Celine, good to see you here!
That photo gallery is very cool
Finally picked up a SwanCrystal and a bunch of games. Organised them into a box with the small number of NGPC stuff I have:
I too am surprised it’s largely known for RPGs and licensed games because it’s got a lot of great little arcade-style puzzle games which use the system’s vertical mode (Magical Drop, Gunpey, Tetris) and button layouts (Crazy Climber) to the fullest.
2 Likes
FlashMasta flash cart is back in stock: https://www.flashmasta.com/2020/10/09/wonderswan-flash-masta-cartridges-back-in-stock-shipping-internationally/
They went quick last time they were available but apparently he’s redesigned them to be easier to manufacture. Hopefully they will be in stock more regularly, and look an actual case this time!
2 Likes
Better than the rubbish Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster, that’s for sure.
What’s the thing on the right?
I had previously bought the headphone adapter as a bare board and picked up the 3d printed shell along with the IPS modded WonderSwan Color from the above shop.
Were wonder swans backlit? Or is that a mod? Never actually saw one in the flesh before.
No WonderSwan was backlit. The original has a screen sorta like GB, the 3rd model the SwanCrystal has a screen like the GBA, and in between the WonderSwan Color had a regular non-reflective LCD screen that had no backlight and was really nasty. This WSC has an IPS screen modded into it.
The Wonderswan Color screen is truly bad. Add in a dodgy power button and I ended up selling mine earlier this year.
If the Wonderswan Color is bad it must be real bad - I haven’t been very impressed with the display on my SwanCrystal, which has poor viewing angles unless tilted in a certain way, and the antireflective(?) coating(?) started peeling off. Tempted to replace the whole unit at this point.
Still, Wonderswan Final Fantasy remakes are really good, I didn’t realise until recently that they were the first ones ever to follow the original Famicom games! And they have formed the basis of the rather disappointing Unity engine Pixel Remaster versions.
Mod: raising the Power and Sound buttons
I have a few games but no console now. Should get rid of the games I guess.
It is.
Very weird, why didn’t they just copy the GBP/NGPC screens?
Yeah, it is baffling. Especially when you consider how a lot of the games don’t really seem to have been designed around the limitations of the display unlike with Game Boy, but that was always going to be the case when they were releasing new models with new screens so quickly I guess.
Potential Wonderswan support (and existing Game Gear) support are probably the two biggest reasons I’m interested in the Analogue Pocket, since time hasn’t been kind to the displays on both platforms compared with other handhelds like the NGPC and the Game Boy line.
Yeah.
Like I can play NGPC and GBC right now and they’re fine. In the right lighting they’re perfectly playable.
Original GB has its charms too and works well for many games.
Game Gear and Wonderswan however are simply not pleasant to use.
The NGPC screen is great and my favourite non backlit handheld screen. Nice and clear in most lighting conditions.
The GBC is pretty sharp compared to the Pocket and perfectly useable on the train.
The WonderSwan Color was muddy with a bad ghosting and was terrible to use. Disappointed to hear the Game Gear is similar. Does the Lynx have the same issues?
At the time all these screens were fine, maybe because we’d not seen any better? But now, no way.
Also I think some LCD panels have degraded over time. For example my Psion Series 5mx is so pale these days compared to when it was new.
One thing I only recently noticed about the Swancrystal in particular is the screen is 75hz, you get very smooth scrolling in games without any ghosting. This was true of the non backlit GBA, GBC and NGPC too of course but it’s marginally better because of the higher refresh rate!
I took my Swancrystal out with me today and completely forgot I needed a headphone adapter for it. Does anyone know which one actually works with the Swancrystal? There’s one which Bandai released for the original WS model, and then I found this one:
I have the Sammy Wonderswan Headphone Adapter SWJ-888004 and iirc it works with all my WS devices.
Cheers, I’ll keep my eyes peeled. Audio is so important to me for games I haven’t played before that I need the adapter to use it on the train!