Wonderswan Color vs. Crystal

[ParanoiaDragon]

I've been wanting to pick up a Wonderswan, but have read that the Crystal is an improvement over the Color, especially in the "ghosting" department.  Ofcoarse, Crystal's are more expensive, so, I'm trying to get some feedback from anyone who has had a WS Color &/or both, & has played any action games where this would occur.  Is it worth it to buy a Crystal over a Color?

[SignOfZeta]

Definitely get the Crystal.

The Color has a non-active matrix, non-backlit display. I'm not sure if, aside from the Wonderswan Color, I have ever seen a non-active matrix, non-backlit, color display. Its blurry as all f*ck in motion, but more importantly its just hard to see in general.

The Crystal on the other hand has a screen than is comparable to the Neo Geo Pocket Color, in other words is about as visible as anything can possibly be without it being backlit. Its very reflective, and there is no blurring to speak of.

My only complaint with the Crystal is that they only made it in four colors and none of them are as cool as the colors they used for the earlier models (ie: white, clear orange, etc).

[ParanoiaDragon]

Yeah, I haven't been thrilled with the colors of the Crystal, but, I suppose I can live with it.  Thanks!

[SignOfZeta]

No problem. There is so little info on these underappreciated systems that we have to spread it when we can.

[Black Tiger]

I owned a couple Wonderswan Colors (FF editions) and you should order a worm light, earphone jack adapter and AC adaptor, unless either of the last two come with the Crystal.

You should also get the FF games just for the PSG soundtracks. If you play through FFIV far enough, you can see how Square could've done the airship map-warping effect for a PCE port (Axelay style).

[DragonmasterDan]

I've been wanting to pick up a Wonderswan for a long time and kind of been holding out for a crystal, the games on my "to get list" are Klonoa, Daimakaimura and Judgement Silversword, any other recommendations?

[geralds]

The only real downfall with crystal is its battery life.  Each moddel they made had far less battiery life but for 1 double A battiers can't realy complain to much.  Black and white version got 30 to 40 hours of games play color gets like 20 hours and crystal gets say 15. Crystal is deffinatly the way  if you do not mind less battery life then a color.

[ParanoiaDragon]

I owned a couple Wonderswan Colors (FF editions) and you should order a worm light, earphone jack adapter and AC adaptor, unless either of the last two come with the Crystal.

You should also get the FF games just for the PSG soundtracks. If you play through FFIV far enough, you can see how Square could've done the airship map-warping effect for a PCE port (Axelay style).

Yeah, I saw it recently, semi-recently, either in a video, or maybe I played it in an emu, pretty cool to say the least.

I've been wanting to pick up a Wonderswan for a long time and kind of been holding out for a crystal, the games on my "to get list" are Klonoa, Daimakaimura and Judgement Silversword, any other recommendations?

Judgement Silversword, I believe, will cost a pretty penny unfortunatly.

The only real downfall with crystal is its battery life.  Each moddel they made had far less battiery life but for 1 double A battiers can't realy complain to much.  Black and white version got 30 to 40 hours of games play color gets like 20 hours and crystal gets say 15. Crystal is deffinatly the way  if you do not mind less battery life then a color.

I don't mind the 15 hours so much, as I play my PSP everyday, & it doesn't last near as long.

[ParanoiaDragon]

I got a Crystal, just waiting for it to arrive.  Has anybody here had there's(or an NGPC or a Lynx) modded so you can play it on a tv?  There were a couple of sites I found, that are no longer around.  I think one of them was called modmasher's?

[Tatsujin]

Yeah get a crystal. I have every model and the crystal is by far superior. So if you invest into a WS, sure get the best one, since all of 'em are not really expensive.

Ah lol, you already got yourself one. THEN, WELL DONE MATE!

[SignOfZeta]

I got a Crystal, just waiting for it to arrive.  Has anybody here had there's(or an NGPC or a Lynx) modded so you can play it on a tv?  There were a couple of sites I found, that are no longer around.  I think one of them was called modmasher's?

You're thinking of mash-mods.com. I'm %99 certain he never got a NGP or WS video out hack working well enough to sell, or at all. If he did I probably would have known about it since I've been a heavy poster on the S:NGP forums basically every day since it went online, and he would certainly let us know about it there since he's kept us updated with most of his projects.

I did have him do a front-lite mod on one of my Crystals. If you are in total darkness it's obviously better than nothing (and way better than one of those shitty worm light things) but if you are outdoors or have a good lamp a stock unit gives the best picture.

[roflmao]

Man, I would *love* a way to play the Neo Geo Pocket games on a TV screen.  My old eyes just hate non-backlit screens these days.

[SignOfZeta]

If you are playing something that isn't a fighting game the Flavor's NGP emulator for PSP is pretty nice.

[roflmao]

Good to know - since I've joined this forum I've seen a couple of reasons to get a PSP - and now there's another!  I'm guessing I'd have to hunt down an older version that can be hacked? 

It's (sorta) funny, I worked for Sony on the alpha team when the PSP first come out here but left Sony before the first games for that system were released.  The system really impressed me at the time, but I never bit.  (It was kind of weird playing a portable device wired to a huge dev unit!)  Now it's looking better and better, though I really haven't followed it very closely...

[ParanoiaDragon]

You don't need the PSP 1000 to played hacked stuff, I think even the PSP Go has been hacked for the most part.  If you want a PSP with CFW & a TV out, then I'd get a 2000.  However, I haven't kept 100% up to date on how much is available on the 2000.  Personally, I have a 1000 for CFW to rip & play PS1 games(though it can do ALOT more), & a PSP 2000 for regular PSP games.  There's a plenty of great games on the PSP in general(I have more PSP games then I do DS).  Most recently, there has been 4 Falcom games released in the US, 3 Ys & Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky(all with a wonderful translations).  Plus Xseed is working on a 2nd & 3rd Legend of Heroes(Trails in the Sky 2 & 3 respectively).  And there's rumors that Xseed will working on bringing Brandish out here by the end of the year, though, they can't confirm it just yet.  There are 3 other Legend of Heroes games(Tear of Vermillion, Prophecy of the Moonlight Witch, Song of the Ocean) in english as well, but, the translations are horrible.  The game themseleves were redone completely by Bandai, so, they're not 100% accurate to Falcom's original versions.

Anyways, back on topic, I'll guess I'll just keep playing NGPC & WS games in their original form for now.