Let's hear it for the 'Boy (or, celebrating the 27th anniversary of the GameBoy's Japanese launch)

It shouldn't be surprising to hear that I'm a big fan of Nintendo's first handheld system, the GameBoy. After all, I've written about it and its catalog of quirky games many, many times over the years. (More on that in a second.)

What should be surprising to hear is that I somehow failed to mention that yesterday was the 27th anniversary of the GameBoy's Japanese launch.

Yes, that means the GameBoy first hit store shelves in Japan all the way back on April 21, 1989.

In case you don't have a memory like an elephant (don't worry, neither do I), the brick-sized portable didn't make its way to North American until three months later (on July 31). And Europeans had to sit tight until late September of the following year.

I've been around the block a lot of times, so of course I remember reading about the GameBoy's Japanese release.

Actually, I remember more than that--I remember salivating over the impending North American release and how it would mean I'd soon be able to have a tiny NES on me at all times.

That wasn't entirely the case, of course, but that's how it seemed back then.

The GameBoy hardware and software seem quite a bit less impressive today, but that doesn't mean either of them are unimpressive--or at least they aren't in my mind.

In fact, the system's design is one of my all-time favorites. Plus, its games catalog is chock-full of underappreciated (and even unknown) classics--in my humble opinion, naturally.

If you'd like to learn more about the latter, you could do worse that check out the following:

* "Great Gaymathon" reviews of Astro Rabby, Kitchen Panic and Painter Momopie

* "Manual Stimulation" posts about Bubble Bobble, BurgerTime Deluxe and Ghostbusters 2

* My Flickr album of GameBoy software and hardware photos

Oh, and you should read through my many "Year of the GameBoy" write-ups. I'll publish more of these this year, by the way--despite the fact that doing so effectively will make it my third "Year of the GameBoy."

Are any of you GameBoy fans? Even if you're not, maybe you're a fan of a particular GameBoy title? Regardless, please share your thoughts on this momentous occasion in the comments section below.

Happy (ever-so-slightly belated) 25th anniversary, Super Famicom!

Twenty-five years ago, Nintendo made its second cartridge-based games console, the Super Famicom, available to the Japanese masses.

I breathlessly followed its development in the pages of magazines like Electronic Gaming Monthly, Nintendo Power and Video Games and Computer Entertainment. (Note: I remember reading this article--over and over again--like it was yesterday.) I was especially obsessed with coverage of Super Mario World, of course, although I was nearly as keen on "launch window" titles Pilotwings and F-Zero.

Despite my overwhelming interest in the Super Famicom and its initial releases, though, I didn't buy one on or around its Nov. 21 debut. Granted, I was just about to turn 14 at the time, and buying Japanese consoles (or even games) wasn't really an option--especially since doing so likely would have cost me somewhere in the vicinity of $400.

Instead, I had to wait until shortly after the Super Famicom's North American counterpart, the SNES, launched in my own neck of the woods a year later before I was able to experience Nintendo's brand of 16-bit gaming for myself. 

A couple of years later, I finally got to play my first Super Famicom (as opposed to SNES) game when I imported a used copy of Final Fantasy V--which I still have today, mind you--via one of those companies that advertised in the back of DieHard GameFan and the aforementioned EGM.

Actually, I may have picked up Parodius Da! first, but who really cares this many years later, right?

Strangely--given my current love of imported games--those two Japanese titles, along with Final Fantasy VI, may have been the only ones I ever bought to play on my trusty SNES. (Don't worry, I've bought a few more Super Famicom in the last couple of years, although only a few--so far.) 

Also, I've never owned an actual Super Famicom system. Which is a crying shame, as I've always considered its design to be among the most attractive and appealing of the consoles that have seen the light of day since the early 1980s.

What else did I--and do I--love about the Super Famicom? I've always loved its graphics capabilities, which for me represent the peak of two-dimensional, sprite-based game visuals. I've also always loved its audio components, which allowed the best musicians and composers of the day to produce some absolutely stellar soundtracks. 

And then, of course, there was the system's controller, with its four face and two shoulder buttons, which I've long considered to be as eye-catching as it is comfortable.

How about you? Do you have any particularly fond memories of this superb entry in the fourth generation of game systems? If so, feel free to share them in the comments section below. 

