I found an article on Wired.com that perfectly fits this section.

How many of these toys did you have? What else would you include in the list?
I remember having some of these, but some I've never heard of. Some of them my kids still play with (Operation and Light Bright).



Sure, all these immersive 3-D worlds and photorealistic graphics in videogames today are mind-blowing, but it wasn't long ago that all we needed was some beeps and flashing lights to be entertained for hours.
We want to see the electronic games that stole your imagination without the aid of a gaming console or a computer. You might not want to go back and play them again, but they deserve a hero's sendoff into the sunset.

Show Us Your Favorite Forgotten Electronic Game (http://www.wired.com/culture/culturereviews/news/2009/02/submissions_old_games)
Life Before the Console Age: Forgotten Electronic Games (http://www.wired.com/gaming/hardware/multimedia/2009/03/gallery_forgotten_electronic_games)

I didn't have many on the lists you linked, but immediately thought of this very rudimentary football game that captivated me for hours on end in the early 80's:

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00005BULI.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

That was at the top of my list too. Nearly everyone I knew had one of those things and we all brought them to school. :LolLolLol

A little bit of trivia on those:

A little game history: This was released in June of 1977 as the second game released by Mattel (Auto Race was the first) and sold through Sears. After less than 100,000 were made, Sears (using a computer model based on initial sales figures) determined that the games would not be big sellers, and most of the production for Football and Auto Race was stopped. Within 6 months, it became obvious to Sears that their prediction was wrong, and production was started up again and reached previously unknown levels! (Reaching as many as 500,000 units a week by mid-February, 1978).

THE FIRST ELECTRONIC GAME i EVER HAD WAS A ATARI .....pong for hours or tanks, or spaceship shooter, about the same time mtv came out. When I was a kid the only electronic games there was....electric footbal, erector set,ummm ...guess that was it.

these were my favorite hand held games, the football, and basketball versions are available for iphone.


http://www.boingboing.net/images/_electronic_football2.jpg

http://www.listropolis.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/iphone_mattel_football.jpg

http://www.iphoneaplikace.cz/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/led-basketball.jpg

http://www.retrogames.co.uk/stock/assets/images/HH_-_Mattel_Baseball.jpg

Man, I'm really feeling old right now. My definition of an electronic game is a Pinball Machine at the local bowling alley.....Lots of noise, bells and whistles...I don't even know what you guys are showing....

I've never had a video game but I did have some kind of hand held Space
Invader type thing. It may have been made in the late 70's.

I visited the web site Mad Monk listed.

I totally forgot about Simon. I still play it!
Prunerdude (grandson) and I play Bop It. We got it a couple of years ago at
a garage sale. Too much fun.

Does anybody remember...
Time Bomb
Hot Potato

I visited the web site Mad Monk listed.

I totally forgot about Simon. I still play it!
Prunerdude (grandson) and I play Bop It. We got it a couple of years ago at
a garage sale. Too much fun.

Does anybody remember...
Time Bomb
Hot Potato

I fogor all about hot potato, kids today really need to be taught these old games to pass them down to future generations, or they will be lost forever...or heck even yard darts=fun for the whole family and pets!

Man, I'm really feeling old right now. My definition of an electronic game is a Pinball Machine at the local bowling alley.....Lots of noise, bells and whistles...I don't even know what you guys are showing....

I had these in the late 70's

http://www.boingboing.net/images/_electronic_football2.jpg

Football and football2 were huge hits, especially at school.
We had the original coleco Pong game.
Backgammon and chess (on cassette) on the TRS40 Radioshack computer
Commodore 64 had a couple of swell games too.

We played Simon, and Litebright, and....wait for it:



Dark Tower!

My gosh, I loved that football game.

Also, I had a handful of these from this Tiger line of games...

http://www.vgmuseum.com/mrp/cv2/packing/handheld-pic1.jpg

Altered Beast was my favorite.

Altered Beast was my favorite.
Ah yes, I remember playing that game in the arcade.
"Power Up!"

This should bring back some memories:
rnkJsZJAZV4

http://thegamerdome.com/wp-content/uploads/images/dark%20tower.jpg
I had this when i was younger and loved playing it...maybe that's why I'm a WoW addict now

I dunno if these count, but my parents still had their Pong from back when.
I remember having a ton of Atari games, but Intellivision was always played more. That "Shark! Shark!" game is one I would love to play again.
But that damn console would get hot and have to be reset all the time. Grrrr

i had the d&d labyrinth game, football, baseball, basketball, capsela, and a bunch of the game & watch games.

i remember the big trak. never had it but got to play with it at someone's house. that one was cool!

