WonderSwan History & Development

Find out all about the history and development of the Bandai WonderSwan in this video! It's a black and white console with a unique design which allows games to be played both horizontally, and vertically and was released in 1999, exclusive to Japan.
The WonderSwan designed by Koto Laboratory, a company founded by Gunpei Yokoi, the designer of the Game & Watch, and co-creator of Game Boy at Nintendo, alongside Satoru Okada.
Thanks to this collaboration with Gunpei Yokoi, some people like to think of the WonderSwan as the true successor to the Game Boy.
There were two revisions of the console over its short lifetime, with the WonderSwan Color arriving in 2000, and a final model, the SwanCrystal, with a much improved LCD screen in 2002. This model here has an aftermarket front lit screen, but the original SwanCrystal wasn't lit at all.
The three systems combined sold over 3.5 million units in Japan, and actually had a very impressive lineup of games from companies such as Squaresoft, Namco, Capcom and more!
In a future episode, I'll cover some of the defining games for the system, but in this episode, we're' going to go back to Bandai's roots and discover the context around the development and release of the WonderSwan, beginning in 1950...
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References:
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NLab articles October 8th [[1998]]
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Bandai History:
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Early Toys
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Tamagochi BBC Archive:
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[@NikumanJapan]

This is a really professional video! I love how you mix in footage from old TV adverts and marketing - it really adds context. Now excuse me while I feed my Tamagotchi.

[@RetroBreak]

Thank you, unfortunately I forgot to feed my Tamagotchi and now he's gone to heaven :'(

[@cousefirst1351]

The WonderSwan has always been somewhat of a mystery Console to me. Thanks for making a video! I’m looking forward to part two

[@alexpine8295]

So excited to see this finally released! I know you’ve been working on this for a while, excited to see part 2! Great work as always!

[@whoopswrongbutton3987]

Nice, congrats on getting this one out! I know you've been working on it for a bit.

[@c_lars_02]

This was really interesting and well-put together!

[@erneststackhouse1133]

Whoa...Didn't even know about the Wonder Swan from Bandai. 30 Pounds in the US is about $40 dollars...which is crazy for a console price! This Retro Break blew my mind!

[@nintendive]

Judgement Silversword is a quality Shmup.

[@mattzee6287]

I think it comes on 128 gb mahhd for PS1 mini. From China. Yes I know I misspelled the m word.

[@nintendive]

It comes with Eschatos available on Switch and PS4.

[@elone3997]

That was brilliant. Well researched, well written and great presentation - loved it. The Wonderswan went under my radar so didn't really know anything about it but it looked great. Cheers ☺️

[@RetroBreak]

Thank you! I’m actually working on a follow up to this video which should be out in a few weeks! :)

[@elone3997]

@@RetroBreak Great news. I had a look for a part 2 but figured it was going to be a future thing. I know these videos are very time consuming to put together so it's really appreciated to get such well executed videos when they appear. 👍☺️

[@antonylavelle5760]

Being a UK kid only exposed to the 'main' consoles and now obsessed with Game Boy stuff, I know so little about this side of things, so this was a great video!

[@LEROILAPIN]

I was just looking for a short retrospective on the Wonderswan maybe 2 days ago. So glad you did this! I’d love to get my hands on one and a dev kit.

[@readyforclarity]

As usual, you did an amazing job condensing an immense amount of information into an entertaining and concise video. Great work!

[@RetroBreak]

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed the video and it was easy to follow!

[@Ray__E]

I love these history videos on consoles and games. I always thought the Wanderswan was a cool and interesting handheld. It's a shame it couldn't compete against the Gameboy.

[@CopingContinuous]

This was so great! I had NO IDEA there was an official development kit sold to the public! Can’t wait for the next installment, earned a subscribe for this one

[@RetroBreak]

Thanks so much! Glad you enjoyed it! I have made two follow ups, depending on what you’re interested in: More history on Gunpei Yokoi - kzbin.info/www/bejne/kHqxoHZjqdabncUsi=hYK11CmeS-tRR7lb Top 20 WonderSwan Games With No Language Barrier! kzbin.info/www/bejne/gXKcqIiYdq19itE

[@CopingContinuous]

@@RetroBreak thanks! The 20 wonderswan games video is how I first found your channel!

[@BrodyBaddis]

Devkit for homebrew is such a brilliant idea.

[@NotAboveAverage]

Oh man I've been super curious about the Wonderswan ever since I stumbled on your channel and got a bit more into handheld gaming, can't wait to fire this video up at lunch, cheers RB!

