Collection Overview.

Haven’t posted a picture of the current collection or any new units in a while so I thought I’d make a video of the collection. Bellow is a quick overview of the entire collection as well as a photo of the entire collection. I was encouraged by getting a subscriber on YouTube and decided I owed him at least one more video. If you enjoy the videos or prefer the writing let me know and I’ll try to include whatever you my most disloyal readers prefer.

Wonder SwanCrystal MADE IN JAPAN

For American readers the Wonder SwanCrystal may be one of the least familiar of consoles. It is the 3rd handheld released by Bandai, the first and second being the WonderSwan and the WonderSwan Color. The WSC is a slight improvement of its predecessors with a higher quality, though not backlit, color screen and a slightly more curvy design. WSC is about the same size and shape of the original GBA though at about half the processing power and cost. The combination of price point and library of games was perhaps the reason that WonderSwan was able to capture 8% of the handheld market in Japan. The library was largely made up of some very excellent Squaresoft RPGs. The system began to flourish before Nintendo finally made amends with Squaresoft allowing the WSC to finally be crushed by the massive power of Nintendo. The main thing you need to know about WSC is that it’s a Japanese handheld made for the Japanese market and hence all the games are in Japanese. This means that if you want to play Final Fantasy IV, Front Mission, Riviera: The Promised Land, Romancing SaGa or any of the many other excellent RPGs available you need to be able to read Japanese. This leaves the non-Japanese reader with a scant number of options that are not reading intensive. Rockman EXE WS, Mr. Driller, and Golden Axe are about it, with a few other games that are compatible, which were released for the WonderSwan. I personally only own two games that I can figure out how to play enjoyably with no knowledge of Japanese, those being Pocket Fighter and Mr. Driller. Foreign languages make me feel like a moron. If foreign languages do the same for you, you may want to avoid WSC.

Pocket Fighter was published for the original Wonderswan which is a black and white portable. Unlike the Gameboy Color which could display original Gameboy games in color the WSC has no option to colorize original Wonderswan games. The black and white graphics of Pocket Fighter are a bit difficult to see without direct bright light and the controls feel a bit mushy and unresponsive. The latter issue is because even though the WSC has two sets of + pad positioned buttons, in addition to the NES-like A and B buttons, they are in fact individual buttons. Control schemes have changed over time but the eight way digital + pad of the original NES has made an appearance in some form on nearly every piece of gaming hardware since it appeared on the NES. The WSC’s choice of individual buttons is a bit of a curious departure but by no means cripples the handheld. It’s not as difficult to play with the buttons as playing an action game on a cell phone but it is a bit weird.

My WSC has a bit of trouble powering on sometimes which I assume is a unique defect of my individual unit. When the power button on the front of the unit is depressed sometimes the sidebar of the screen will flash black but not actually power the unit on. The other power related issue, one that presumably affects all WSC, is that it does not work with rechargeable 1.2V AA batteries but requires a 1.5V AA battery. I believe that 1.5V AA rechargeables are available however most rechargeable NiMH and NiCad AA batteries are 1.2V. Weaksauce. The only bright point is that a rechargeable power pack is available and that the WSC only needs one AA to run.

The only other bit of hardware weirdness is the sound. The sound is basic mono 16 bit audio without any problems with the quality. The curiosities relate to the hardware itself. Firstly, rather than a volume knob or dial the WSC has a sound button that switches between four volume levels. The other curious sound related hardware issue is that there is no headphone jack. There is a proprietary EXT. port that was used both for a headphone adaptor as well as a snap on mini turntable that was released with Beatmania. I repeat, Beatmania for Wonderswan featured a snap on mini turntable. How rad is that? I totally want that. It has to be at least 100% cooler than the Guitar Hero fret attachment that is allegedly being released with the upcoming NDS version of Guitar Hero.

Mr. Driller is a much more excellent game then Pocket Fighter for WSC. My first exposure to Mr. Driller was on the WSC and I was greatly impressed. The game should not be enough to convince a non-Japanese reader to purchase a WSC because, since Mr. Driller’s original appearance in arcades in 1999, it has appeared in various forms on PC, GBC, GBA, GameCube, NDS, Dreamcast, PSX, Cellphone, and is slated to appear on Xbox Live this Spring. As an alternative to the WSC version I highly recommend Mr. Driller 2 on the GBA. That said, it is an awesome game that is very fun to play on WSC.

