I’ve said it before many times on Retro Dodo; I’d take a Casio watch over an Apple Watch any day of the week. They’re iconic, instantly recognisable, have a retro design, and could probably last being dropped from a cliff after being stolen off your wrist by an eagle. The battery life seems to be one of the greatest mysteries of our childhoods too – I swear mine never died!
To celebrate 50 years of making watches and PAC-MAN chomping dots for 45 years, Casio have teamed up with Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc. to bring out a selection of cool watches that perfectly capture the spirit of both brands. A retro icon on a retro watch range – it’s a match made in heaven, and it should certainly help to keep any ghosts from chasing you too!
Let’s start with the A168WEPC-7AER which was recently showcased on Casio’s Instagram feed. With a blue light that shows a WAKA-WAKA message on the screen, WAKA-WAKA branding on the clasp, PAC-MAN on the front and rear of the watch face and the four ghosts who have made his life hell over the years worked into the design, it’s a slice of nostalgia I would proudly wear on my wrist. It’s water resistant too, which in England is something that everything needs to be as standard!
The vivid yellow CA-53WPC-1BER looks like it’s just dropped out of an Arcade machine and is something I’ll definitely be buying when it releases. A backlight, stopwatch, and calculator buttons to work out sums you think of while walking the dog or while figuring out how much your friends owe you at the restaurant. Both the A168WEPC-7AER and CA-53WPC-1BER both cost £74.90.
The F-91WPC-1AER looks most like the classic Casio watch that you will have worn growing up (or still wear if you’re like me) and is the cheapest in the range coming in at £54.90. It’s black, made from bio-based resin components, and features a vivid WAKA-WAKA message on the band and PAC-MAN graphics that wouldn’t look out of place in a rave.
On the other side of the scale is the Bluetooth ABL-100WEPC that connects to your smartphone. If I had to have anyone looking after my data tracking and health as well as counting my steps, I’d have PAC-MAN do it. He’s been looking after himself for 45 years and done a pretty good job of it, so I think I would be in safe hands (or wrists in this case). This watch face has an actual scene from the classic PAC-MAN gameplay on it as well as cherries and PAC-MAN’s lives in the bottom-left corner, and it’s the most expensive in the range with a pricetag of £124.90.
Check out the YouTube video below, and have a look at all four watches on the Casio Website for images and information as well as a peek at the anniversary box packaging for each watch!
