -- until they put their hands on it.' "

As popular as "Classic Football" was, it didn't take much prodding for Mattel to follow up the other "Classic" games.

This spring Mattel released "Classic Baseball," and recently introduced "Classic Football 2."

"Once 'Classic Football' was so successful, we went back into our records to see what was the next best-selling game," he said. " 'Baseball' sold just a few less units than 'Football.' "

All three games are near-perfect replicas of their original counterparts, from the casing colors and screen covers to the small-colored buttons and those tinny electronic beeps.

There are even the same game-play instruction manuals and "If game malfunctions, try fresh batteries" stickers on the backs of the games.

Oddly enough, the most difficult aspect in replicating the 20-year-old-plus hand-helds, was in duplicating the antiquated technology that made the games possible.

The original electronic games featured LED (Light Emitting Diode) displays, a standard long-since replaced by LCD (Light Crystal Display), which are used in Nintendo's successful hand-held Game Boy series.

So, Mattel relied on present technology to emulate the past.

"The chip that drives the game is identical. We still have red blips, they're just generated by an LCD," Jackson said. "But for the consumer, all they know is that they're the little red blip and they're being pursued by all the defensive players."

Regardless of how the effect is achieved, it is nearly impossible to differentiate between the LED and LED-replicas, until you push down on the new screens, and the liquid blips wash out in a red blur. The original screens were built into a computer board covered by a hard plastic see-through display, so the red blur isn't possible.

The biggest aesthetic difference between both versions of the games is with the new inclusion of a sound on/off switch or button -- an option that would have come in handy when trying to play a game during the middle of class.

The "Classic" games also run on two AA batteries, compared to the 9-volt battery that powered predecessors, and feature a "sleep" function that automatically powers off the game if left unattended for over a minute.

Both features are made possible by advanced technology and hindsight, Jackson said.

"We didn't have the technology to create a sleep function," in the '70s. "It was a function no one thought of 20 years ago," he said. "Another thing we had the technology to do but didn't think of was the sound-off button. Twenty years ago, I don't think people were taking the sound off."

With the success of the series, he said it is only a matter of time before Mattel releases another "Classic" game. And depending on consumer input, the next title will either be "Auto Race," "Soccer," "Basketball" or "Hockey."

"We'll have to make the decision about what's next by the end of November, when we go into our trade fair season," Jackson said.

"In America, there's no such thing as too much of a good thing. But we want to make sure that whatever we put out is successful."