[@RetroBreak]

Hope you enjoy! (Your lunch, and the video!) 😁

[@wildside4822]

Gumpei Yokoi, what a great great man

[@readyforclarity]

Good morning Nick! Excited for a new video about a handheld I've never held in my hands :D

[@VladlustTV]

I really liked this format, looking forward to more!

[@bragtime1052]

Will there be a part two? Regardless, this is a really good video 🙂

[@tsunamirider9895]

Great video! Didn't know too much about the WonderSwan. Wish I got to try one.

[@shenronsamma4650]

a underated little system

[@JohnnySoCal]

Great job on the video!

[@RetroBreak]

Thank you! :)

[@mattzee6287]

When I was nine, I saw takara timinek toys for a $1 . Snatched up a bunch. Last time I looked, they're like $100 on eBay. They were cool. Bandai was involved as well. Micronaut toys were awesome too

[@cy8646]

Looking forward to your video on WS games

[@FarmerSlideJoeBob]

This is a cool historical video and I know just some stuff about the wonderswan😃

[@LongDongjhonson]

I wonder why it never got released here

[@JB-js4xi]

I got a Wonder Swan in 2014 with 3 games for about 20 bucks. I only play Gunpey on it but I got a One Piece game with it and some other thing. Lol. ONE battery! One. LoL. It's a neat little thing

[@valley_robot]

I own a boxed wonderborg, I always wanted a wonderswan to go with it, it was a great handheld, I have all the roms on my retro emulation console, unfortunately I would not be able to program my wonderborg with it as they don't have IR tranceivers

[@kissthistwice5]

This video got me interested but can't find the follow up? Has it come out yet? Great vid

[@RetroBreak]

I’ve been slowly working on it while juggling other projects… maybe out in the next few weeks :)

[@Vulpas]

I wish the Wonderswan Crystal got a U.S launch, I'd have loved it. There's quite a few exclusives I'd like to play in English, and ports I'm curious about too.

[@henryjtodd]

“Beginning in 1950” - definitely did a double take there 😄

[@ollieanimation189]

Please do a mirrors edge retrospective I’m begging ya Great video btw

[@ScienceofLogicTV]

One question: Would you mind taking a look at my homebrew GB/GBC game "Mr. Marmalade"? It's out on itch. :) The wonderswan is something I'd really like to have but in Germany its hard to get. And Digimon being the only game I'd be interested in couldn't convince me on the gba. I think back in the days as I child I would have died to get my hands on one though.

[@RetroBreak]

The Digimon games look cool but it’s surprising there aren’t really any that play like Pokémon, it could have been a lot bigger than it was

[@ScienceofLogicTV]

@@RetroBreak It went into a completely different direction than pokemon, which was a good thing in terms of not ending up as a knock-off. But yes, they didn't use the potential.

[@fendiharyanto]

❤❤❤salam hadir bos salam dari rantau

[@Mzee1084]

Who wants black and white in 1999?

[@P1EX]

I'd kill for some translations of the gundam games

[@RetroBreak]

I’m surprised there’s no Gunsam ones! There’s a few translations I’ll be covering in the next video though, so at least some are getting patches! Maybe one day…

[@milp00l]

Yo Nick, where’s part 2? 👀

[@RetroBreak]

I made two follow ups, one focussed on WonderSwan games, and one on what Gunpei Yokoi did after, enjoy :) Top Games: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gXKcqIiYdq19itEsi=LPLHLseImdEGRmpn Yokoi: kzbin.info/www/bejne/kHqxoHZjqdabncUsi=Fd1bRFDjXKDZwRbL

[@milp00l]

@ cool. I remember those ones. I just thought you were doing one on the hardware variations, but no biggie!

[@RetroBreak]

@ I guess I must have been planning that one and forgot! Sorry! I’ll put it back on my list 😆

[@video-luver769]

I wish Mattel had brought the Wonderswan to the West like they originally planned. I think, had they leveraged the then-burgeoning Digimon fandom, and the insanely cheaper price point, it could have done moderately well against the ancient Game Boy.

[@dogeymon83]

4800 yen for the console!??! That’s like $33. Are you sure you have that right?

[@SpokeInNoise]

Nintendo had him assassinated for trying to beat them at their own game. Pun intended. Had he not been killed, he absolutely could have been a force in gaming market

[@alliebooth1517]

I Come From Another Dimension where the wondrous one doesn't exist😢 I am terrified but I I guess this Dimension isn't much different. I have never heard of the Wonder swan it doesn't exist you guys are just messing with me

[@bragtime1052]

All due respect Allie, this console wasn't exactly a success, and I think that at least in America, most people here have never heard of it including myself.

[@Poco-tr9xw]

Nintendo took out gunpay.