Tag: LCD

Epoch Hang-on LCD – Not Quite Arcade Perfect….

First off, I have to apologise for not getting more content up recently. Life has been absolutely crazy, and that’s putting it mildly… Anyway, I am back now – if only for this small post.

You guys may remember the ‘Epoch Bubble Bobble’ post I made a while back? Well if not, it was pretty much the Bubble Bobble version of what you see here – a small LCD handheld that someone would buy if they were spending too much cash on the arcade equivalent (‘equivalent’ used lightly), only to get home, rip off the wrapper and realise that it was nothing like the arcade machine.

Well, here we have the Hang-on handheld! Another handheld that is sure to disappoint those who expected the arcade in the palm of your hand. 😀

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As I mentioned in the Bubble Bobble post, these particular LCDs aren’t exactly retro by any stretch of the imagination. The release dates for these don’t go that far back at all (2005 being the year of release), but that doesn’t make them any less sort after. Over here in Japan they come up reasonably often, but the prices vary wildly. I got this one sealed/unused for about the 1,000yen mark if I remember rightly, which I believe is a great deal.

I haven’t cracked this one open to try it out, so again I will turn to the great ‘Showagamer’ on youtube to demo this little LCD beast. 🙂

Epoch Bubble Bobble LCD – Arcade in the palm of your hand?

I picked this Epoch Bubble Bobble LCD up a few weeks back, and I thought it was well worth a post as I’d never seen one before achat viagra 10 mg. I can’t actually recall where I snagged this from – which shows you that I may have a buying problem – but was cheap enough, and the fact that it’s still sealed and unused definitely made it a must buy.

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Epoch released some great LCD and VFD based games in the 1980s, but this particular game was released in 2005. Even though it’s not exactly vintage it’s still quite sort after, and it’s not unheard of to see them selling for around the $60.

I have not cracked this one open to try it out, and in all honesty I probably won’t, but if you’re keen to see it in action, a great Youtuber by the name of ‘Showagamer has a video of it running.

Not quite the arcade classic by any means, but neither was Nintendo’s Donkey Kong Game & Watch – that didn’t make it any less of a great handheld. ?

Bandai Solar LCD – Akuryo no Yakata and Hikyo Amazon – Clean Energy from the 80s!

What with the icecaps melting (or freezing – not sure if they’ve decided yet), what better way to show that you care about the earth than to play video games harnessing the power of the sun. Skin cancer is just a small price to pay when you have such a powerful sense of well-being. 😀

How do you get vitamin E, and play games guilt free? The answer is Bandai Solar LCD!

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These games aren’t just special because of the solar energy usage though, they are special in the way that they have two layered LCD screens. Think of the Nintendo’s double screen, but instead of having one screen on the top half and one screen on the bottom half of the console, you have both screens layered over each other.

If you take a look at the following pictures you can see how the screen changes depending on which stage of the game you are playing. Kind of like having two screens in one.

Hikyo Amazon
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Akuryo no Yakata
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These are extremely fun little games to play. My pick of the two would have to be Akuryo no Yakata though – stabbing monsters is just plain nice for some reason.

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The most common question I get about these would have to be regarding the amount of light they need to work. Well I’m happy to report that it’s actually very small. You will definitely be not able to play them in a dimly lit room, but as they aren’t backlit screens anyway (of course), chances are you would have a light source at the ready just to see what you’re doing.

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The controller does take a bit of getting used to. Nintendo really changed the game having the D-Pad on the left, and it didn’t really catch on with all the game companies early on. Once you do get used to them they are functional, albeit in a fragile kind of way.

I am pretty sure these were only released in Japan (please correct me if I’m wrong there), but if you can find one in your neck of the woods I’d definitely recommend giving them a try, even if it’s only to try and fit in with your Prius driving acquaintances. 😀