Casio’s GF-11 (and plastic/resin version, the GF-1) appeared in 1982 — the same year Casio was heavily promoting their other game watches (the GM-30/301, GM-40/401 and GG-9 golf game) but also introducing a new range of playable watches with simple, non-scoring games.
There were three main modules for these games, the QW209 (basketball), the QW207 (fishing) and the QW226 (lucky suit) — the latter two having Hanna-Barbera tie-ins with a combination of cartoon characters including Augie Doggie, Doggie Daddy, Mr Jinx and either Pixie or Dixie, and Snooper and Blabber (you might have to Google them). They named them Huckleberry’s Cupid Call, Quick Draw McGraw’s Fishing Game and Quick Draw McGraw’s Lucky Suit — despite none of them featuring either Huckleberry Hound or Quick Draw MCGraw.
The basketball watches featured stylised players (although I’m not too familiar with NBA stars of the early 1980s so it’s entirely possible they are caricatures of famous players).
The one thing all these modules had in common was their melody tune — Sur le pont d’Avignon which would play at midday if you turned the hourly time signal on (there was no alarm function).
With the GF-1 and GF-11 the basketball game is quite simple (not that it isn’t challenging, but it’s definitely a reaction-based game) in the same spirit as the Alba Y755 games.
The idea is to shoot baskets and, according to the manual, you press the shoot button just as the receiver catches the ball. If your timing is spot-on, your player jumps and dunks and you are rewarded with a double-note sound (which, coincidentally, is the same sound as the hourly time signal). Three points in a row and you win the game. Miss one, and you start again. So, not a complicated game — or one that offers any variation — but is, apparently, very playable.
Unfortunately, I’m yet to play it. I bought this one with the ‘just needs a new battery’ description but found it had a cracked LCD and the module was dead too. The case and bracelet are in nice condition though so will keep an eye out for a working watch in bad condition and, in the meantime, will remain basketless!
UPDATE: In a trade with a collector in Germany (thanks Steffen!) I was able to finally get a working GF-11 and for a game with one button, no scoring, and one goal, it is surprisingly good! Reaction time is everything and while it’s possible to get three baskets in a row, it’s nearly impossible to nail it every time (I’ve done it only once). Lots of fun this one 🙂