What was the electronic swami game where his head would spin...it is driving me insane!

Man, I'm really feeling old right now. My definition of an electronic game is a Pinball Machine at the local bowling alley.....Lots of noise, bells and whistles...I don't even know what you guys are showing....


I was proud to have roller skates with the key. When I was in high school, my daddy finally came up with a transistor radio. Me and my sisters never even had a bicycle.

The first electronic game my girls had was Simon and we still have it and the box, and it works. I was amazed by it at the time. Now my 1 year old granddaughter has toys that are electronic. What's this world coming to?

I have always became bored with electronic games very quickly!

The first electronic game my girls had was Simon and we still have it and
the box, and it works. I was amazed by it at the time. Now my 1 year old
granddaughter has toys that are electronic. What's this world coming
to?
Simon is so cool! There's a new one call Bop Box or something that's very
similar. Grandson and I play it.

Electronics are good, to some point. My daughters daughter has never
seen a TV program and she's going to be 3 soon. Only recently has she
been allowed to look at a computer screen. As far as I know, she has no
electronic toys other than something that plays music.

I believe kids need blocks and card board boxes so they can use their
imagination.

I believe kids need blocks and card board boxes so they can use their imagination.

This.

If you've never just sat off to the side and watched a child who has just discovered block stacking, you've missed out. Even better is the day the child looks at a stack, looks at you, and wanders over with a block, inviting you to come and play too.

May you never be too busy to say yes.

Cardboard boxes? Like crack for the imagination.

This.

If you've never just sat off to the side and watched a child who has just discovered block stacking, you've missed out. Even better is the day the child looks at a stack, looks at you, and wanders over with a block, inviting you to come and play too.

May you never be too busy to say yes.

Cardboard boxes? Like crack for the imagination.

And drag out the blankets and the kitchen chairs and make tunnels and caves. My 10 year old grandson plays domino's & checkers and cards with me. We make cookies almost every time he is at my house.

And drag out the blankets and the kitchen chairs and make tunnels and caves. My 10 year old grandson plays domino's & checkers and cards with me. We make cookies almost every time he is at my house.

================================================== ==============
Hey, I know I'm older than you but, if you'll make cookies Prunepicker, PapaOU, Myself, Carltonskeeper, Friskey, Rickster, a whole bunch of us wil come over and play cards....and dominoes.....

Man, I'm really feeling old right now. My definition of an electronic game is a Pinball Machine at the local bowling alley.....Lots of noise, bells and whistles...I don't even know what you guys are showing....

Pinball was the only electronic game I knew of, until Pong came out when I was 25. Even then the only place I ever saw it was in bars......OK, strip clubs.

Rick

Electronics are good, to some point. My daughters daughter has never
seen a TV program and she's going to be 3 soon. Only recently has she
been allowed to look at a computer screen. As far as I know, she has no
electronic toys other than something that plays music.

I believe kids need blocks and card board boxes so they can use their
imagination.

Good for you Prune! My granddaughter is almost 4 months old and I never have the TV on when she is in our house. I try to hint to my daughter that Savannah shouldn't be exposed to video too early, but I don't want to become a nagging parent, telling her how to raise her child. 3 years is what I've heard developmental psychologists recommend too. Kudos to your daughter for following through on his.

Rick

In the '80's, there were machines you could put money in at the GFF grocery store and play PacMan. And my girls got so good at playing Frogger the right way that they would play it backwards too. That seemed like the beginning of kids not being as physically active.

http://videogame2play.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/061708_consoles70s_obs16-article_image.jpg

This was sweet! A pong game, race car game and a quick-draw all in one...also, I have Mattel football game in my desk as we speak!

From the Wired list, I had a Merlin but I had no idea what it did. It was a hand me down from my older sister. I just remember liking it cause it made noise lol. My 6yr old nephew recently found my old Simon and has been playing with that...when he first tried it though he was like Ummmmm that's all it does? I also loved my Lite Brite.

From the Wired list, I had a Merlin but I had no idea what it did.
I saw those in the Spiegle Christmas catalog. I don't remember what it did,
either.

