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The is a handheld game console
Handheld game console

A handheld game console is a lightweight, portable device with a built-in screen, games controls and speakers. Handheld game consoles are run on machines of small size allowing people to carry them and play them at any time or place....
 designed by Bandai
Bandai

is a Japanese toy making company, as well as the producer of a large number of plastic model kits. It is the world's third largest producer of toys. Some ex-Bandai group companies produce anime and tokusatsu programs....
. It was released on December 30, 2000 in Japan, and was a moderate success.

The original WonderSwan
WonderSwan

is a handheld game console released in Japan by Bandai on March 4, 1999. It was developed by the late Gunpei Yokoi's company Koto and Bandai. The WonderSwan was made to compete with the Neo Geo Pocket Color and the market leader Nintendo's Game Boy Color ....
 had only a black and white screen. Although the WonderSwan Color was slightly larger and heavier (7 mm and 2 g) compared to the original WonderSwan, the color version featured 64k of RAM and a larger color LCD
Liquid crystal display

A liquid crystal display is an Electro-optic modulator shaped into a thin, flat panel made up of any number of color or monochrome pixels filled with liquid crystals and arrayed in front of a Light#Light sources or reflector....
 screen. In addition, the WonderSwan Color is compatible with the original WonderSwan library of games.

Prior to WonderSwan's release, Nintendo
Nintendo

is a global company located in Kyoto, Japan founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi to produce handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
 had virtually a monopoly in the Japanese video game handheld market.






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Encyclopedia


The is a handheld game console
Handheld game console

A handheld game console is a lightweight, portable device with a built-in screen, games controls and speakers. Handheld game consoles are run on machines of small size allowing people to carry them and play them at any time or place....
 designed by Bandai
Bandai

is a Japanese toy making company, as well as the producer of a large number of plastic model kits. It is the world's third largest producer of toys. Some ex-Bandai group companies produce anime and tokusatsu programs....
. It was released on December 30, 2000 in Japan, and was a moderate success.

The original WonderSwan
WonderSwan

is a handheld game console released in Japan by Bandai on March 4, 1999. It was developed by the late Gunpei Yokoi's company Koto and Bandai. The WonderSwan was made to compete with the Neo Geo Pocket Color and the market leader Nintendo's Game Boy Color ....
 had only a black and white screen. Although the WonderSwan Color was slightly larger and heavier (7 mm and 2 g) compared to the original WonderSwan, the color version featured 64k of RAM and a larger color LCD
Liquid crystal display

A liquid crystal display is an Electro-optic modulator shaped into a thin, flat panel made up of any number of color or monochrome pixels filled with liquid crystals and arrayed in front of a Light#Light sources or reflector....
 screen. In addition, the WonderSwan Color is compatible with the original WonderSwan library of games.

Prior to WonderSwan's release, Nintendo
Nintendo

is a global company located in Kyoto, Japan founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi to produce handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
 had virtually a monopoly in the Japanese video game handheld market. After the release of the WonderSwan Color, Bandai took approximately 8% of the market share in Japan partly due to its low price of ¥6800 Japanese yen
Japanese yen

The is the currency of Japan. It is the third most-traded currency in the forex after the euro and the United States dollar. It is also widely used as a reserve currency after the U.S....
 (approximately $59 USD
United States dollar

The United States dollar is the unit of currency of the United States and was defined by the Coinage Act of 1792 to be between 371 and 416 grains of silver ....
).

Another reason for the WonderSwan's success in Japan was the fact that Bandai managed to get a deal with Squaresoft
Square Co.

was a Japanese video game company founded in September 1983 by Masafumi Miyamoto. It Mergers and acquisitions with Enix in 2003 and became part of Square Enix....
 to port over the original Famicom
Nintendo Entertainment System

The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe and Australia in . In most of Asia, including Japan , the Philippines, China, Vietnam and Singapore, it was released as the ....
 Final Fantasy
Final Fantasy

is a media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi and owned by Square Enix that includes video games, motion pictures, and other merchandise. The series began in 1987 as an Final Fantasy console role-playing game video game developer by Square Co., spawning a video game series that became the central focus of the franchise....
 games with improved graphics and controls. However, with the popularity of the Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Advance

The is a 32-bit Handheld game console developed, manufactured and marketed by Nintendo; resembling Sega's 8-bit Game Gear. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color....
 and the reconciliation between Squaresoft and Nintendo, the WonderSwan Color and its successor, the Swan Crystal
Swan Crystal

The is the third and final version of Bandai's WonderSwan handheld game console brand, succeeding the WonderSwan and WonderSwan Color. It was released November 2002....
 quickly lost its competitive advantage. They were discontinued in 2003.

Technical specifications

  • CPU: SPGY-1002, a 3.072 MHz 16-bit
    Bit

    A bit is a binary numeral system numerical digit, taking a value of either 0 or 1. Binary digits are a basic unit of information Computer data storage and transmission in digital computing and digital information theory....
     NEC V30MZ Clone
  • Memory: 64 kB
    Kilobyte

    Kilobyte is a unit of Computer data storage equal to either 1,024 bytes or 1,000 bytes , depending on context.It is abbreviated in a number of ways: KB, kB, K and Kbyte....
     VRAM/WRAM (shared)
  • Screen:
    • FSTN reflective LCD
      Liquid crystal display

      A liquid crystal display is an Electro-optic modulator shaped into a thin, flat panel made up of any number of color or monochrome pixels filled with liquid crystals and arrayed in front of a Light#Light sources or reflector....
    • 2.8 inch
      Inch

      An inch is the name of a Units of measurement of length in a number of different systems, including Imperial units, and United States customary units....
       (71 mm) diagonal
    • no backlight
    • resolution: 224x144 pixels
    • colors: 241 out of 4096 colors
  • Sound: Built-in mono speaker or stereo with optional headphones adapter
    • three settings: mute, soft, loud
  • Link: Two players (adapter needed)
  • Power: one AA battery (~20 hours of game play)
  • Size: 128 by 74.3 by 24.3 mm
  • Weight 95 g (3.35 oz
    Ounce

    This article is about the unit of mass. For the unit of force, see Pound-force. For the unit of volume, see Fluid ounce. For all other uses, see Ounce ....
    ) including battery


Personal data

Before a WonderSwan can play games, the player must enter some personal information. The personal data screen can be reached by pressing the start and power buttons simultaneously. It requests a name, birthday (Year, month, day), sex and blood type. The name will appear under the Bandai logo when the system is turned on. Option settings for default volume and contrast may also be set here.

Colors


The WonderSwan Color came in 5 basic colors: Pearl Blue, Crystal Pink, Crystal Black, Crystal Blue, and Crystal Orange. Many limited edition colors were also released.

Final Fantasy bundles


The Wonderswan Color was also available in limited edition Final Fantasy
Final Fantasy

is a media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi and owned by Square Enix that includes video games, motion pictures, and other merchandise. The series began in 1987 as an Final Fantasy console role-playing game video game developer by Square Co., spawning a video game series that became the central focus of the franchise....
 bundles. These bundles came with either Final Fantasy I or Final Fantasy II
Final Fantasy II

is a console role-playing game developed and published by Square Co. in 1988 for the Nintendo Entertainment System as a part of the Final Fantasy series....
 along with a Final Fantasy-themed Wonderswan Color.

See also

  • List of WonderSwan Color games
    List of WonderSwan Color games

    This is a list of games for the Bandai WonderSwan Color handheld video game system, organized alphabetically by name. See also the List of WonderSwan games, they also worked on the WonderSwan Color....


External links