CatPix Posted August 5, 2022 Share Posted August 5, 2022 Hell, you don't need to LIKE a topic to appreciate and document it : historians are usually very passionnate about their topic (s), but I can't think of major historians that are specialised in... say, World War ONE, that actually likes war. Appreciation/fascination =/= adoration 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanooki Posted October 10, 2022 Share Posted October 10, 2022 I started using this rubber monster turd of excellence recently finally. I didn't have much of anything to use when I got one in August from ebay, though, not as it was deathadders here who runs that amazingly quaint site. I have a soft spot for terrible media at times, this one nestles in well. The other day I had fired up Eagle Plan curious about that one, it's really not bad. I was saying to him I felt like the system falls in somewhere about being like a beta-Gameboy, beta First YEAR Gameboy and it doesn't fall from that assessment so far. I hadn't used it because the prices of the games seemed to suck on some titles, others were cheap but shipping wasn't nice, or buying the majority of the library ended up being too much. A2Heaven finally a couple weeks ago got their kits back in with all the games on it, not the reader/wire yet to add some to it, but it arrived from Bulgaria and it does not disappoint at all. Very well constructed, good materials, and the little leather case for the thing is a nice touch. It's easy to try out the library when it's all on a basic list. It makes not for a great gaming experience, but a nice desk toy distraction. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeathAdderSF Posted October 14, 2022 Author Share Posted October 14, 2022 (edited) Whoa, Nelly! With the selfless assistance of Dante López, 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! www.diskman.com/presents/supervision/scans.htm Edited October 14, 2022 by DeathAdderSF Bolded some stuff. For great justice. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanooki Posted October 17, 2022 Share Posted October 17, 2022 Was that you on facebook? I saw that gameboy looking thing with the backlight which impressed me someone would go that far on one of those things. I'm kind of curious how that even got setup in there since no one as far as I knew sell a kit for the thing anyway to do that, so it's likely custom. No I won't light up the one I have, the time I do bother is at my desk which has one of those lamps on a spring loaded neck so it's covered. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeathAdderSF Posted October 17, 2022 Author Share Posted October 17, 2022 (edited) 4 hours ago, Tanooki said: Was that you on facebook? Nope. I h8 Farcebook. 4 hours ago, Tanooki said: backlight I'm kind of curious how that even got setup in there China. They'll install anything in anything, if it means $$$. Spoiler: Playing Supervision with a backlight is still playing Supervision = sux. Edited October 17, 2022 by DeathAdderSF 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatPix Posted October 17, 2022 Share Posted October 17, 2022 (edited) I like the continuous dedication Is there a picture of that earlier model? Or Am I just not finding it on your site? About that, I think that the GB-2000 design is the earlier one, but I may be wrong. (saying this as you display the 9205 first in the model list) The GB-2000 is the most common in France... but that could be explained either by a late distribution making the GB 2000 model more common, or a lack of success leading Audiosonic to discontinue the Supervision and thus making the 9205 rarer (but I have seen over the years two 9600 for sale here so...) what make me think this is that Audiosonic distributed the 9205 as the GB-2002. Also, the games I see the most have those "digital artwork" labels, instead of the "I asked my 6 years old brother" artwork. Were those earlier games, or were those because AudioSonic found those stickers too atrocious to be taken seriously? (350FF in may of 1992) (for comparison, a Game Boy was sold for 990FF (at release) and a GB game for between 190FF and 250 FF) Also, just a silly question, but is there a reason you called the European version PAL-B? I won't discuss the use of PAL here, but PAL-A and B were distinctions created by Nintendo to distinguish which European countries had either Mattel (PAL-A) or Bandai (PAL-B) as distributors before they took over, and has no root in any geographical or legislative framework. Edited October 17, 2022 by CatPix 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeathAdderSF Posted October 17, 2022 Author Share Posted October 17, 2022 (edited) 0) I made a (misguided) promise to myself back in '03 that I'd create a robust Supervision website, so my dedication is tied to that. Frankly I'm just glad (and confused) that a handful of peeps actually visit said website. Who'da thought? 1) The DMG Game Boy ripoff is in fact the earliest model. I didn't have it on my website as I only learned of it maybe a year or two ago. Wanted to obtain one before I added any info to my website as I prefer to share facts, not speculation. Photos & info will be added... shortly? 2) The earliest game packaging is marked "small boxes" on my scans page. Honestly I never put too much focus on collecting them until just recently, as I was obsessed with finding as many blister pack versions as I could, to satisfy my fascination with the sh*tty, 3rd-grade "artwork." But the small boxes have interesting stuffs like fake, hand-drawn screenshots, terrible "selling points" about the games, etc., so they are interesting in their own right. 3) The TV-Link is labeled "PAL-B" because that's what is printed on the back of the box. There are also versions marked "PAL-A" but the packaging is otherwise identical. *burp* Edited October 17, 2022 by DeathAdderSF Supervision is lame. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
