The Real Guitar Hero – Simon Says
by Frank Jovine on 01/14/2009 in Games, Music
Guitar Hero has a lot in common with a game called Simon Says that was out in 1978. A player is challenged to match the pattern Simon Says plays to test their memory using 4 colored lights. Once a player matches the pattern that Simon plays they advance to the next level of even harder patterns.
The earliest incarnation was actually an arcade game released by Atari in the mid-1970s. Called Touch Me and featuring no nudity whatsoever, the stand-up game didn’t cause any ripples. It had a series of four lights that blinked in random patterns and you had to hit buttons to replicate that pattern.
The game’s creator, Ralph Baer, redesigned the game to include simple music tones to match the lights and made the whole thing portable. This was what Milton Bradley marketed as Simon—just like the children’s game of Simon Says—and this version did quite well, starting in 1978.
After the initial success of the game, Milton Bradley released Super Simon in 1979, with dual panels that pitted players against each other. Also available was Pocket Simon for those long rides in the car or on mass transit. Thirty years later, Simon’s appeal hasn’t waned and sales continue to be respectable even in this high tech gaming console era.
John | English Wilderness
Jan 15th, 2009
I remember playing this! Don’t you think it looks similar to the Google Chrome logo? I saw one recently at the toy museum in Bude, Cornwall.
Frank J
Jan 15th, 2009
So do I and never could get to far with it.
Lok
Jan 18th, 2009
I actually have one of these in the cupboard somewhere. An heirloom passed down from my uncles, I expect. Funnily enough, I’ve never played guitar hero, but I’d be willing to bet that Simon is more fun, and a lot more challenging.
Frank J
Jan 18th, 2009
I still remember playing Simon with my family back when I was a teen.
UTogger
Jan 24th, 2009
My family had a “Simon!” I enjoyed the game and I haven’t yet played Guitar Hero. Thanks for the comparison. I agree with the commenter who stated that the Google Chrome logo looks similar to the Simon toy.
Frank J
Jan 24th, 2009
UTogger,
My family played it it a lot back in the day and we had a blast!