Friday, June 15, 2012

WonderSwan cartridges (and boxes) in context

While prepping my last two "Acquisition #123" (#132: Engacho! and #133: Tane wo Maku Tori) posts, I realized that some of you (many of you?) might like to see how WonderSwan game boxes and cartridges stack up to their counterparts in the portable world.

So, I took a few photos of a few of my recent WonderSwan pick-ups sitting next to 3DS, DS, GameBoy, GameBoy Advance, Game Gear and PSP carts and boxes.

The photos below, as I'm sure you can see, show that WonderSwan cartridges (the clear one on the left, below Wario Land II, and the black one beneath Balloon Kid) are closest in size to GameBoy Advance cartridges.




The photo above, on the other hand, shows how WonderSwan game boxes compare in size to DS and PSP cases. The box on the right, by the way, is for a WonderSwan Color game called Flash Koibitokun.

All "regular" WonderSwan games are in smaller/squatter boxes a la Engacho!, by the way, while all WonderSwan Color games are in the taller ones a la Flash Koibitokun.

Anyway, so now you know how WonderSwan boxes and carts compare to their 3DS, DS, GameBoy, GameBoy Advance, Game Gear and PSP counterparts.

14 comments:

Viewtiful_Justin said...

I would hang that photo of the cartridges on my wall. How pretty!

Bryan Ochalla said...

It already kind of looks like wall art, doesn't it, Justin? Anyway, thanks for the compliment :)

RetroKingSimon said...

I much prefer the Japanese (and European) name for the 'Hot Shots' series but they're fantastic games anyway :) I haven't seen too many WS games in real life though, with or without boxes, so it's great to see a comparison. As Justin said, the cartridges look great too :)

Bryan Ochalla said...

The 'Hot Shots' series goes my 'Everybody's (Golf/Tennis)' in Europe and Japan, right, Simon? If so, I like both names, really.

As for the reason for this post/these photos: Yeah, I just thought some folks might be curious as to how large (or small) WS carts and boxes are. It's the sort of thing I always wonder when I see game boxes, especially. "How big are they compared to, say, DS boxes, or PSP boxes?"

Someone pointed out on Facebook that I failed to include a PSP UMD in my "cartridge photo." Sorry about that. I was going to, but for some reason failed to follow through with it.

chaosyoshimage said...

I thought about getting a SwanCrystal recently, but I lost the eBay auction on it but won a Neo Geo Pocket Color instead. Don't have the money to attempt to grab another old school handheld so I'm waiting again.

Bryan Ochalla said...

Hey there, CYM! Long time, no see :)

Oh, what games have you bought for that new NGPC of yours? I've heard great things about that system, BTW.

It's funny how rare SwanCrystals seem to be on eBay these days -- especially the color I want (the opaque blue ones). I recently lost an eBay auction for one, too, by the way. I'm going to wait a while before I try again, as I've been buying too much stuff lately.

chaosyoshimage said...

I'm broke and jobless so I won't be trying anytime soon. I got the following games for my NGPC: Sonic Pocket Adventure (The one I wanted the most), Metal Slug: 1st Mission, Samurai Showdown 2, The Match of the Millennium: SNK vs. Capcom, and both versions of Card Fighters Clash. I love the chibi sprites in the fighters although I've never been huge on fighters. I'm hoping to get some of the strategy and RPG games for it eventually.

Bryan Ochalla said...

Sorry to hear about your job and money situations, CYM :( Hope things improve for you soon.

I'm jealous of your NGPC game collection, BTW. I've heard esp. good things about the system's chibi fighters, and about Card Fighters Clash, too!

chaosyoshimage said...

Lol, don't be, I left the job because I hated it and it took all of my time. Walmart was the first place I applied to when I was looking for my first job months ago and that's pretty much the only reason I took it. I still live with my dad and he's fine with me being jobless for awhile.

Yeah, I've played a bit of the fighters and find them really fun, but I haven't tried Card Fighters Clash yet. I love TCG's though and play stuff like Yu-Gi-Oh! and Magic: The Gathering regularly.

Bryan Ochalla said...

Oh, well, that's good. It's nice when you can rely on family or friends to help you through jobless periods.

As for Card Fighters Clash: I look forward to hearing what you think of it (once you get around to playing it, of course). It certainly *looks* like a nice game!

RetroKingSimon said...

I did wonder about the UMD as well, Bryan, but I've got a PSP so I know how big they are :P If I was going to be really picky I could say there's no Lynx cartridges either ;) And yes, it's Everybody's Golf and Tennis here which I much prefer. EG on the PSP is one of my favourite games ever :)

Bryan Ochalla said...

The Atari Lynx! Well, Simon, I definitely would have included a few Lynx games if I owned any. Unfortunately, I don't! In fact, now that you mentioned it, I don't think I've ever seen a Lynx cartridge. Haven't seen a Neo Geo Pocket Color cart either. Hmmm.

As for the Everybody's/Hot Shots games: I love the tennis game to death. Haven't played the golf one yet, although I do own it. May have to get to that soon...

Unknown said...

I actually think that leaving out the PSP UMD from the first picture makes it work a lot better compositionally! I love how you've put together all the angular cartridges together, and I can see that UMD sticking out like a sore thumb with its curves ;)


Anyways, thanks for the pictures! As others have said, I could definitely see myself hanging that first one on my wall. It'd look great as a poster with even more cartridges!

Bryan Ochalla said...

Anne: You know, I think that may be why I left out the PSP UMDs! I say "I think" because I honestly can't remember :P

Anyway, I agree with you regardless -- the rounded edges of the UMDs would have stuck out like sore thumbs.

It's awesome to hear that you and a few others like that first image so much, BTW. Maybe I'll re-take it sometime soon -- this time adding more cartridges so they fill up the photo space...