WonderSwan doodle

I decided a couple of days ago to start prettying up my workspace. Specifically, I decided I'd produce at least one doodle (on a sticky note, of course) each day and then pin the resulting creation to the padded wall of my cubicle.

The doodle I came up with on Friday focused on a subject that's been bouncing around in my brain for the last few days: Bandai's Japan-only competitor to Nintendo's GameBoy, the uniquely named WonderSwan.

I'm sure many more game-inspired doodles will follow this one in the coming weeks and months, and I'm also sure that I'll share snapshots of at least some of them via Instagram. (Don't worry, future photos should look far better than the washed-out one that follows.)

Speaking of which, my Instagram handle is "rainbow_blight," just in case any of you want to follow me there. 

I regularly use all sorts of other social-media sites and apps, too, by the way--including Facebook, Flickr, Google+, Tumblr and Twitter--so please follow me there (and chat me up now and then) as well if you're into such things.

Other than that, do any of you also have the WonderSwan on the brain at the moment? Or are you otherwise fans of this quirky handheld? If so, please show your love in the comments section below.

See also: previous posts about the WonderSwan

Nice Package! ('Noble Pink' Nintendo DS Lite)

Considering all of the love I've shown for the Nintendo DS over the years (especially this past year, as I've devoted an entire series of posts to it), you might think that I'd have a whole slew of systems that are dedicated to playing its wonderfully diverse catalog of games.

In fact, I've only ever owned or played a single DS system--that being the white DS Lite I semi-begrudgingly bought (I wasn't all that keen on Nintendo's first dual-screened handheld until I finally experienced it for myself) sometime in 2007 so I could play Animal Crossing: Wild World while traveling for work.

Although I've barely put any time into Wild World in the ensuing years, I’ve spent hours upon hours with the aforementioned DS Lite--which continues to chug along like I only pulled it from its box yesterday, I'm proud to say.



Still, as much as I love its sleek design and its diminutive size, I recently came to the conclusion that I’d love it even more if it were a bit more colorful. Specifically, I'd love it even more if it were a pretty shade of pink. Which initially struck me as kind of funny, as my mom has had a pink DS Lite for ages, and I never much cared for the particular hue that Nintendo chose for its casing.

For some odd reason, though, I recently had a change of heart that prompted me to see the "coral pink" DS Lite ("noble pink" in Japan) in a far more appealing light.

So, when I came across an eBay auction for a (mostly) complete-in-box "noble pink" DS Lite a month or so ago, I naturally couldn't keep myself from bidding on it.

Anyway, imagine my surprise when I was able to win the auction in question with a bargain-basement bid (in my humble opinion) of $25.



As I alluded to earlier, the Japanese DS Lite I acquired as a result of this online shopping extravaganza can’t really be described as “complete in box.” Oh, a box was included, as you should be able to see in the photos shared throughout this post, and a pretty-in-noble-pink DS Lite system was included, too, but that’s about it. In other words, it didn’t come with an instruction manual or any of the pamphlets and fliers that Nintendo usually stuffed inside this product's packaging.

Of course, who in 2015 really needs an instruction manual for a DS Lite, especially one that’s totally, or at least mostly, in Japanese? Not me.

Even if I were the kind of guy who refused to buy anything but undeniably complete-in-box gaming products, though, I’d have shoved aside those irrational feelings in favor of picking up the lovely DS Lite shown in the snapshot above, as the hardware, in particular, is in pristine condition.



If I were to guess, I'd say the system's never been used. At the very least, its previous owner either has the softest skin ever or wore gloves while playing it, as the outer shell is free of the usual smudges and scuff marks. Also, he or she must've obsessively ignored the lower touch screen, as it has absolutely no scratches on it.

Is this beauty going to be my new go-to system for DS games? Sadly, probably not, but don't take that to mean it's going to sit in a cabinet, forever unused. I'll definitely pull it out and put it through its paces now and then, but for the most part I'll turn to my trusty OG 3DS when I want to play DS carts, as I love the more modern hardware's ability to track playtime.

Are any of you aficionados of the DS Lite's packaging--or, more likely, of the DS Lite itself? If so, let me (and others) know why in the comments section below.