• Nelsonic Space Attacker Game watch
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  **Because the subject matter is a game watch, the tone of today's article is a bit more playful than usual.**
  
  Although I am a CASIO watch collector by heart, there are some non-Casio watches that I acquire from time to time.
  
  Today's watch is the Nelsonic Space Attacker; it is highly sought after by many watch collectors and many game collectors. And don't even get me started on the game watch collectors!
  
  
  
  In a way, this watch is the basic ingredient in game watch collection soup. Um if it was a soup. Which it's not. .. Anyway the point is, this is one of those watches that every game watch collector should have.
  
  The watch has a very nice large display that shows the current time, day, date, month, am/pm information and alarm status all at once.
  
  One press of a button lets you adjust the alarm
  
  
  
  And it even has a microlight to help you see in the dark.
  
  
  
  By all regards, this is a very capable digital timepiece for 1981.
  
  But in the immortal words of salesmen around the world, "that's not all!"
  
  Why would you call a watch "space attacker" unless some kind of space attacking functionality was built into the watch? hehehe.
  
  
  
  OH MAN, this game is actually FUN to play! (Unlike that digital invaders game on Casio's calculator watch) The game is played entirely with the two front buttons. The left button moves your turret, and the right button fires. Simple yet fun!
  
  
  
  As the menacing attackers from space come down to destroy earth (at least that's what I think they are), they will fly in specific patterns around your conveniently placed turret, so that you can blast them out of the sky with a well timed rectangular LCD segment. Oops I mean a well timed cannon round.
  
  
  
  But if they get you first exactly 3 times, they win and earth is lost. Wow that's a lot of dramatic pressure to place on a child's wrist. Perhaps that's why it comes in a metal case with metal band, so that the "weight" of the dire situation is made tactile.
  
  Did you notice the demo button yet? If you press it, you get to hear the famous music and see this awesome test screen. Yeah, I thought it would be a real demo where space attackers attack... but it's just a test screen.
  
  
  
  Again, I think it's a marvel for 1981, and in some ways more advanced that Casio watches of the time. So, how did Nelsonic put all this into this small package?
  
  Well the simple answer is that they (Nelsonic = a brand owned by M.Z.Berger Co Inc.) outsourced it to Hong Kong. Brilliant! Again, so ahead of their time! And here you thought outsourcing and shipping jobs overseas was a new concept.
  
  
  
  But the long answer is... complicated. Let's look inside, shall we?
  
  
  
  The watch is powered by two batteries (391), which are easily replaceable.
  
  The module itself comes in a self-contained package, similar to Casio's designs.
  
  
  
  But what is totally different from Casio is this circuit board.
  
  
  
  What's that Timmy? "It looks just like any other watch circuit board?" Well look closer!
  
  
  
  TINY microscopic wires hanging onto dear life. That is some crazy soldering. How did they do this? I'm convinced that Intel engineers from 2012 traveled back in time to make these circuit boards. But that's just cause I'm ignorant and have an overactive imagination.
  
  I have seen many a space attackers destroyed because overzealous people opened up their watches and poked around without even noticing these tiny exposed wires. The result, of course, is 50 disconnected wires that are thinner than hair. So if you ever come across a space attacker want and have a urge to open one up, DON'T!
  
  One more note: It's hard to see in these pictures, but the module uses a two-layer LCD so that it can display all of the time information in one mode, and display the game in another.
  
  
  
  Now let's close this watch back up, carefully!
  
  
  
  
  
  ===========
  Begin rant:
  
  It's sad that these fun watches are no longer manufactured these days. Technology has advanced to a point where we can mount GPS sensors and cell phone functionality inside a watch, but the major manufacturers have not really pushed to return to their awesome geeky roots. Casio and other manufacturers would say that there's no market for weird digital watches, and sadly they are right--as much as we collectors would love to see these gems brought back to production, only geeks like us would buy them. And worldwide, that's going to be a very small sales figure.
  
  One of my secret goals for this website is to convert all regular folks into digital watch geeks. Once we constitute a large portion of the population, watch manufacturers will have to listen to our demands to bring back the classics. :D
  
  Who knows, maybe HP will revive the HP-02.. Or maybe Casio will make a anniversary Marlin with 200M water resistance, sapphire crystal and backlight with marlin logo!
  
  But sadly, I think manufacturers have tried to serve us geeks, only to be met with repeated disappointments by unsupportive geeks. Remember the Abucus by Fossil? No? I rest my case.
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  Filed under: watch

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