No Wonderswan in the Rarity guide?

[Pedro Lambrini]

I was just looking around the site for info the Wonderswan as I have one arriving any day. I don't really know anything about it and thought there'd be a ton of info here but there isn't even a mention in the Online Rarity Guide! I was quite surprised 'cos there seems to be a wealth of knowledge regarding the most obscure systems, some of which I've never even heard of! But there is very little on the Wonderswan. How come? Surely there must be at least one expert on the subject here :) !

[Ed Oscuro]

My leige, joyous news! An expert is you!

It's a mystery to everybody, my friend.

[Pedro Lambrini]

It really is a mystery, isn't it?! Maybe it's time for Mouldy and Scullery... :? O_O

[Raedon]

don't think that was released in the US of A..

[digitalpress]

don't think that was released in the US of A..

We do have other non-US systems in the database, like the PC-FX or the Interton, a few others...

The problem isn't the locality or necessarily even the obscurity. The problem is that each system needs a champion - somone who is going to diligently maintain that system's database. And besides the fact that it's work and it doesn't pay anything but the appreciation of that system's fans, our section editors aren't just *anybody*. A certain amount of pre-qualification or proof of expertise is required as well.

So.

To date, we haven't found a suitable database editor for the system. We're always working on filling those gaps though, don't be surprised if it just turns up one day.

[hydr0x]

our section editors aren't just *anybody*. A certain amount of pre-qualification or proof of expertise is required as well.


makes me wonder why i was chosen to maintain 3 sections LOL

[banski83]

Another reason you won't find much info on WonderSwan or SwanCrystal consoles is that they are practically unheard of outside of China.

Bit of Background:
They are/were produced by Bandai in an attempt to capture the handheld gaming market in China, as at the time, I don't think Nintendo Game Boy systems were permitted for sale within China (government decision). A couple of years ago, the Chinese government decided to relax the laws a little, but the price of a new GB is still prohibitively high for the Chinese market it was aimed at, so Bandai decided to beat Nintendo by releasing its own range of affordable but good quality handheld consoles, hence the WonderSwan and later the SwanCrystal. They don't have much of a market outside of China, as hardly any games are produced with English text. Hope your Chinese is good! You can get the games from sites such as eBay and also www.playasia.com, but they are all in Chinese text. Wouldn't advise buying them from eBay though, as piracy and dodgy copies of games are rife for the console.

I have a translucent blue SwanCrystal (good quality large colour display, smaller & slimmer size and runs off one AAA battery, compared to WonderSwan) with three games: Gunpey EX (addictive puzzle game, best game I have for it, little to no Chinese text), Final Fantasy IV (all in Chinese text though, can't really play it, got it as a collectors item) and I can't remember the third game I have. Good collectors item, but due to the language barrier, the choice of understandable and playable games for Western gamers is pretty slim.

[digitalpress]

Another reason you won't find much info on WonderSwan or SwanCrystal consoles is that they are practically unheard of outside of China.

Thanks for the info.

This is an old thread - hopefully everyone knows we've got a WonderSwan section online now. A few of our forum members are actively collecting for it so info will slowly but surely populate the database.

See here for details:
http://www.digitpress.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=45182