Casio MG-660

Casio MG-660

The Casio MG-660 is probably the rarest of the ‘space invader calculator’ variants — a cousin to the MG-770, MG-880 and MG-890.

It’s far more of an old-school calculator than the others, reminiscent of calculators from the 1970s than the 1980s, so was possibly the prototype of the hugely successful MG-880 that appeared in 1980.

This could also explain why there are few of them to be found these days. While their electronic innards lack a bit of the refinement of the later calculators, and are a bit rough-and-ready, it is identical in function to the other variants.

So it’s entirely possible Casio used an existing case to try out their new idea, and released a smaller batch to see how it would play out in the marketplace.

This I’ve seen in practice with the FX-880 calculator. If you ever find a Casio FX-910 calculator you’ll notice it’s almost identical to the FX-880 other than a few different button placements and minor graphics. Of course it also doesn’t have the games that are in the FX-880.

The clincher is if you look on the back of the FX-880 you’ll see the label with it’s details, very neatly done, in the recessed area on the caseback.

However, if you take a sharp blade and carefully lift off the label, underneath you’ll find an embossed set of details for the FX-910.

Unfortunately the FX-880 is as rare as hens’ teeth so unless you’re really lucky and find one, you’ll just have to take my word for it.

Back to the MG-660, playing the game is a touch more difficult than the other similar models because you have to push the keys in much further.

That said, it doesn’t take long to get up to speed, but it’s certainly a different experience to the others. Worth picking up if you ever see one for its rarity value, especially since if my theory is correct, it’s pretty much a prototype of one of Casio’s most successful game calculators of all time.

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5 Responses to Casio MG-660

  1. This is the one I had. Dad got it for me because I think it cost about $34 in 1982 compared to I think $39 for the MG880. I liked it because the sounds were louder, and the batteries lasted longer, but in truth, it was nowhere near as cool as the sleek look of the 880,or the impossibly glamourous credit card sized ones in the Casio catalogue.

  2. Omg , I had this calculator at school in the early eighties and absolutely loved it , played the so called space invaders game for hours at a time, other school friends had the mg-880 which was much nicer looking but I couldn’t get on with the buttons which were more solid feeling and had less give than the mg 660 , stumbled on this recently and it took me straight back to them days and happy memories.

    • I was bought one by my parents when I was in the fourth form in 1980. My Dad still has it and uses it on a nearly daily basis to do his books for his business. It still has it’s original Casio branded batteries in it and I took a few pictures of it running two weeks ago.

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