History Platform / WonderSwan

Unlike previous non-Nintendo handhelds, the [=WonderSwan=] had some proper first- and third-party support with a good selection of unique games. Bandai already owned ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}'' -- a series similar to Nintendo's ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' and just as suited for handheld gaming -- and used their connections to Banpresto to secure a number of lucrative anime licenses. The system also received games from Creator/{{Capcom}}, Namco (whom Bandai would eventually merge with), and [[Creator/SquareEnix Squaresoft]]. Square's support in particular is somewhat humorous; they were still fresh off their bridge-burning with Nintendo over the Platform/Nintendo64, which meant they were unable to contribute to the Game Boy Color's library and had to settle with the only other game in town. The [=WonderSwan=] notably got a couple ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork'' games, the first remakes of ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' games, and a port of ''VideoGame/RomancingSaGa''.

* ''[[VideoGame/{{Medabots}} Medarot: Perfect Edition]]''

The [=WonderSwan=] was [[Creator/BandaiNamcoEntertainment Bandai]]'s entrant into the handheld console market in Japan and limited parts of Asia, and the final brainchild of Creator/GunpeiYokoi, father of the Platform/GameBoy, released posthumously in 1999. Visually, it looks like somebody crossed an iMac of the era (Bondi Blue!) with a Platform/GameBoyAdvance, and had a variety of system colors available.

The initial [=WonderSwan=] was monochrome like the original Game Boy, though it displayed in eight shades of gray compared to the Game Boy's four to allow more detail. Similar to the UsefulNotes/AtariLynx, it also had extra buttons that allowed it to be played in both landscape and portrait orientations. While the Lynx employed extra face buttons to achieve this, the [=WonderSwan=] went with extra directional buttons, giving it far more flexibility with portrait mode due to the D-pad being fractured instead of solid (i.e. more like a [=PlayStation DualShock=] D-pad and less like the D-pads found on Nintendo's various controllers) and generally being more comfortable to hold. Unusually, the [=WonderSwan=]'s screen has a refresh rate of 75 Hz (NTSC screens refresh at 60 Hz while PAL screens refresh at 50 Hz), allowing games to have more fluid motion than on most other platforms of its time.[[note]]This can be clearly seen when playing ''Cardinal Sins: VideoGame/JudgementSilversword Recycle Edition''. The game features an in-game timer in which the sub-seconds part only goes up to 74, rather than 99 to represent centiseconds, 59 to represent frames on a 60 Hz screen, or 49 to represent frames on a 50 Hz screen.[[/note]]

The original model ended up selling well even when going up against the UsefulNotes/GameBoyColor, but Bandai still felt pressured to release a revision a year into the system's life. The aptly-named [=WonderSwan=] Color isn't a huge leap outside of adding color, but the original model was already more powerful than the GBC and didn't really need the extra horsepower. Similar to its competition, [=WonderSwan=] Color exclusive games are identifiable by their translucent cartridges. Unlike the GBC, however, the [=WonderSwan=] Color is unable to overlay color on the original model's games. The [=WonderSwan=] Color did have half the battery life of the original, though 20 hours off of one AA battery still fell in line with Yokoi's design paradigm for the hardware and it continued to sell well. The system got one last ProductFacelift with the [=SwanCrystal=] in 2002, which employs a TFT screen in place of the previous models' LCD screen. This version didn't do the same numbers as the previous models, especially since the Game Boy Advance was already out by its release.

Yokoi had left Creator/{{Nintendo}} in 1996 and wanted to do something different in the game business. After starting Koto Laboratory he was quickly contacted by Bandai, who sought his help to make hardware to enter the handheld gaming business. Though Yokoi died in 1997 before the [=WonderSwan=] was finished, he laid the groundwork for the new system and imbued it with his successful Game Boy design paradigm of small size, inexpensive cost and high battery life; the original model lasted 40 hours off a single AA battery for the shockingly low price of ¥4800 (the equivalent of $42 at the time).

