Wonderswan's Swan Song

[yellowlightman]

I realize this forum is pretty much 100% GBA, but I figured I'd post a short article I wrote for my blog about the Wonderswan, shortly after I found out about its death. If nothing else, maybe it'll inform a few people about a relatively unknown system. Enjoy.


The Wonderswan's Swan Song
In early 1999, Bandai released a new low-cost handheld video game unit as an attempt to grab a portion of the market monopolized by the GameBoy Color. Although the system was only grayscale, it?s 16-bit processor and sharp graphics were a step above the GameBoy Color?s. In fact, the Wonderswan shared the same designer as the GameBoy, Yokoi Gunpey.

The Wonderswan itself could be used in either a horizontal (like the Sega Gamegear or Neo Geo Pocket) configuration or a vertical (like the original GameBoy) style configuration, depending upon the design of the game. As such the handheld featured two clusters of four buttons that acted like directional pads and two regular buttons. The Wonderswan ran on one AA battery, with a battery life of about thirty hours.

Games available at launch included well-known franchises like Digimon, Nobunaga?s Ambition and Densha de Go. The system began to carve out a niche with further well-known franchises and unusual peripherals like the Handy Sonar, an actual sonar unit designed for use by amateur fishermen.

Almost two years later in late 2000, an updated color version of the Wonderswan was released. The new Wonderswan Color featured the same processor but now included color capabilities and full back compatibility with older Wonderswan games. The unit was slightly larger and the estimated battery life was reduced. New color-compatible games were soon released, perhaps the most significant of these being an updated version of Final Fantasy I which was released at the debut of the new handheld.

A further update of the Wonderswan was released, named the SwanCrystal. It featured a slightly larger LCD screen, which reduced the motion blur common on the first two Wonderswan handhelds. Otherwise the SwanCrystal was identical to the Wonderswan Color, and was compatible with all Wonderswan games.

Increased support from Squaresoft and more Gundam and Digimon games allowed the Wonderswan to carry on in some amount of success although the release of the GameBoy Advance proved to be an obstacle the Wonderswan was never able to overcome.

Wonderswan Specs
Processor Speed: 16-Bit
Clock Speed: 3.072 Mhz
Colors Display: 8 shades of gray (Wonderswan), 241 colors out of 4,096 possible (Wonderswan Color)
Power Source: 1 AA battery or Rechargeable Battery Pack
Battery Life: 30 hours (Wonderswan), 20 hours (Wonderswan color)

Wonderswan
Release Date: 03/04/1999
Release Price: 4,800?
Available Colors: Skeleton Pink, Skeleton Blue, Blue Metallic, Pearl White, Skeleton Green, Silver Metallic, Skeleton Black, Soda Blue, Frozen Mint, and Sherbet Melon. A number of limited edition Wonderswan packages were also made, such as the Federation or Zeon bundle with MS Gundam MSVS and a camouflage edition.

Wonderswan Color
Release Date: 12.19.2000
Release Price: 6,800?
Available Colors: Pearl Blue, Pearl Pink, Crystal Black, Crystal Blue and Crystal Orange. A limited edition Wonderswan Color was also included in a Final Fantasy I bundle pack.

SwanCrystal
Release Date: 07.12.2002
Release Price: 7,800?
Available Colors: Wine Red, Blue Violet, Crystal Black, and Crystal Blue.

Games
Throughout it?s life the Wonderswan enjoyed a wide selection of games, although most were of the RPG or strategy genre. Bandai managed to used it?s wide selection of anime properties to create games based on well known franchises like MS Gundam, One Piece, X and Inu Yasha. The popular Pok?mon-contender Digimon also made a number of stops on Bandai?s handheld.

Much of the Wonderswan?s longevity can be traced to support from Squaresoft. Although Squaresoft?s first game for the Wonderswan was released alongside the launch of the system, it wasn?t until the remake of Final Fantasy I was released at the launch of the Wonderswan Color that Square become a leader in Wonderswan game development. Square followed up Final Fantasy I with II and IV, both with increased visuals over the Famicom and Super Famicom originals. Other Squaresoft staples like the SaGa series and a port of the original Front Mission saw release next to Wonderswan exclusive games such as Blue Wing Blitz and Wildcard.

Bandai itself was no slouch, pumping out Digimon and MS Gundam games with a fervor. The use of exclusive games from popular franchises helped the Wonderswan to stand out against the GameBoy Advance, but inevitably the Wonderswan began suffering the same fate as systems like the Sega Saturn and Nintendo 64. With a few exceptions, it was Bandai that was producing all of the games, with minor support from companies like Squaresoft and Capcom.

Peripherals
Along side the usual handheld peripherals of rechargeable batteries, lights and earphones (the Wonderswan lacked a normal headphone jack) the Wonderswan featured some of the most unique add-ons seen on a handheld system.

Communication Cable
Your typical link cable that allows two Wonderswan players to go head-to-head on any 2-player game.
Price: 1,450?

Handy Sonar
Released in 1999, this add-on is designed to allow fisherman to see what?s in the water below them. A sonar unit attaches to the Wonderswan with the graphic display showing up on the Wonderswan?s screen
Price: 9,800?

Headphone Adapter
Since the Wonderswan lacks a regular headphone jack, it?s necessary to use an adapter, which plugs into the add-on port, which allows for a regular headphone to be used.
Price: 2,700?

Rechargeable Battery Pack
In case you get tired of replacing those AA batteries, you can use a licensed rechargeable battery.
Price: 3,700?

The Wonder Borg
Using your Wonderswan you can program this beetle-like robot with basic commands and watch it walk around. The Wonder Borg also contains a variety of sensors such as infrared, touch, brightness and pheromone. This was primarily intended for us as an educational device to teach about early robotic engineering.
Price: 12,000?

The Wonder Witch
Gamers around during the earlier years of the Playstation may remember the Net Yaroze, an amateur programming kit for the system. The WonderWitch is the Wonderswan equivalent, allowing those that know C to program for the Wonderswan. The package includes a special WonderWitch cartridge for storing your game, as well as a CD with programs for your PC and a cable to connect your PC and Wonderswan.
Price: 11,800?

The Wonder Gate
This add-on allowed the Wonderswan to access the Internet through a cellular phone. Features included a web browser and E-mail program as well as access to small downloadable minigames.
Price: ?

The End of the Wonderswan
In July of 2002 Bandai released a new update of the Wonderswan, the SwanCrystal. Featuring a new look and a much sharper screen, the Wonderswan Crystal was Bandai?s last attempt against the GameBoy Advance. Lack of support and the increasing popularity of the GameBoy Advance forced Bandai to announce that all manufacturing of the SwanCrystal was to be halted on February 18th, 2003.

As it stands there are a few games left on the release charts for the SwanCrystal/Wonderswan Color but it looks as though these will be the last for the system. As it stands, the Wonderswan was the only handheld in recent years to even challenge the GameBoy?s dominance of the handheld market, even if it failed. It managed to produce a unique collection of games and create diversity in a market where for a very long time; there had been none.

References
WonderSwanWeb (Official Site)
GameFAQs (Look under Wonderswan FAQ's)
SQUARE for Wonderswan
WonderBorg
SwanSong - The Wonderswan Site
Wonderswan World

[insteefy]

nice nice..


I prefer the wonderswan and the neogeo pocket over the GBA any day tho. I just love those japanese RPG's..