In the late 1980’s, a hero arose in the 8-bit gaming world. His name became known as Takahashi-Meijin (literally translated, Famous Takahashi). He stunned teens in Akihabara (Tokyo’s electronics epicenter) and was soon known around the world. He wasn’t a star game designer; he says he isn’t even that good at gaming. He was only a PR flack working for game design company Hudson. But he became known as “16-shot”. He was the ultimate button-masher: he could hit a button with his fingers 16 times a second (making it easier for 8-bit games of the era). Hudson capitalized on his celebrity and came out with a small LCD game called Shooting Watch. Quite simply, it measures how often you can tap a button in 10 seconds. Takahashi in his prime, could tap it 160 times in 10 seconds.

Shooting Watch was re-released in its original form in 2007, limited the run to 10,000 units in Japan and is now a bit hard to find (try ebay). Now, you can also get it on the iPhone for $0.99. Or, you can download a Nintendo DS homebrew version which is just as good as the original.

My highest score is 102. Let me know if you try it.

Here is a video of Takahashi-Meijin playing his Shooting Watch: