In case you didn't know already: the PC Engine Shuttle had really awesome packaging

I've known that the oddly named and designed PC Engine Shuttle system was sold wrapped in some seriously awesome packaging for a while now, but for whatever reason I forgot about it until I came across one on eBay over the weekend.

Here's the packaging in question, if you've never before laid eyes on it:



The system itself looks pretty awesome, too, if you ask me:



The whole she-bang was released, along with a Batwing-esque controller, in 1989, by the way--alongside the PC Engine Core Grafx and the PC Engine Super Grafx. (They were followed, in 1991, by three more PC Engine-branded systems: the Core Grafx II, the LT and the Super CD-ROM2.)

Even more evidence that I have awesome readers

Two weekends ago, while PAX Prime was in full swing, a Twitter user who calls himself Viceroy Fizzlebottom aimed a tweet at me that said, "I saw boxed copies of Door Door and Banana at the Pink Gorilla PAX booth and thought of you!"

After asking ol' Fizzlebottom (who leaves comments here now and then under the name Kaze) how much the copy of Banana was going for, he replied that it was "around $30" and then rather preciently added, "Would you like me to snag it for you if it's still there tomorrow?"

Because I'm a firm believer that you can't own too many copies of this charming, Famicom-based puzzler, I told Fizzlebottom/Kaze something along the lines of, "Yes, please--if it includes the game's instruction manual and if the whole package is, indeed, $30 or less." (OK, so my actual response was closer to "YES!!!!!")

So, how does this tale end? With me obtaining a complete-in-box copy of Victor Interactive's Banana (which does include its manual, thank you very much) for just $14.99. And, I have to say, what a gorgeous box it is--even if it does show a bit of wear and tear.





I especially like the adorable illustrations that appear on the box's flaps (see the pair of photos below for evidence).





Although I've already thanked Fizzlebottom/Kaze a number times for thinking of me while waltzing through Pink Gorilla's PAX Prime booth, I'm going to do so again here because, well, I think he deserves as much praise as I can heap upon him at the moment.

Thank you, Kaze!

See also: 'Additional proof that I have awesome readers,' 'Additional proof that Kimimi (of Kimimi's Blog) is an awesome chick' and 'Additional proof that Darwin Yamamoto is a pretty awesome dude'

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.