Casio Bear 18
| Bear 18 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Katakana | ベアー18 |
| Rōmaji | BEĀ 18 |
| AKA | Casio Bear 18, Casio Game Bear 18 |
| Type | Sitdown |
| Released | 199X |
| Dimensions | 760 x 550 x 1050 mm |
| Monitor | 18 in |
The Bear 18 (ベアー18) is a compact 18-inch Japanese sit-down arcade cabinet associated with Casio Game.
It is presently documented primarily through surviving Japanese catalogue material which identifies the cabinet as Bear 18 and gives dimensions of:
- Width: 550 mm
- Depth: 760 mm
- Height: 1,050 mm
The cabinet has a compact white body, projecting control panel, lower service compartment, steel footrest and an upper instruction-card or marquee holder.
Its overall construction and proportions are extremely close to the Game Rider 18.
Design
The Bear 18 follows the compact Japanese sit-down cabinet format used by several manufacturers during the period.
Visible features include:
- 18-inch CRT
- Narrow white cabinet body
- Sloping monitor enclosure
- Projecting control panel
- Rounded control-panel ends
- Front-access service compartment
- Steel footrest
- Upper instruction-card / marquee holder
The surviving catalogue image does not provide sufficient detail to establish the original monitor chassis, wiring standard, controls or power-supply configuration.
Dimensions
Published dimensions are:
| Specification | Value |
|---|---|
| Width | 550 mm |
| Depth | 760 mm |
| Height | 1,050 mm |
| Monitor | 18-inch |
These dimensions are identical to the standard dimensions documented for the Game Rider 18.
Relationship to Game Rider 18
The Bear 18 appears extremely closely related to the Game Rider 18.
The two share the same published dimensions:
550 × 760 × 1,050 mm
and the surviving imagery shows very similar:
- Monitor-housing geometry
- Control-panel shape
- Rounded panel ends
- Lower service-door arrangement
- Footrest
- General body proportions
This raises several possibilities:
- Bear 18 was an earlier name for the Game Rider 18
- Bear 18 and Game Rider 18 were successive revisions of the same basic cabinet
- Bear 18 was a particular sales or equipment configuration
- Both models used the same basic Casio cabinet shell while remaining distinct catalogue products
No surviving Casio documentation presently establishes which explanation is correct.
The Bear 18 should therefore remain a separate wiki entry until a catalogue, flyer, manual or manufacturer plate explicitly connects the two model names.
Monitor
The cabinet is documented as using an 18-inch CRT.
The original monitor manufacturer and chassis model have not yet been established.
No reliable documentation has yet confirmed:
- Supported scan frequencies
- Horizontal / vertical installation
- Monitor rotation mechanism
- CRT tube manufacturer
These fields should remain blank until primary evidence is located.
Controls
The surviving catalogue photograph shows a conventional projecting control panel intended for video-game use.
The exact original joystick and button arrangement is difficult to determine from the available source image.
As with other Casio Game universal cabinets, different control-panel layouts may have been available, but no Bear 18-specific panel catalogue has yet been located.
Construction
The cabinet appears to use a predominantly metal body with:
- White upper cabinet
- White monitor enclosure
- Lower equipment compartment
- Metal footrest assembly
Further photographs of a surviving example would be useful for confirming the construction of the cabinet sides, monitor frame and internal service structure.
Toyo Bussan Emperor 18
The surviving catalogue comparison also shows Toyo Bussan's Emperor 18.
The Emperor 18 is listed at approximately:
- Width: 550 mm
- Depth: 760 mm
- Height: 1,040 mm
This gives it almost the same external footprint as the Bear 18.
However, the Emperor uses a noticeably different cabinet design, including:
- More angular monitor enclosure
- Different control-panel shape
- Different upper-body geometry
The two machines therefore appear to represent competing compact 18-inch sit-down cabinets rather than the same product under different branding.
Source identification
The source image has sometimes been described online as showing the Game Rider 18 beside the Emperor 18.
However, the Japanese model name printed above the Casio cabinet is:
ベアー18
or:
Bear 18
It should therefore not be captioned as Game Rider 18 unless additional documentation establishes that Bear 18 was itself a Rider designation.
Identification
Useful identifying characteristics include:
- Bear 18 / ベアー18 name
- Casio Game attribution
- 18-inch CRT
- 550 × 760 × 1,050 mm dimensions
- Narrow white sit-down body
- Sloping monitor enclosure
- Projecting control panel
- Rounded panel ends
- Front service compartment
- Steel footrest
- Upper instruction-card / marquee holder
Evidence which would be particularly valuable includes:
- Original Casio catalogue page
- Manufacturer plate
- Rear cabinet photographs
- Monitor and chassis labels
- Control-panel measurements
- Internal wiring
- Manual
- Dated advertising
Gallery
-
Casio Bear 18 (left) and Toyo Bussan Emperor 18 (right); the Japanese heading above the Casio cabinet identifies it as ベアー18 rather than Rider 18