Here is my understanding of the plot based upon both the GBA and WSC versions of the game as well as the video bellow. Keep in mind this is probably much more accurate then my understanding of Mappy. Subterranean aliens threaten to bury the earth under millions of tons of colorful plastic cubes so the UN calls in Susumu Hori AKA Mr. Driller, the son of Dig-Dug and world’s greatest driller. Susumu’s hyper intelligent talking dog Puchi is all like “Shit yeah he’ll save the world! Mr. Driller is the world’s greatest driller!” Susumu is like “Hold up Puchi, I’m not drilling anything looking like this. Where is my pink drilling jumpsuit?” Puchi is like, “Don’t get your panties in a knot, I just took it out of the wash.” Mr. Driller, properly suited up, drills to the center of the world where the subterranean aliens live. Once he meets said aliens he is like, “Cut it out guys!” The subterranean aliens are like, “Don’t you like colorful cubes?” Mr. Driller is like, “Who doesn’t but for serious, they are tres’ gauche.” Aliens are all like “What a dick.” But are secretly so crippled by Susumu’s impeccable fashion sense that they stop making cubes out of pure shame. End of Game!

Once powered on the graphics are easy enough to see even under less then perfect lighting conditions. Even though the menus are in Japanese there are few enough options and enough English to make getting into the game easy enough. The game itself is a very simple puzzle game, with its roots in Tetris, that merely requires a player to continuously burrow toward the bottom of the screen using a drill that destroys sets of similarly colored adjacent blocks that make up the ground. As sets of blocks are destroyed, blocks that have not been destroyed will fall filling in the empty spaces or being caught by similarly colored block sets. When the falling blocks land on a similarly colored set of blocks and make a set of four or more the set will be destroyed. This basic mechanic is fairly easy and a careful player would have no problem burrowing were it not for the additional twist of an air timer that requires the player to pick up air canisters or suffocate. The game is basically a race downwards from air canister to air canister while trying not to be crushed by falling blocks.

In the final analysis I wish I could read Japanese.

An open letter to Pocket Gamer.

This week is an open letter to Pocket Gamer magazine followed by a brief historical timeline of Handheld Gaming.

Dear Pocket Gamer,

I picked up a copy of your magazine and very much enjoyed it however, as I reached the end of the magazine I noticed that something was missing. Though your magazine is called Pocket Gamer your coverage does not even make a nod to Classic Handheld Gaming. I checked out your website and found that indeed there are no articles about the subject. This I feel does a grave disservice to your readers. Handheld gaming has been around for almost 30 years and deserves recognition of it’s rich history.

I could forgive you for ignoring the Microvision and most handheld gaming from the 80s however one cannot ignore the importance and relevancy of the original Gameboy. The Gameboy created handheld gaming and by publishing Tetris helped define much of handheld gaming’s landscape even today. Without Tetris’ massive success it is quite easy to conjecture a world where Nintendo failed and went the way of Atari. Without Gameboy the puzzle genre might be a very different place. Without other companies trying to force Nintendo off it’s pedestal, Nintendo might have never innovated. Without Nintendo there would be no PSP.

Classic portables effect on what is happening now aside, classic portable gaming is fascinating. Whether it involves the hack work of Ben Heck or the many retrofits of the original Gameboy there is a rich interest in classic handheld gaming both as an aesthetic and as an experience. From the cultural impact of Pokemon to the tragic tale of Stefan Eriksson there are so many interesting stories about old school games.

Beyond historical consideration old school portable games are fun. I fondly remember playing Tetris on a borrowed Gameboy and years later being wowed playing Zelda on the Gameboy Color. Fighting games on the Neo-Geo Pocket Color are amazing for their perfect simplicity. Any game ever released on the Watura Supervision is befuddlingly bad. Old school game systems are funny and quirky and unique.

Please Pocket Gamer, consider giving some coverage to the game systems of yesteryear.

Best Wishes,
Sean Fear

1979

Milton Bradley releases the first cartridge-based handheld video game system MicroVision. Nothing much happens in portable gaming for the next 10 years.

