What is a WonderSwan


is this an asian pirate console or legit console in that market. just looking quickly i see Ghosts n goblins or looks to be by Ban Dai, SD Gundam, Emotional Jam, and a SD GGGeneration G Gather Beat by Ban Dai.

when did this console come out.

Comments

  • Very short answer without consulting wikipedia is that it was a Japan only competitor to the Game Boy family released by Bandai in the late 90s and early 2000s. It was licensed to Mattel in the US who choose not to release it here.



    There are three variations of the hardware the original Wonderswan (Black and White), Wonderswan Color (has a color screen) and Wonderswan Crystal (has a better color screen)
  • Sounds like a system that didn't get released here in the US. Usually all the good systems get released here, so I don't think this got too far.
  • Yeah Japan only as Mattel got smart/stupid depending how you view it as they buried it. There is a black and white and color version of it. Ultimately it was sort of like a bit of a beefed up version of the Neo Geo Pocket/Color system and did more than (both did) what the GBC could do. There was a good line up of games, some strong support with classic Final Fantasy games too among others. I wanted one years ago but it was canned.
  • Originally posted by: xxtheenslavedxx

    Sounds like a system that didn't get released here in the US. Usually all the good systems get released here, so I don't think this got too far.


    MSX image
  • yeah i always thought it was pretty cool a pretty off beat system to collect for.
  • It's a pretty cool little system, and the technical abilities of it were an improvement over its main competitor at the time. The only problem is that there isn't a large amount of English-friendly games. That may have been different though if it was released in the US.
  • There's a moron here locally on craigslist that had been trying to sell the color one with 2 games for like $300, then $200...and it sat there regularly posted every 3 days for a stretch and stopped. He kept talking about how it was worth like $400 and he was taking a hit...riiiight. image It's good, not that good.
  • there are people here (who post on cl too) who put up a gamecube, gba and genesis's as be all w prices ranging from.



    100 - gc w 2 games (5-10 dollar games)

    150 - gba w 5 games (1-3 dollar games)

    200 - genesis cib w 5 games (commoners)



    w having G being the first letter, i don't think they = gold. n those still sit from jan - march area til now.



    -=-=-=-=-=-



    the only handheld that wasn't really big in my book or knew anyone who got one was the N-Gage. it had some good games from what i remember seeing review on it.
  • Yeah I don't get people who do that, guess they can sit forever and wait on a sucker. The problem is when someone does make a good deal it weirdly make it hard for those with a good thing going too due to skepticism and distrust that's made. I've got a NES up here and on the list for the same $125 price with 30 games and extra parts...no bites. Usually there's some idiots with 1/2 the games (all commons) and only 2 game pads to my 4 for $150-200 range.
  • Originally posted by: Tanooki

    There's a moron here locally on craigslist that had been trying to sell the color one with 2 games for like $300, then $200...and it sat there regularly posted every 3 days for a stretch and stopped. He kept talking about how it was worth like $400 and he was taking a hit...riiiight. image It's good, not that good.


    Yeah, $20 to $40 is about right for a color model (Depending on if it's complete or not), and about $60 for the backlit SwanCrystal unit. Anyone trying to sell for ten times that amount is an idiot. lol


  • Originally posted by: xxtheenslavedxx

    Sounds like a system that didn't get released here in the US. Usually all the good systems get released here, so I don't think this got too far.
    Originally posted by: JBOGames

    MSX image


    You realize the MSX DID come out in the US right? It just wasn't popular.
  • Heard of the Neogeo pocket (color)? Same generation
  • If I could find a NGPC or a Wonderswan (with a readily supply of good cheap games) I'd be hard pressed not to invest as they're fun and I usually can find more time for a game I can play in bed or out and about while stuck than a console one as they're more time involved these days (partly why I love my NES, much can be done in 15min or so sometimes less.)
  • I'm kinda late with this, but...



    ...a miserable little pile of circuit boards.
  • Miserable piece of circuits...shows what you know. And really...get the hell out with that annoying smarmy google this for you site as it's so so rude and boring. Why not just don't post at all if that's the contribution eh?
  • Originally posted by: Tanooki

    If I could find a NGPC or a Wonderswan (with a readily supply of good cheap games) I'd be hard pressed not to invest as they're fun and I usually can find more time for a game I can play in bed or out and about while stuck than a console one as they're more time involved these days (partly why I love my NES, much can be done in 15min or so sometimes less.)




    Honestly, they are kind of hard to go back to after nearly a decade of more powerful, backlit systems that do so much more (Emulation on a PSP, for instance). Regardless, it does have some fun titles--Just don't expect to get a ton of playtime out of them (I'm talking more-so about the WonderSwan here) unless you speak Japanese.

    Again, though, if you want to invest in them, they ARE cheap. $10 - $20 for CIB b&w units, $20 - $40 for CIB color units. The Swan Crystals are the expensive ones (or at least getting up there in price). The best bang for the buck though considering they are back (or was it front?) lit.

  • Not really. This site is primarily sourced in the NES, so are you saying it's harder to go back to that instead of the oh PS3 or the Wii? It's the same train of logic. And when I was talking about both I was including japan, hell the Wonderswan Color Crystal etc were Japan only and they're back lit if I remember it right.
  • Originally posted by: Tanooki

    Not really. This site is primarily sourced in the NES, so are you saying it's harder to go back to that instead of the oh PS3 or the Wii? It's the same train of logic. And when I was talking about both I was including japan, hell the Wonderswan Color Crystal etc were Japan only and they're back lit if I remember it right.


    You mis-interpreted what I said (to an extent). They're hard to go back to as in, "no backlit screen, very dark colors that are difficult to see (think the original GBA), and very bad ghosting on the black and white systems". Think like going back to an original GB (pre-GB Pocket days), but at least in that system's defense, we can play those games on backlit GBA SP systems. Of course, I'm strictly speaking in terms of the Swan and Swan Color systems (You can play them on the Crystal, but of course, those cost more money). I didn't mean it in that the games are bad--There are some great ones, on the contrary, but the language barrier will put a hurt on that.
  • Originally posted by: Tanooki

    Miserable piece of circuits...shows what you know. And really...get the hell out with that annoying smarmy google this for you site as it's so so rude and boring. Why not just don't post at all if that's the contribution eh?


    Dude, it's just a joke. In retrospect, I should have contributed an opinion to the topic, so here it is.

    Your enjoyment of the Wonderswan is directly proportional to how much you enjoy Japanese games. All the games are in Japanese, so it helps if you know the language, or at least can read Katakana for the simpler games to navigate through menus. There are plenty of great RPGs for the system, since Squaresoft gave their support for the device, and it got ports of Final Fantasy 1, 2, and 4, along with quite a few original RPGs. It is certainly a device suited for complex games, with a whopping 10 face buttons [or 2 D-Pads and 2 face buttons], so all those are mapped to distinct functions. Its unique button configuration also made it a great console for SHMUPs, since it was not limited to just vertical or just horizontal shooters without serious restrictions. The only problem, other than the language barrier, is that games can be very expensive, especially the more popular ones. Ironically, the Final Fantasy games are some of the cheapest on the console!
  • I know it's a joke but I keep seeing it more and more on multiple sites I hit I've just gotten tired of it as it's just flat out rude is all. I know the system is great, but there is that barrier entirely. Had I got it 10years ago when I double aced to semesters of Japanese in college I'd have easily made it though a good bit of games short of big kanji stuff.
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