The closest I ever had of an electric game was an Electric Football set. And an Erector set with a small motor.......Hmmmmm...had a pop bottle that made a good rocket......but, I got my first .22 when I was Three years old....Still have it and it still works......No Prunepicker it isn't Black Powder....

The closest I ever had of an electric game was an Electric Football set.
And an Erector set with a small motor... Hmmmmm... had a pop bottle that
made a good rocket... but, I got my first .22 when I was Three years old...
Still have it and it still works... No Prunepicker it isn't Black Powder...

Awright! Electric football games! They were ridiculous, and lots of fun. Did
anyone ever complete a pass? Successfully run the play they intended?
Finish a game?

Was the pop bottle a rocket or a space station for launching rockets?

If you were 3 when you got your first .22 I'll wage that it's black powder
and that there ain't no rifling in that barrel whatsoever! You probably used
it for pop bottle rockets, too. Mine was a Johnson that was made during
WWII. The factory price was around $4. It's still around!

I have a Parker black powder double barrel shotgun. It was my great, great
uncle's. I've thought about selling it and buying North Carolina and New =
Mexico.

The Pop Bottle was everything from a race car to a rocket ship....Then I found a small Grapette bottle ...it became my racing sports car until I found out they would bring 2 cents each....The rifle is a Stevens "Crack Shot" with a Rolling block mechanism.
You probably never had a Stick Horse did you????how about a Rubber band Gun? A wooden sword and shield to fight off the dragons? or a real fort that no Indians (except the kids across the street) could penetrate....We had fun playing Cowboys and Indians....Funny though, I always wanted to be the Indian and they of course would be the Cowboys.....Did you ever use a 78 record for a frisbee????What kind of bag did you carry your marbles in???Did you ever play marbles or spin a wooden top? How about a Pea Shooter????5 cents at TG&Y of course......and then there was the paddle ball...I wonder how many hours kids played with that paddle and then the rubber band would break and your mother then used the Paddle over and over and over....

You probably never had a Stick Horse did you? how about a Rubber band
Gun? A wooden sword and shield to fight off the dragons? or a real fort
that no Indians (except the kids across the street) could penetrate... We
had fun playing Cowboys and Indians... Funny though, I always wanted to
be the Indian and they of course would be the Cowboys... Did you ever use
a 78 record for a frisbee? What kind of bag did you carry your marbles in?
Did you ever play marbles or spin a wooden top? How about a Pea Shooter?
5 cents at TG&Y of course... and then there was the paddle ball... I
wonder how many hours kids played with that paddle and then the rubber
band would break and your mother then used the Paddle over and over and
over...
Of course I had a stick horse. It was magical and sometimes turned into a
broom or a rake. When it turned into a rake you had to be extra careful or
it'd throw you! We'd use anything flat and round for a frisbee! Did you
remember when you discovered the incredible shield that someone left on
top of the trash cans? They'd deflect anything.

Of course I had a stick horse. It was magical and sometimes turned into a
broom or a rake. When it turned into a rake you had to be extra careful or
it'd throw you! We'd use anything flat and round for a frisbee! Did you
remember when you discovered the incredible shield that someone left on
top of the trash cans? They'd deflect anything.

================================================== ===============
You lived in the high rent district of the south side....our trash cans were 55 gallon drums and we burned the trash until it was full and wouldn't burn any more and then we would haul it off and get a "New" used 55 gallon drum.....
I remember trying to catch one of those 78 lp's...... hurt real bad.....did you guys ever try and pick Sand plums????(I know, off topic) and then use the Sand plums in your Electronic Home made sling shot???? boy would they raise a whelp.....

... did you guys ever try and pick Sand plums?(I know, off topic) and then
use the Sand plums in your Electronic Home made sling shot? boy would they
raise a whelp...
I remember Dad driving us on a highway. We passed some Sand plum bushes
and we went from 70 to 0 in .001 seconds. Got a bunch of them! They
make great jam.

http://www.handheldmuseum.com/MB/MB-CompIV.jpg

Also, had one of these...cool game where you had to figure out the 3,4, or 5 digit number. Some took FOREVER...but it also made cool sounds...

I didn't have many on the lists you linked, but immediately thought of this very rudimentary football game that captivated me for hours on end in the early 80's:

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00005BULI.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg
Believe it or not, I still have this game and the basketball version and they both work.

http://files.tested.com/uploads/0/5/35941-darktower_field.jpg

Believe it or not, I still have this game and the basketball version and they both work.

I had the same experience. I still have the soccer version, and it also works.