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History
In the mid-1980s, Jeremy James and Jeremy Flint were co-presenters of the BBC Bridge Club, a weekly television programme designed to help both novices and regular members of the Bristol Bridge Club improve their understanding of the game of bridge.
Both masters of the game, they decided to create a new way to teach bridge. With the help of Freddie North, they began developing techniques that could be used to explain the game through a dedicated electronic device. Tony Reynolds designed the hardware for the system.
Because both Jeremys worked for the BBC, it was a natural fit for the Corporation to act as publisher. Although primarily a public broadcaster, the BBC was also involved in producing various consumer products, including the well-known BBC Micro series of microcomputers.
Release
In 1985 the BBC Bridge Companion finally reached the market. It was (and still is) the only cartridge-based gaming console designed exclusively for the game of bridge. The 8-bit system was built from the ground up for the famous card game. The controls, integrated directly into the unit, were designed specifically to make electronic bridge play as straightforward as possible.
Although expensive compared with other game consoles of the period, the device received generally positive reviews upon release. It was unique and carried the full backing of the BBC. Bryon Parkin, Managing Director of BBC Enterprises, stated that “the BBC only puts its name to quality products,” a claim that critics regarded as an understatement.
At launch only one cartridge was available, while a second title that would allow players to compete against international masters was already in development.
Demise
The device did not really fail, as it was never expected to sell in large numbers. It was aimed at a very limited audience and largely met those expectations. According to an article titled “Games: When winning is no big deal,” written by Tony Forrester and Henry Dimbleby and published in The Daily Telegraph on 25 January 1995, the main criticism was that the included software offered a decent basic tutorial but failed to explain the subtler points of the game. The reviewers noted that a similar level of instruction could be obtained much more cheaply from a book.
Although later cartridges went into greater depth and addressed some of these criticisms, the additional content was still not enough to justify the high cost of the console and its games for most people. Competing software, particularly on personal computers, offered comparable learning experiences at a significantly lower price.
Games
A total of nine games have been released for this console.
Confirmed Games
- Advanced Bidding
- Advanced Defence
- Bridge Builder (Pack-in_
- Club Play 1
- Club Play 2
- Club Play 3
- Conventions 1
- Duplicate 1
- Master Play 1
Technical specifications
- CPU: Zilog Z80A @ 3.579 MHz
- Graphics: Texas Instruments TMS9129NL (PAL VDP)
- Display: 280 × 216 resolution, 8 colours
- Memory: 2 KB SRAM + 16 KB VRAM + 16 KB ROM (BIOS)
- Input: Integrated keypad on the console itself (no separate controllers)
- Media: ROM cartridges
- Power: 240 V AC mains adaptor
- No sound capability