ArcadeOverview
Gee Bee is a video pinball simulator/Breakout game. The game offers rudimentary ball physics and a series of breakout-style blocks to pop. Though most footage of the game in emulation and on web-based media platforms depicts the game in color, Gee Bee originally utilized the same colored cellophane overlay "technology" that gave color to Taito's Space Invaders.
The game was also the first video game directed by Toru Iwatani, who had originally joined Namco with the aim of designing pinball tables. That original ambition is reflected in the design of the game, which marries pinball-esque mechanics with brick breaking and paddle controls cribbed from Steve Wozniak's Breakout. Iwatani would design two sequels with similar design: 1979's Bomb Bee and Cutie Q.
