First Multi-game Handheld Ever: Merlin, the Electronic Wizard – Rare Obscure or Retro – Rerez

And why wouldn't be still using a GameGear? It's only about a million times better than the GameBoy.

God, I remember having one of these as a kid! It was fun to play in its day 🙂

I played this when I was 4 in the mid 80s. It was that easy to play.

In SouthAmerica it was called Master Top

i had THIS!!!!

Wait a minute how do you chose the games cause there no button to chose a game

I have a MERLIN in full working order, passed on from my gram to my mom to me. I still play it to this day.

I actually had one and for the time it was amazing.

I found one of these, in the original box, among my Grandfather's things. He passed away when I was 3, but my Grandmother hung on to a lot of his old stuff, which was really nice. As I got older and started looking through them, he had a lot of photos and old news stories he'd written as a newspaper man in L.A. during the 50s and 60s, and a collection of pictures and designs of airships (zeppelins). Sadly, at some point when I was away at college, my Mother came and threw everything away. No idea why, except that she was 'helping clean up' the place. The Merlin was also thrown in the trash 🙁

Boring

I just found one of these in a box in my parent's garage. Had no clue what it might be until now. It works. It looks like it should have launched a movie to promote it. I mean here I am unearthing this massive retro red phone looking gizmo from the depths of a time capsule. This thing might be a communication link device to an immortal wizard named Merlin. It could hold the key to supernatural powers. Press a few buttons, oops, I might get zapped through a time travel wormhole. Ha ha. Play with this idea.

I still have the original Merlin and simon and atari 2600 and 5600 speak and spell etc

1978 was the best Christmas ever! I took Merlin everywhere I went and it was under my pillow when I fell asleep! I need to find one of these!!

It's less than a month till 2020 and I am 27 with 4 kids and still get down to my Merlin 10th quest. I've only unlocked the 10th quest on it a few times. Even got my kids playing it❤️

I got mine for Christmas back in the 70s when I was a kid…loved it!!

I know you probably said Bob Doyle (since he's the creator), but it really sounded like Bob Dole. Another blast from the past

I loved this game

I love hand head and offensive skills and the app Merlin day was great fun but it’s not going back home and then go eat breakfast with me

I had Merlin here in the UK I'm 52 now so would of been around 10 when my mum bought me this probably for Xmas…. One thing that was very different for the UK edition was the box as its very different from the one you show here 🙂

I had one as a child, and this device at its time was pure geniousity

Where can I find one I loved playing with Merlin he made my hospital stay bearable

Had one loved it …on trips

merlin the 1978 grandfather game console

Old enough to have had one of these when it was a new thing. Yup I’m ancient. This was pretty awesome in those days, but then Again, I spent lots of my childhood play time on the basement floor parked in front of a CRT television, playing Pong. Sigh, stupid simplicity…..

Certainly a landmark game cinsole,just as the Milton Bradley Eurovision was a first. However are these computer games if no screen??
And there are many of these computer games that should not be under that label.Personally like the Milton Bradley it was a first,true but dubious as to its games being electronic gaming.
I think the later released 'split second' is the real first mutigame console.
Why ?it had 8 gamez.The games all required a built in screen and finally these were real computer gamez,perhaps rather simplistic visually but recognisable 'tetris Kim's games nevertheless.And great fun.

I have this. But I haven't found it. I may have chucked it out a few years ago.

Love the inclusion of of to joy. I can play part on piano

Please review the dreamcast

Holy crap this is bloody mind blowing. The fact that someone could actually do this without even having a screen… My god, that’s mad!

While I personally dispise mobile gaming with a passion I still wouldn't personally mind seeing the original Merlin gaming device be available for modern day smartphones and tablets as I would be a nice convenient way for parents that were kids in the 1970s who remember the original Merlin handheld gaming to show their kids one of the ways that they had fun back then.

I had one of these! I'd completely forgotten about the blackjack game, but I think it was my favourite. Wow, memories from over 35 years ago…

I found out that Merlin was released in Japan under the name "Dr. Smith" by Tomy. Don't believe me? The 1st commercial in this compilation says otherwise: https://youtu.be/DdQVi58aVjc

Awesome video! I got Merlin when it was first released in 1978–and I loved it. I also remember the TV commercial (which I found posted on YouTube). Ah, the nostalgia from Parker Brothers! Merlin is available nowadays as an app on Google Play.

0:19 "Including a lot of portable devices that we use now, like Gameboys and Game Gears"

Dude, what year do you think it is?

What a professional video! Great job!

Bob Dole for president! 😁

Obscure

I had one of these things as a kid. I never knew it was a game machine. I pretended it was a phone, and I was calling people. This was the late 80s/early 90s.

I have a Merlin sitting around my house. It sadly doesn’t seem to work.

Finally something I own that got famous!
The merlin was fun to me.