It’s been over a year since the last post of this type showcasing a part of my game collection, so I thought it was about time I returned to this topic. Today I’ll introduce a game system many of you have likely never heard of: Pokemon Mini!
The Pokemon Mini was released by Nintendo back in 2001. It’s one of the smallest game systems ever released that uses cartridges. All the games were Pokemon themed, simplistic and somewhat ugly due to the 96×64 LCD display (which is not backlit). The device includes a startling amount of features, such as an accelerometer, IR communication, force feedback (via an internal motor), an internal clock and battery backup. It only weighs about 50g (!!) excluding the single AAA battery used for power.
It was released in the US first, then Japan and eventually Europe, and while specific details are hard to find, it seems to have been a collossal failure. 2001 wasn’t exactly the game dark ages, so it didn’t compete too well against other devices of the time for serious gamers, and was probably a bit too niche for children, who were presumably the intended audience.
There’s a lot to like about the device. It’s smartly designed, doesn’t feel at all like a toy, and the screen is very sharp with a fast refresh rate. The speakers are tiny but the sound is good, and the controls (d-pad, 2 buttons, right trigger and shake function) all work well. I also like that the cartridges are so tiny, and that they have the name of the system written directly on the back of the PCB!
The games though… well they aren’t good. Incredible simplistic, most of them are versions of traditional parlour games (such as tangrams seen above) or sub-NES quality arcade games. The other problem was that there were only four released in the USA (including the pack-in)! There were a total of 0 games released after launch, which shows this device was pretty much DOA. I few additional games were released in Japan and Europe, but in it’s lifetime the system saw under 10 games in total.
Of course this means that my collection is complete (as far as the US version is concerned):
According to my records, I purchased the handheld and the three additional games on May 25, 2003 – about 18 months after it had been released. I pid $29.99 for the system and $9.99 for each additional game. These days it’s worth quite a bit more – especially the games. Were I to sell it on ebay I could expect to easily triple what I paid, and perhaps make even more (since listings for the games are scant).
But I won’t sell it. It’s a tiny but curious part of my collection, and happily sits in a box with the other two unusual handhelds I have… both of which I’ll feature here within the next few weeks 😉