Most Popular Christmas Toy in 1978
This is a replacement of a geocache previously hidden just over the border that was over taken by construction.
Simon is an electronic game of memory skill invented by Ralph H. Baer and Howard J. Morrison, with software programming by Lenny Cope. The device creates a series of tones and lights and requires a user to repeat the sequence. If the user succeeds, the series becomes progressively longer and more complex. Once the user fails, the game is over.
The original version was manufactured and distributed by Milton Bradley and later by Hasbro after it took over Milton Bradley. Much of the assembly language was written by Charles Kapps who taught computer science at Temple University and also wrote one of the first books on the theory of computer programming. Simon was launched in 1978 at Studio 54 in New York City and was an immediate success, becoming a pop culture symbol of the 1970s and 1980s.
History
Ralph H. Baer and Howard J. Morrison were first introduced to Atari's game Touch Me at the Music Operators of America (MOA) trade show in 1976. Baer said of the product, "Nice gameplay. Terrible execution. Visually boring. Miserable, rasping sounds." The original prototype, built by Baer, included the Texas Instruments TMS 1000 microcontroller chip, which was low cost and used by many games of the 1970s. Lenny Cope, who was one of Ralph H. Baer's partners, worked on the programming code for the core of the game, titled Follow Me at the time. Baer developed the tones of the game, inspired by the notes of a bugle. It was when they pitched the demo, an 8-by-8-inch console, to the Milton Bradley Company that the name of the game was changed to Simon. Simon debuted in 1978 at a retail cost of $24.95 (equivalent to $94 in 2017) and became one of the top-selling toys that Christmas. The corresponding U.S. patent, No. 4,207,087: "Microcomputer controlled game", was obtained in 1980. Milton Bradley soon capitalized on the original with both the smaller-sized Pocket Simon and the expanded, eight-button Super Simon.
Many variants of Simon have been made since Hasbro acquired Milton Bradley in the 1980s, building on the possibilities offered by advances in technology. The original Super Simon was reinvented in the late 1990s as a hexagonal unit with six buttons. 2000 saw Simon Squared (or Simon2), a unit with the four traditional buttons on one side, and a set of eight smaller buttons on the other. In 2004, Hasbro released the Simon Stix. The game features two electronic sticks (modeled after drumsticks), an emphasis on the musical part of the game, and features four levels of play.
In 2005, Hasbro released Simon Trickster (also known as Simon Tricks in Europe and in the UK, and as Simon Genius in Brazil), which features four game modes, in a similar fashion to another Hasbro game, Bop It, and colored lenses as opposed to buttons. Simon Classic is the classic mode and lasts up to 35 signals. Simon Bounce is similar to Simon Classic, but instead the colors of the lenses change. Simon Surprise is one of the most difficult games in the unit. Every lens becomes the same color and the player has to memorize the location. Simon Rewind requires the player to memorize the sequence backwards. During each game, the game will give the player a compliment on a certain number of signals completed. On reaching five and eleven signals, the computer will randomly choose "Awesome!", "Nice!", "Sweet!" or "Respect!". On reaching 18 signals, the game will play a victory melody three times. On reaching the ultimate 35 signals, the game will play the victory melody again and will say "Respect!". If the player fails to memorize the pattern or fails to press the right color within the time limit, the game will play a crashing sound and the game will say "Later!".
In 2011, Hasbro introduced Simon Flash. In this version, the game is played with four cube-shaped electronic modules that the player must move around depending on the game mode. Both Yahtzee and Scrabble have also received Flash variants.
In 2013, Hasbro reinvented Simon once again with Simon Swipe. The game was demonstrated at the New York Toy Fair 2014 and released that summer. The game is a circular unit that looks like a steering wheel. It has been extended from four buttons to eight touchscreen buttons, which are flattened out on the unit. The game features four game modes, called Levels (the main game), Classic, Party and Extreme. The player has to go through all sixteen levels to beat the game. Classic, Party and Extreme levels focus on one pattern getting longer and longer until the player is out. A smaller version of the game, called Simon Micro Series, was introduced in the fall of 2014. This version has only two game modes called Solo and Pass It and features 14 levels and four buttons. There is also a version of Simon created by Basic Fun known as the Touch Simon. This version has an LCD screen and plays melodies at specific parts of the game.
In 2016, Hasbro launched the followup to Simon Swipe with Simon Air. The game was announced at a Hasbro press conference before the 2016 New York Toy Fair. This version of Simon uses motion sensors, similar to those in Mattel's Loopz line of games. The game has three game modes, Solo, Classic and Multiplayer. A button-pressing version of Simon was also released in the US, with an aesthetic recalling that of the 1970s and 1980s models.