The year is 1984: You ignore the flashing lights, and the background sounds of the arcade muffle to silence beneath the foam of your Walkman headphones. Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s Relax thumps in time as the Lockheed P-38 Lightning “Super Ace” races toward Tokyo. You’ve managed to shoot down the Kawaski K-61s and K-48s, but now comes the Nakajimi G10N. You’ve amassed your power-ups and your fighters are following in Tip Tow formation. But in a flash, the boss plane takes out your fighters and it’s just you and the Nakajima, head to head…. and with one errant maneuver, you’ve been hit. Game Over. No initials atop the leaderboard this time. Fishing out a quarter, you swear that, this time, you’ll get past the boss. While a watch can’t bring back big hair, parachute pants, and RC Cola, the AVI-8 Flyboy Capcom 1942 Automatic Pixel Limited Edition will evoke plenty of nostalgia for the iconic tabletop arcade games of the 1980s.

You can’t always judge a brand by its name, but you certainly can with AVI-8, as the brand’s commitment to all things aviation is unparalleled. Every collection in the catalog is, as the brand states, “an explicit homage to the aircraft, people, and history of military aviation.” Across the lineup, you’ll find everything from meca-quartz chronographs to automatic pilot’s watches, yet all have a clear link to aviation history. The brand has even partnered with the Imperial War Museums to create watches that celebrate the museum’s mission of preserving aviation history.

For its newest release, AVI-8 has once again partnered with Japanese video game company Capcom to take the Flyboy Automatic to the past and back to the future. It’s been 40 years since the first Capcom 1942 tabletop arcade game was wheeled across the soda-spilled and gum-stuck floors of Arcades across America, but the vertical scrolling shooter game has lost none of its addictive charm. Using ultra-modern construction, AVI-8 has captured the pixelated excitement of 1942 on the dial in three new models.

The three-dimensional dials on the Flyboy Capcom 1942 are custom-molded and feature a pixel pattern that’s just as retro and blocky as the game’s original graphics, whether you were playing in an arcade or had it loaded up on your Commodore 64. All three dial options are based off actual gameplay, with the Silver Ace colorway featuring the P-38 flying across the ocean, the Gunmetal Ace in a land-based scene, and the Midnight Ace featuring the classic launch scene as the P-83 alights from an aircraft carrier.

Using the Flyboy Automatic as a base, the watch features a 41mm stainless-steel case diameter that measures 12mm in height and 22mm between the lugs. Depending on the colorway, both the case and five-link bracelet are finished in brushed stainless steel (Silver Ace), gunmetal-coated (Gunmetal Ace), or black-coated (Midnight Ace). Each watch also comes with an extra hybrid rubber/leather strap to quickly change up the look. The Flyboy Capcom 1942 Pixel Automatic Limited Edition includes all the niceties, including a sapphire crystal, Swiss luminous hands and indices, and a Japanese NH35 automatic movement (only appropriate for a Japanese video game).

Whether you’re a gamer, aviation enthusiast, or simply looking for a whimsical watch that elicits a healthy dose of nostalgia, you’ll have to act fast. The first Capcom partnership sold out in just three days and the Flyboy Capcom 1942 Automatic Pixel Limited Edition is limited to only 1000 pieces. To learn more, please visit the brand’s website.

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