Unlike previous non-Nintendo handhelds, the [=WonderSwan=] had some proper first- and third-party support with a good selection of unique games. Bandai already owned ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}'' -- a series similar to Nintendo's ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' and just as suited for handheld gaming -- and used their connections to Banpresto to secure a number of lucrative anime licenses. The system also received games from Creator/{{Capcom}}, Namco (whom Bandai would eventually merge with), and [[Creator/SquareEnix Squaresoft]]. Square's support in particular is somewhat humorous; they were still fresh off their bridge-burning with Nintendo over the UsefulNotes/Nintendo64, which meant they were unable to contribute to the Game Boy Color's library and had to settle with the only other game in town. The [=WonderSwan=] notably got a couple ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork'' games, the first remakes of ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' games, and a port of ''VideoGame/RomancingSaGa''.

The [=WonderSwan=] was [[Creator/BandaiNamcoEntertainment Bandai]]'s entrant into the handheld console market in Japan and limited parts of Asia, and the final brainchild of Creator/GunpeiYokoi, father of the Platform/GameBoy, released posthumously in 1999. Visually, it looks like somebody crossed an iMac of the era (Bondi Blue!) with a UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance, and had a variety of system colors available.

The [=WonderSwan=] was [[Creator/BandaiNamcoEntertainment Bandai]]'s entrant into the handheld console market in Japan and limited parts of Asia, and the final brainchild of Creator/GunpeiYokoi, father of the UsefulNotes/GameBoy, released posthumously in 1999. Visually, it looks like somebody crossed an iMac of the era (Bondi Blue!) with a UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance, and had a variety of system colors available.

The '''[=WonderSwan=]''' was [[Creator/BandaiNamcoEntertainment Bandai]]'s entrant into the handheld console market in Japan and limited parts of Asia, and the final brainchild of Creator/GunpeiYokoi, father of the UsefulNotes/GameBoy, released posthumously in 1999. Visually, it looks like somebody crossed an iMac of the era (Bondi Blue!) with a UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance, and had a variety of system colors available.

* ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyoTsu''

[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1200px_wonderswan_black_left.jpg]][[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1200px_wonderswan_color_blue_left.jpg]][[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1200px_wonder_swan_crystal.jpg]]

The original model ended up selling well even when going up against the UsefulNotes/GameBoyColor, but Bandai still felt pressured to release a revision a year into the system's life. The aptly-named [=WonderSwan=] Color isn't a huge leap outside of adding color, but the original model was already more powerful than the GBC and didn't really need the extra horsepower. Similar to its competition, [=WonderSwan=] Color exclusive games are identifiable by their translucent cartridges. Unlike the GBC, however, the [=WonderSwan=] Color is unable to overlay color on the original model's games. The [=WonderSwan=] Color did have half the battery life of the original, though 20 hours off of one AA battery meant it was still appealing and it also sold well. The system got one last ProductFacelift with the [=SwanCrystal=] in 2002, which employs a TFT screen in place of the previous models' LCD screen. This version didn't do the same numbers as the previous models, especially since the Game Boy Advance was already out by its release.

Unlike previous non-Nintendo handhelds, the [=WonderSwan=] had some proper first- and third-party support with a good selection of unique games. Bandai already owned ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}'' -- a series similar to Nintendo's ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' and just as suited for handheld gaming -- and used their connections to Banpresto to secure a number of lucrative anime licenses. The system also received games from Creator/{{Capcom}}, Namco (whom Bandai would eventually merge with), and [[Creator/SquareEnix Squaresoft]] (who at the time were fresh off their bridge-burning with Nintendo over the UsefulNotes/Nintendo64, which extended into an inability to contribute to the Game Boy Color's library). The [=WonderSwan=] notably got a couple ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork'' games, the first remakes of ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' games, and a port of ''VideoGame/RomancingSaGa''.

*** ''[[VideoGame/RockmanEXEWS]]''