Long, long before online bingo sites stormed the internet gaming world, a number of companies were developing bingo video games so players could enjoy the delights of this great game in the comfort of their own home (albeit without the cash prizes)!

One of the forerunners was Japanese giant Nintendo (makers of the Wii and DS). Both of their highly successful video game consoles, the Super Nintendo and Game Boy, saw bingo games released on them - over 10 years before online bingo sites started appearing in the UK.

Here we take a look at two of the oddest (unsurprisingly, in the macho world of videogames, these bingo titles didn’t get released in the UK – just Nintendo’s native Japan!

Bing Bing! Bingo

Released on the Super Nes (called the Super Famicom in Japan) in 1993 by KSS

Bing Bing! Bingo was released in December of 1993 and featured a number of different game modes to keep you interested (presumably due to the lack of cash pouring from your video game console if you won!). If you were a traditional bingo player who liked it straight down the middle, you could play on a slot machine.

If you fancied something a bit well, weirder, why not try the bingo skydiving option – where you play bingo as your character falls through the air.

Or for those ultimate festive bingo occasions, play your favourite game with a big fat Santa Claus! Of course, no bingo game would be complete without a bonus round and Bing Bing! Bingo suitably obliges with a typically oddball bingo pirate ship section.

The game was well ahead of its time too. If you didn’t like bingo you call also bet on horse racing or arm wrestle (?). The one draw back to this bonkers game – you need to know Japanese to play it; even the numbers are in Japanese.

Panel Action Bingo

Released on the Game Boy in 1993 by FCI

If you thought Bing Bing! Bingo sounded odd, you ain’t heard nothin’ yet! Panel Action Bingo, a portable bingo game on Nintendo’s hugely successful handheld video game system is even stranger. In it you control a bird who must avoid an evil cat (ahh, the eternal struggle) whilst navigating a bingo card.

Squares on the bingo card disappear and your job is to position your bird so that the cat falls down said holes. As you would expect, if the bird falls down the hole you lose a life – though why you can’t just fly is anyone’s guess!

There you go gamers, another slice of bizarre bingo history!