str0m Posted October 20, 2022 Share Posted October 20, 2022 Looks like there is a Supervision core for the fpga analogue pocket handheld, exciting, maybe, lol https://joshcampbell191.github.io/openfpga-cores-inventory/analogue-pocket.html 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted October 20, 2022 Share Posted October 20, 2022 8 hours ago, str0m said: Looks like there is a Supervision core for the fpga analogue pocket handheld, exciting, maybe, lol https://joshcampbell191.github.io/openfpga-cores-inventory/analogue-pocket.html Yup and it seems to work well. I was reminded of this thread and its memorable title when I installed it the other day. I'm glad the roms don't take up much space, because this isn't going to be a set of games I love and cherish. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
str0m Posted October 21, 2022 Share Posted October 21, 2022 12 hours ago, Flojomojo said: Yup and it seems to work well. I was reminded of this thread and its memorable title when I installed it the other day. I'm glad the roms don't take up much space, because this isn't going to be a set of games I love and cherish. Surely the games are amazing now there is no screen blurring??! 😉 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatPix Posted October 21, 2022 Share Posted October 21, 2022 21 minutes ago, str0m said: Surely the games are amazing now there is no screen blurring??! 😉 I mean, there are decent, honest titles on the Supervision. Nothing that will keep you playing at night, sure, but it does the job. Chimera is probably the most impressive title, and it's impressive indeed they bothered to port sur a complex game on the Supervision. Super Kong delivers an early 80's arcade game experience : It does make the issues with poor programming (rather than poor hardware) apparent : (The only "Bon Treasure" title that isn't completely trash to play, BTW) 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
str0m Posted October 21, 2022 Share Posted October 21, 2022 First two look quite good as you say. Clearly had more potential but the screen probably put most off by then 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatPix Posted October 21, 2022 Share Posted October 21, 2022 I should look on reviews from the era to see if people noticed the screen. Franckly if you put a DMG GB and a Supervision side by side, the screen quality isn't too different. It's worse, but not "unplayable worse". I feel like most people who say that never played a DMG GB for hours, or a GG, or a Lynx. Or they forgot The Supervision failure is simple : the Game Boy steamrolled everything. Sega, with the whole Master System library potentially portable on it and colours, could barely make a dent in the handheld market. Also, while the prices were favourable for the Supervision at first, Nintendo did agressive price cuts. I read that at some point, you could buy either a Game Boy or a Supervision for the same price. What would you chose? Hardware wise, the Supervision is basically a GB : same CPU, same amount of RAM. Resolution is slightly superior (160*160 VS 160*144). Sound chips have the same capacity (the GB may be able to read digitized samples better, but I did heard Supervision games with digitized voices, like the title screen for Ssssnake) video is the weaker point (compared to the GB). Still, the issue with the Supervision is mostly that it only received a handful of weak games, with utter trash from Bon Treasure and even nameless companies. The best Supervision games are from Sachen/Thin Chen, and the British studio B.I.T.S. (Sssnake, Olympic '92, Chimera). In an alternate reality where Nintendo decided against the GB in favour of a colour handheld or nothing, the Supervision might have gained some traction... But Nintendo released the GB and the rest is history 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
