Gee Bee (video game)
Gee Bee is a block breaker/video pinball hybrid arcade game developed and published by Namco in 1978. The player controls a set of paddles with a rotary knob, with the objective being to score as many points as possible by deflecting a ball against bricks, pop bumpers and other objects in the playfield. It was developed by Toru Iwatani, known as the creator of Pac-Man and Pole Position. Outside Japan, it was published by Gremlin Industries.
| Gee Bee | |
|---|---|
North American arcade flyer | |
| Developer(s) | Namco |
| Publisher(s) |
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| Designer(s) | Toru Iwatani |
| Programmer(s) | Shigeichi Ishimura |
| Series | Gee Bee |
| Platform(s) | Arcade |
| Release |
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| Genre(s) | Pinball, block breaker |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer (alternating turns) |
Gee Bee was the first video game to be designed in-house by Namco – prior to this, the company had manufactured arcade electro-mechanical games (such as Periscope and F-1) and published a number of video games by Atari, Inc. (notably Breakout) in Japan. Iwatani originally wanted to produce pinball machines for the company, but higher-ups at Namco disapproved of the idea. As a compromise, Iwatani instead made a video game with pinball-elements, combined with mechanics established in Breakout.
Gee Bee was the eighth highest-grossing arcade video game of 1978 in Japan, and sold 10,000 units worldwide. However, it was not as big of a success as hoped, but it would nevertheless help establish Namco's presence in the video game industry. Two sequels were produced in 1979, Bomb Bee and Cutie Q.