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    Unhappy Supervision: handheld of the less fortunate

    "Many years ago, a beautiful country lost all the money suddenly. It could be the poisonous spider's doing."

    Holy Sssnake, it's finally here! The website that nobody demanded!

    Supervision: handheld of the less fortunate
    www.diskman.com/presents/supervision

    If you're familiar with the Supervision, you're probably laughing right now.
    If you're not familiar with the Supervision... oh boy, are you in for disappointment.

    This website is the result of 15 years [!] of research and collecting, and today (Oct. 4th, 2018) is its world debut.

    I'm sorry.

    There's also lots of other nifty, geeky, classic gaming stuffs on the main site, which you may enjoy a lot more than this Supervision nonsense...

    www.diskman.com
    Cruise by Diskman Presents : filled with geektastic classic gaming goodness!

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    I've had a fascination with the Supervision for a long time after seeing it briefly in catalogs in the early '90s. I think I might have seen one in actual, genuine, not-at-all-a-fever-dream life back in said '90s. I have since bought three "games" for it, but haven't found a console to use them on. I also have an emulator for the Mac called OpenEmu, and they've been promising a Supervision emulation core for a couple years now, with no results. I just can't bear to pay a ridiculous amount online for the thing knowing I won't get any real use out of it, so I've been hoping emulation would show me what I'm missing. Not much, according to reviewers on YouTube.

    It looks like the same people cranked out most of the games for the system. I know Chimera was programmed in England, though. There was a bit about it in Retro Gamer Magazine. The game started out life on an 8-bit home computer, and many years later the programmer was contacted and asked to port it to the Supervision. I don't remember which magazine issue that was in, although it was probably about a year ago I read that. Maybe you can track down the article, get his info, and contact him for an interview about the game. Maybe get some 'behind the scenes' info about Supervision in the process.

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    I remember seeing an article or two about the Supervision in "Boy's Life" magazine back in my Cub Scout days. They touted its larger screen and other 'advantages' over the Game Boy. I was mildly intrigued, but never actually saw it for sale at any of the local stores. I wonder why..........
    -Adam

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    Nice, glad to see minor entries in gaming history can get such good coverage. Great site.

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    It's an interesting system but there's little demand for it. I'm basically stuck with the two boxed games I found earlier.

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    I have a system in my collection (the one with the bendable neck), but it has never worked. I need to fix it. I have no power adapter, but have put batteries into it.

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    I had a hinged version from 2009-2012 that I bought just to try out and had 3 games. I looked at it as kind of like Game Boy but the games less memorable. You can emulate Supervision in MESS but last time I tried I had an old computer and it didn't run very well. I don't really get the new version of MAME and how it's supposed to be integrated with MESS so I just use old versions of MESS for the odd systems that don't have their own good emulator.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Rickstilwell1 View Post
    I had a hinged version from 2009-2012 that I bought just to try out and had 3 games. I looked at it as kind of like Game Boy but the games less memorable. You can emulate Supervision in MESS but last time I tried I had an old computer and it didn't run very well. I don't really get the new version of MAME and how it's supposed to be integrated with MESS so I just use old versions of MESS for the odd systems that don't have their own good emulator.
    I recommend Wataroo, the best SuperVision emulator around:
    http://www.tailchao.com/Wataroo/index.php

    If you'd like to play Supervision on a portable machine, Potator on PSP is cool too! (at the least, the screen is way superior than an actual Supervision )
    Download ROMs of my games: https://drludos.itch.io/
    Support my work and get access to betas and prototypes: https://www.patreon.com/drludos

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    I'm surprised it's already been over a year since I replied in this thread. I still have the same two boxed games and haven't had anyone interested in them. lol

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    Recent site updates...

    • November 30, 2019:
    The game instructions archive on the scans page was updated to include Italian language instructions for 2-in-1: Block Buster / Cross High, Delta Hero, Space Fighter, and Super Block. Not exciting enough for ya? Well, keep your eyes peeled 'cuz I've got a few blister pack insert scans coming along shortly.

    • December 5, 2019:
    Surprise!! I'm back with more blister pack inserts, as promised. So... it's not really a surprise. Anyway! You get 2-in-1: Block Buster / Cross High, and Soccer Champion. Soccer Champion's instructions have also been added, in English and Italian. Urrŕ! Soccer Champion had proven a tough one to find complete. And 2-in-1: Block Buster / Cross High, I noticed, was imported by a firm named Cammarota S.R.L., instead of the more familiar Watary Italia. Curious!
    Cruise by Diskman Presents : filled with geektastic classic gaming goodness!

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    The day before Thanksgiving I'm at a GameXchange store in Fort Worth, TX and was blown away to see they had a shrinkwrapped Supervision in their case! I might have leaped on it if it was at a better price, but they wanted $99.95 for it. I have three games for it (one is the standard pack-in so I'd have one duplicate) and none of them are interesting enough to splurge a hundred bucks for. If I had a dozen games I might have spent the money but the cost to entertainment balance makes it not worth it.

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    Assuming you are referring to the recently added advert scan, the link does indeed work. I tested it on four different browsers the day I did the update -- I'm quite thorough, I assure you -- and just verified it works from my mobile phone.

    If for some reason it's not working on your end from the scans page, here's a direct link to the PDF itself...

    https://www.diskman.com/presents/sup...'Press.pdf

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    Whoa, Nelly! With the selfless assistance of Dante LĂłpez, I've recently acquired a crapload of previously unpreserved Supervision stuffs. This was especially helpful as I grow tired of seeking out all this junk on my own. (Hint, hint.)

