iiotenki

The Tony Hawk of Tokimeki Memorial

A most of the time Japanese>English game translator and writer and all the time dating sim wonk.



Folks who know me elsewhere know I've been fiending for a Wonderswan for a long time and a couple of months ago I decided to go all in and pony up the money for a SwanCrystal since that had my favorite color for the system by far. That said, imagine my surprise when I found one at a local used book store chain here in Japan that I've only ever known to stock more mainstream retro stuff and at easily the best price I've ever seen for this color specifically! (The Super Potato in Osaka wanted twice as much, for comparison.) I couldn't not jump on it knowing that I'd be hard pressed to find a better deal elsewhere.

I've only played a few minutes of my Chocobo Mystery Dungeon to test if the save battery works (it doesn't, yay!), but it's a real cutie in person and I'm excited to dig in properly soon enough. I doubt I'll ever go Kelsey Lewin and go full ham collecting for it (I don't know if you're on here and reading this, but if you are, hi, Kels!), but still very happy to finally get it off my bucket list, even if I'm probably gonna look into getting it backlit modded eventually because these viewing angles... yeah.

But still! 😌


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in reply to @iiotenki's post:

Translucent SwanCrystals are pretty! :3 I gotta say tho, I'm divided on modding a Crystal - as far as I know, you gotta cut part of the case to install a modern replacement screen, which is why I haven't done that on mine. I'd rather get and mod a Color, but those have gone up in price too, at least internationally... not to Crystal levels, but still :|

There are ways to install just a light of some sort, isn't there? That was my impression but it's hard to get concrete info now that the IPS solutions are so popular. Because yeah, I'm with you, I'm not gonna damage the plastic if that's the cost of a mod. It also sounds like those replacement screens are 60 Hz, too? Which makes sense if so, but still a bummer, the extra smoothness for a handheld of that vintage is definitely appreciated!

Hm, I think you can install a frontlight but not a backlight due to the type of screen, just like you can't do it on a GBC or GBA, but don't quote me on that. And yeah, as far as I know, the replacement screens aren't 75 Hz like the originals. Come to think of it, that also makes me wonder if that impacts compatibility with at least homebrew titles, due to there being I/O registers that influence the number of total lines drawn and location of Vblank interrupt...

Okay, glad I wasn't just imagining things, then, ahaha. I'll do some digging and see if I can find, like, anyone in this country who'll still do that sort of mod in this day and age. Although preliminary findings seem to indicate that even those sorts of mods can't be done without altering the case inside, so I might just have to cope as best I can, ahaha.

u made a good friend tom

the dizzying array of color limited editions are very tempting, but unless you are collecting the things i feel a crystal is 100% the right decision. the screen quality is an outrageous improvement. kind of surprised you want to mod it - always takes so little effort to find a comfortable view for me. [scowls in general direction of the GBA]

i see you're already digging into the wealth of square games that as far as i know never saw the light of day again, although i could swear there's at least one or two sound novel games. are namco super wars and star hearts already on your hit list?

holy hell and a half, checked the early 2000s site i saved instructions for installing an afterburner kit in a ws color from, and it's still online http://www4.plala.or.jp/tyuuta/ws/

Oh yeah, it's a gorgeous screen otherwise for sure. It's more just the lighting in my specific apartment that can make getting that optimum viewing angle a bit of a pain since it's all just big, round ceiling lights at the moment, that's why I'm considering getting it modded at all. It's tricky to get a good bead on it without, like, the rest of my face reflecting on the glossy surface and blocking it all anyway, ahaha. I won't go through with it if it requires damaging the case or anything like that, but yeah.

Kimimi clued me in to Namco Super Wars, but not Star Hearts! I actually haven't heard of that somehow! There are a few places in Osaka that are good for Wonderswan stuff in this day and age, so I'll definitely keep an eye out for it and nab it if I see it at a decent price! Thanks! ✌️