str0m Posted October 21, 2022 Share Posted October 21, 2022 I'm a big fan/collector of the Neo Geo Pocket Color, that suffered a similar fate against the GB Color. It did have a great library of games but just couldn't get a foothold, similar to how the Game Gear and Lynx suffered. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted October 21, 2022 Share Posted October 21, 2022 2 hours ago, CatPix said: I mean, there are decent, honest titles on the Supervision. Nothing that will keep you playing at night, sure, but it does the job. Super Kong delivers an early 80's arcade game experience : This is the one that caught my attention, because I somehow thought it would be something else. It's mildly diverting and I like the expression on the ape's face. 2 hours ago, str0m said: Surely the games are amazing now there is no screen blurring??! 😉 Heh heh. But it IS nice to be able to see the pixel art on these old games. Same goes for Lynx, Game Gear, Nomad (yes I know) and other old handhelds. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanooki Posted October 22, 2022 Share Posted October 22, 2022 Well I hope for str0m and my interest, the NGPC has a non-garbage core that he Pocket will get because their extortionate level of shipping charges on a 1kg package for the 3 adapters they're forcing you to buy now instead of each one is evil, how much evil? $60 it appears for a $90 set of mini adapters that are very light. It's nice to see another handheld on there they didn't make a kit for, as yes, some of the Supervision games are honestly good. And side by side, that screen isn't worse than the old DMG really, if it is, marginal or damn near undetectably so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+jgkspsx Posted January 17, 2023 Share Posted January 17, 2023 Holy crap, a PCB for Journey to the West that is usable on normal Supervisions! http://www.a2heaven.com/webshop/index.php?rt=product/product&path=79&product_id=169 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanooki Posted January 17, 2023 Share Posted January 17, 2023 @jgkspsx So it's not normally usable? I saw they had been selling that when I got the multi, seemed nuts to pay that so I just let it be. I mean they're supervision games, quality isn't exactly a $50+ high bar there. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatPix Posted January 17, 2023 Share Posted January 17, 2023 To my understanding the only difference between a Magnum Supervision and regular one is RAM, so "all" they did was add RAM on the cart PCB. 27 minutes ago, Tanooki said: @jgkspsx So it's not normally usable? I saw they had been selling that when I got the multi, seemed nuts to pay that so I just let it be. I mean they're supervision games, quality isn't exactly a $50+ high bar there. Nope, as the Magnum Supervision have more RAM than older models, that the game use. Perhaps some other tweaks as well. Given how rare the consoles and game are, I guess getting a PCB ready to use is better than shelling the 300 or so dollars that most sellers want out of a Magnum Supervision (and I assume the game costs even more). It is clearly a collector's item... but it has the merit of existing. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanooki Posted January 18, 2023 Share Posted January 18, 2023 @CatPix Thanks for that, I didn't dig into it or know there was some euro-"Plus" version of the hardware with more memory to pull from. I guess they found some bypass trick using their PCB for their multi/flash cart and just had the RAM on board and a tweak for the memory check to make it run. In that case I can see how the price would fit, and you're getting a few items with it too. I guess the question is, is the game actually good enough to merit the price since it's not some vintage piece. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeathAdderSF Posted January 18, 2023 Author Share Posted January 18, 2023 (edited) 18 hours ago, CatPix said: To my understanding the only difference between a Magnum Supervision and regular one is RAM, so "all" they did was add RAM on the cart PCB. 🤔 Where are you getting your information? The Magnum Supervision lacks a link port, routing the link port I/O to the cartridge slot to assist with bankswitching. That's why, in its original cart form, "Journey to the West" is only compatible with the Magnum: It's a big beast of a 512kB cart, whereas all the other Poopervision games are a paltry 64kB or less. The "Journey to the West Reborn" cartridge solved this with a hardware workaround. Magnum Supervision = thin, "hip" version of the Supervision with generally better audio output quality than all the other models, but lacking a link port. That's it. Edited January 18, 2023 by DeathAdderSF 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatPix Posted January 18, 2023 Share Posted January 18, 2023 Heh thanks. There is ALOT of misinformation around on the Internet. I recall reading this informations several times (most likely because someone made it and other sites copied it). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanooki Posted January 18, 2023 Share Posted January 18, 2023 Well well, bank switching of all things, now that's a very Nintendo thing to do to get more out of very little. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeathAdderSF Posted January 20, 2023 Author Share Posted January 20, 2023 On 1/18/2023 at 6:01 AM, CatPix said: There is ALOT of misinformation around on the Internet. Speculation is the enemy of the people. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatPix Posted January 20, 2023 Share Posted January 20, 2023 Indeed. Well I'm glad I brough it here so I know have the right information. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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