Nintendo Computer Mah-jong Yakuman

The Nintendo Computer Mah-jong Yakuman is a dedicated videogame system released in Japan in 1983. It's very similar to a Game & Watch console, in that it was developed around the same time, plays only one game (mah-jong) and uses an LCD screen similar to a calculator. The console likely wasn't marketed as a Game & Watch due to the system lacking a clock system, and also due to mah-jong being a more adult game. The device has two switches, a Power switch to turn the device on or off, and a Contrast switch to toggle the contrast between three settings. There's also a 20 buttons; 13 of the buttons "A-M" correlate to the 13 tiles in your hand, which can be pressed to discard the tile. The 2 buttons on the left are used to end the game under different circumstances, while the 5 buttons on the right are used to group tiles. The mah-jong game is quite predictable, as the AI doesn't use an algorithm to play against you, using a simple logic pattern to determine how it plays against you, meaning it can be quite easy for seasoned mah-jong player to beat it, though this was pretty standard of mah-jong AI at the time of this device's release. This device is an interesting point of change for the "Yakuman" branding. The "Yakuman" brand was previously the name of Nintendo's real life mahjong sets, which were released during the 1960s. After the release of this device, "Yakuman" games would start being released on Nintendo consoles, starting with "Yakuman" on the Game Boy.