Aaron Fechter invented the original Whac-A-Mole game in 1971. Well…he took the idea from “some Japanese guys” who had created a creature-whacking game first, but Fechter made the mechanism work reliably by inventing an air cylinder system to power the moles and an audio-tape-driven pattern that governed the moles’ timing. Also, Fechter’s game used only moles, rather than a variety of animals in the Japanese game. In the video below, Fechter (who went on to create the Rock-afire Explosion animatronic band for Showbiz Pizza) discusses how he created the Whac-A-Mole and how it was then reverse engineered and mass produced by Bob Cassata. Fechter ended up buying hundreds of the games from Cassata for his Showbiz Pizza parlors.
The lesson here? Trademark your names, patent your games. I wonder what happened to those Japanese guys.
This clip is a bonus feature from The Rock-afire Explosion documentary DVD.
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Showbiz Pizza!
My New Jersey childhood just flashed before my eyes.
posted by EMStoveken on 4-12-2010 at 2:01 pm
an episode of “King of the Hill” flashed before my eyes
posted by PartiallyDeflected on 4-12-2010 at 2:05 pm
To me the lesson is threefold:
1) Everyone copies everyone else, it has always been so (look at nature)
2) Be free with your creativity, there’s always something bigger on the horizon
3) Don’t hold a grudge, it makes you look like an ass.
posted by kleer001 on 4-12-2010 at 2:08 pm
the scene from Scrubs with Dr. Cox whacking little J.D.s just flashed through my head.
“Whack-a-newbie! Whack-a-newbie! Whack-a-newbie!”
posted by the creature on 4-12-2010 at 2:36 pm
That Sony commercial with Payton Manning and Justing Timberlake playing Whack-a-Mole flashed through my head.
posted by Steve from San Diego on 4-12-2010 at 3:12 pm
Sam & Max playing “Whack-A-Rat”, just flashed through my head!
That’s the second time today that something on mental_floss made me think of that classic game. Weird!
posted by Nerak on 4-13-2010 at 1:13 pm
When I was stationed in South Korea in the mid 80s, there was a popular version that had North Korean soldiers popping up out of tunnels!
posted by Jack Barrett on 4-13-2010 at 1:37 pm