    So without further a-doo-doo, let's break down what's been added to the website...

    * New box scans:

    - Small boxes for Block Buster, Brain Power, Chimera, Final Combat, Hero Kid, Penguin Hideout, Super Block.
    - Small box top featuring an early, “Game & Watch-esque” Travellmate screen simulation.
    - Game Prince Supervision protective case
    - Vini-Spil Supervision box and instructions, direct from Denmark! Det er fedt!
    - Vini-Spil game boxes for Happy Race, John Adventure, Juggler, Pacboy & Mouse, Penguin Hideout.

    The protective case is from Taiwan. The traditional Chinese reads “Game Prince,” despite the fact that even a beggar prince would turn up his nose at the Supervision.

    * New cartridge label scans:

    - Alien (alternate artwork)
    - 4-in-1: Happy Race, Jacky Lucky, Space Fighter, Majong
    - Hash Blocks (earliest known label)

    Weirdly, the 4-in-1 cart's label doesn't come close to accurately reflecting which games are actually included. This may have been a generic design created for use with a variety of different game compilations. Who knows?

    The Hash Blocks label is the one depicted on the Travellmate box. It features an enthusiastic little fellow who reminds me of Krillin from Dragon Ball Z. I've been after this label for A LONG TIME, and am very relieved to have finally found it.

    * Improved cartridge label scans:

    - Crystball (earliest known label)

    The Crystball cartridge contained an alternate game binary with an early Travellmate logo, and pathetic attempt at an accompanying beep sound. Naturally, the binary has been properly archived, and an update has been made to the Crystball game page.

    * New instructions scans:

    - Brain Power, Chimera, Final Combat, Pacboy & Mouse, Penguin Hideout, Sssnake (Spanish)
    - Happy Race, Juggler, Pacboy & Mouse, Penguin Hideout (English, Danish)
    - Hero Kid (English, Dutch, French, German)

    In addition, I also got my mitts on the earliest known model of the Travellmate, whose outer casing is a total ripoff of the original (DMG) Game Boy. And, much to my surprise (and confusion!), the previous owner installed a backlight in it. Seems he doesn't value his spare time. But who am I to talk?

    Whew, what a whale of an update! And what a wail I let out whilst preparing it!

    https://www.diskman.com/presents/supervision/scans.htm
    Cruise by Diskman Presents : filled with geektastic classic gaming goodness!

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    Bless you always, Brandon.
    Looking for:
    Chūka Taisen (Cloud Master) manuals
    Monon Color + games

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    I have a couple Supervisions. The screen quality is really bad! Sometimes I wonder if the games were any good. It was impossible to tell on that blurry screen.

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    Well, the console was pretty much a Sachen production wasn't it?
    If it wasn't, it was on the level of Sachen: as I recall, most if not all of the games were imitations of Game Boy games.

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    More Supervision scans?! To quote Charlie Brown, “AAUGH!”

    It's all the variations, damn it. If it weren't for all the different, seemingly endless versions of the packaging, instructions in a half-dozen languages, et Cetera, then I'd, very likely, have been done with all this stuff and nonsense by now. But, nope! No such luck. The Supervision will likely continue to haunt me – and waste countless amounts of my time – until my dying day. *sigh*

    OK!! So, buoyed by that cheery introduction [!], let me tell you what was added to the ol' website today:

    * New box scans:

    - Small boxes for Fatal Craft, Jaguar Bomber, Tasac 2010, Witty Cat.

    * New instructions scans:

    - Fatal Craft, Witty Cat (Chinese)
    - Jaguar Bomber (English, Italian)
    - Pacific Battle (English, Italian)
    - Tasac 2010 (English, Dutch, French, German)
    - Tasac 2010 (Italian, Spanish)

    * Improved insert scan:

    - TV-Link (PAL-B) instruction sheet (Italian)

    * New insert scan:

    - TV-Link (PAL-B) warranty information (Watary Italia)

    * New advertisement scan:

    - Watary Italia ad featuring a Watara-branded watch & a goofy looking fish (with an overbite?)

    And that's all. For now.

    http://www.diskman.com/presents/supervision/scans.htm
    Cruise by Diskman Presents : filled with geektastic classic gaming goodness!

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    An ePay auction for an issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly recently caught my eye, as the seller claimed it mentioned the Supervision. Consulting a scan of the issue, I quickly realized said seller was full of snot.

    BUT!!

    This made me wonder: Had EGM sullied their mag at some point, by including the Supervision amongst its pages? Wasting even more time, consulting scans of later issues, I soon found the answer: Yes. Yes, they had. Thankfully it was only a quick mention, nestled within the reader Q&A section. Hopefully, it didn't inspire any of their readers to actually buy the damned thing.

    So anyway, I bought the mag just so I could make a higher quality scan of the (hopefully) innocuous announcement, which I've now added to the website.

    www.diskman.com/presents/supervision/scans.htm
    Cruise by Diskman Presents : filled with geektastic classic gaming goodness!

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    Wait, the company was known as both Watara AND Watary?
    I know one sounds like what I imagine was the experience of owning the console.

    OT, but the other thing I noticed in the part of that EGM scan (December 1992) I looked at was a Software Etc. ad. $60 for a TurboGrafx-16 console sounds like a steal now. Wow.
    Last edited by SparTonberry; 03-21-2023 at 07:32 PM.

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