My Play Watch, a trailblazer in the fashion wearable space, announced a Kickstarter campaign for the Space Invaders: My Play Watch.
It’s a one-of-a-kind collectible that brings together nostalgia and modern innovation, offering retro gaming fans the chance to wear a piece of arcade history on their wrist. There are lots of watches inspired by Space Invaders on the market — but this has a version of the game on it.
Owners will be able to play a version of the game on the watch, said Jeff Hardy, founder of Floor 84 Studio, in an interview with GamesBeat. It’s a collaboration between Floor 84 and Taito, a division of Square Enix and the original creator of Space Invaders.
In the process of designing the watch, Hardy also collaborated with legendary game creator Tomohiro Nishikado, who as a solo developer created the arcade game that hit the market in 1978. Hardy’s company, based in Los Angeles, specializes in developing interactive digital experiences for major entertainment brands. I spoke with Nishikado, 80, about creating Space Invaders, and I also interviewed Hardy about designing the Space Invaders: My Play Watch.
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Bringing retro to your wrist
“We’re thrilled to bring this retro classic to life in a truly innovative format,” said Hardy, cofounder of My Play Watch. “Our vision was to create a stylish, functional wearable that allows Space Invaders fans to wear their passion while experiencing both a simple gaming experience and essential modern features. Space Invaders is a pillar of gaming history, and we are excited to introduce it to both longtime fans and a new generation through this cutting-edge design.”
The watch boasts a high-quality 1.86-inch touchscreen display with core features like time display, fitness tracking, and a built-in Space Invaders game tailored for the watch display. My Play Watch will work right out of the box, with no need for app downloads or complex pairing. Engineered for long battery life, it offers a hassle-free experience for both casual and dedicated gamers.
With a re-engineered Space Invaders game, the watch uses the touchscreen and custom crown to control game play, providing an interactive, nostalgic experience that remains true to the original arcade classic.
It says a lot about Moore’s Law that a game that back in 1978 took up a whole board of electronics in an arcade cabinet in 1978 can now in a reduced form fit on a smartwatch. Gordon Moore, former CEO of Intel, predicted in 1965 that the number of components on a chip would double every couple of years. In 1971, Intel could put 2,300 transistors on its first microprocessor, the 4004. Now Nvidia can put 208 billion transistors on its biggest and newest AI chip.
“You almost got a resolution of something like you might see an old CRT monitor,” Hardy said.
Cool tech
The watch has some cool technology of its own.
The smartwatch will have its own operating system, and it will have things like fitness tracking for heart rate, oxygen, sleep and more. So it’s a watch, a fitness band and a game system.
“All those features will be wrapped in Space Invaders,” Hardy said. “You’ll see the Space Invaders crab along with your heart rate. All that little nuance really immerses you in the whole style of the brand,” he said. “This is really deep brand and deep OS customization.”
The initial watches will be limited for Kickstarter backers. The watch body and bands will have different colors.
Fun meets functionality
“We’re not competing with your phone-linked smartwatch,” Hardy said. “The My Play Watch is all about fun, functionality, and style. It’s perfect for when you want something bold and nostalgic on your wrist—a vibrant accessory that blends retro gaming culture with modern-day tech.”
Floor 84 worked closely with Taito throughout the product development process to honor the visual aesthetic and game play of the original title, Hardy said. Through this collaboration, My Play Watch has been able to remain true to the essence of the Space Invaders while bringing the franchise to a modern form factor, he said.
“We are thrilled about the launch of My Play Watch featuring our most beloved game, Space Invaders,” stated Tom Kanayama, the brand manager for Space Invaders at Taito, in a statement. “This product wonderfully combines nostalgia with cutting-edge technology. It is sure to be loved by fans all around the world.”
It’s a personalized and nostalgic thing because people are so fond of their Space Invaders memories.
“I saw my first cabinet in 1979 at the Crestview Theater in Carmichael, California. I don’t remember the movie I saw that evening, but I do remember seeing the Space Invaders arcade machine in the lobby,” said Jonathan Ackley, a game developer who co-created The Curse of Monkey Island and Lego Mindstorms. “Everyone was gathered around it, pushing in to see it played. I was amazed. The colorful graphics printed on the outer screen felt like foreground setwork of a play we were watching, in which a lone human fought vainly against an army of weirdos. I think it resonated with the time. It had a very GenX, cold-war sensibility. Try as hard as you can, eventually, you’re going to get wiped out. Ultimately, it was unfair. You couldn’t win. But in game design, too hard is much better than too easy. Hurt me more.”
He added, “The ominous sound design made it a communal experience. Dum-dum-dum. Faster and Faster. We got tense. When the aliens finally landed, we all moaned. The player had done their best, but we wanted to see what happened next. How fast did the aliens move on the next level? Could the player hit the UFO? Damn it was quick. Space Invaders was formative for me, because the game makers of that era became my heroes.”
Inside the development process
For deeper insights into the collaboration, check out an exclusive interview I did with Nishikado. I also visited Hardy’s workshop in Los Angeles, a place that took me back in time with all of its retro art and gaming preservations.
With its eye on the future, My Play Watch plans to expand its collaborations to include other beloved gaming and entertainment franchises throughout 2025. Hardy is a part of both Floor 84 Studio and My Play Watch. He has done work for major barnds like Disney, Mattel, Warner Bros., NBA and Amazon. For Amazon, he worked on the Amazon Glow video conferencing device.
Originally from the East Coast, Hardy studied illustration and started his own studio. He moved to Los Angeles in 2000. Over the past 24 years, he has worked in radio, reality television and games — most often partnering with brands and industry veterans like Sirus Ahmadi. Hardy called the place Floor 84 as he imagined working in a skyscraper on the 84th floor.
Hardy grew up in the 1980s and his office is full of electronic gear for games from his childhood, like old Nintendo and Sega machines. Some of it serves as inspiration. With each product he has worked on, he said he has gone through thousands of design iterations over time trying to get design perfect.
The watch controls will include the touchscreen and the watch crown, which can rotate. The bands and colors need to be interchangeable and look tasteful from an aesthetics view. There’s no AI in the product or the creation of it. Hardy has been working hard on being original with the design but also staying within the bounds of Taito’s own guidelines about Space Invaders.
“We’ve been running at a 1,000 miles per hour,” Hardy said.
Hardy said that Space Invaders was the “most perfectly simple game” to focus on with a platform as minimalist as a smartwatch. It doesn’t have to be connected to play.”
There will be more to come.
“The Space Invaders product is our first one that we’re going to market with via Kickstarter, but we have already closed other deals with other big partners. So I’m excited to see it. We’ve got a lot of good stuff.”
Hardy is pleased that Taito is enthusiastic about the project and that Nishikado reviewed it as well. Nishikado mentioned he had wished he could have had a laser beam coming down from the aliens in the original game. So Hardy took that idea and put it on the watch bands.
“I like how anybody who was a pioneer is still trying out new things,” Hardy said. “It’s like being able to work with Stan Lee. This is a cool moment, having a creative conversation about what we made with Nishikado.”
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