1989

Nintendo releases the Game Boy system. It's boxy has a lousy screen and is ugly as hell but everyone loves it.

Tetris is arguably the most important handheld game ever. It is released for the Gameboy which sells like crazy.

Atari Lynx is the first color handheld video game system but it does not have Tetris and eats batteries. System will hang around for years wishing it found Tetris first.

1990

Sega releases the Game Gear in Japan.

Turbo Express is released which plays TG 16 carts.

1991

Europe and US get Game Gear.

Japan gets Parodius on the Gameboy, while US gets boring old R-Type.

1992

Watura Supervision is released along with games like Recycle Design and, Untouchable which perfectly describe the game system.

25 million Gameboys have been sold.

1993

Mega Duck & Cougar Boy game systems are released in Europe. US suffers from never receiving these systems.

Zelda first appears on a handheld.

1994

94 is a slow year in handheld gaming due to "Grunge". Only game released is "Stop That Roach!" on the Gameboy.

1995

Nintendo releases Virtual Boy. It's totally 3D! Gamers develop a collective migraine.

Game Axe is released which is a pirate handheld Famicom player. Thanks to NES on a chip technology spawns many imitators.

Sega Nomad released. Genesis heads now have excuse to lug their Genesis cartridge collection around with them. System only fits in duffle bags.

1996

Neo Geo Pocket is released in awesome black and white!

1997

Tiger Electronics releases game.com. Someone better have gotten fired!

Sega stops supporting Game Gear format.

1998

Nintendo releases Game Boy Color.

Sony PocketStation is a mem card and a portable game!

Pokemon invade the Gameboy and millions of parents have no idea what the hell their children are talking about.

Games are still being released for the Lynx. Lynx users are like "In your face Nintendo!"

1999

SNK totally copies Nintendo and releases Neo-Geo Pocket Color. Metal slug now fits in your pocket as well as some awesome fighting games.

2000

Wonderswan is released. A couple nerds want it to come out in the US but nobody cares about their needs.

Majesco re-releases the Game Gear. It is called Game Gear Core System.

Neo Geo Pocket releases another Metal slug game then gives up when GBA appears on the horizon.

2001

Nintendo releases the Game Boy Advance handheld system.

Advance Wars, Castlevania: Circle of the Moon, F-Zero, and others are released for GBA. GBA is looking good.

GP32 is released, only a few nerds care. Homebrewers rock.

2002

Wonderswan Crystal is even more beautiful than it’s predecessor. It has a great library of RPGs but all are in japanesse.

GBA gets Zelda and Metroid, bathes in the blood of defeated game systems.

2003

Nokia releases the N-Gage It’s a phone and a game system. Casual gamers don't care. Hardcore gamers care even less.

Puzzle Bobble VS is releases for N-Gage. This game should be impossible to do a bad version of but somehow manages to get an average score of 22%.

Tapwave releases the Zodiac, it's a PDA made for games.

Timetap releases Gameking, China throws a party.

Game Theory Admiral is released which plays famicom games. Nintendo does not seem to care.

Nintendo counters with GBA SP and all the other systems fail.

2004

N-Gage QD is released and still sucks, just not as badly, not nearly as bad as the Gizmondo which would have almost been ok if it was a cell phone and is released next year.

Leisure Suit Larry: Pocket Party is cancled. This is possibly the final nail in the failing N-Gage's coffin. The world breathes a sigh of relief as a game called "Pocket Party" will not be played in public.

Wonderswan stops getting games. Still none in English.

Nintendo releases the Nintendo DS, and Pokemon Mini. This duel strike knocks all other mo-fos out.

2005

Sony releases PSP and handhelds are finally legitimized.

Gizmondo is released, Sticky Balls makes gamers snicker, Colors is canceled and Erickson crashes his Enzo. The End!

EZ Mini is released.

Also released is the GP2X which makes the GP32 nerds screamgasm with delight.

Nintendo can't stop itself and releases a lite version of the GBA SP, and Gameboy micro.

2006

The Nintendo DS Lite ups the sex appeal of Nintendo. Handheld games have officially exploded. Girls, casual gamers, your parents, and jocks officially play video games and carry them around in their pockets.

OneStation brings probably illegal games to savy importers at low prices.

2007

PlayStation Portable Slim & Lite. The battle rages on.