Gamate
Encyclopedia
The Gamate, known as 超級小子 (pinyin
: chāojí xiǎozi, literally "Super Boy") in Taiwan
and 超级神童 (pinyin
: chāojí shéntóng, literally "Super Child Prodigy") in China
, is a handheld game console
manufactured by Bit Corporation
in the early 1990s, and released in Australia
, parts of Europe
and Asia
, Argentina
, the USA, and possibly other regions.
It never sold in numbers comparable to the Game Boy
or even the Watara Supervision
, and as a result information on the console and its games remains scarce - no emulator
or ROM
dumps exist. However, over 70 games are known to have been produced for the system, and a color version was rumoured to have been released in Asia and Mexico, but this has never been confirmed.
in conjunction with local distributors around the world, such as Alston Research in the USA, the joystick maker Cheetah Marketing
in the United Kingdom, and toy company GIG in Italy. Bit Corp. ceased operating in 1992 but UMC
and its subsidiary Funtech
continued to produce Gamate hardware and software.
, Hartung Game Master
, and the Mega Duck, the Gamate's internal hardware contains no "glop-top" connections (where a small amount of black resin is dripped over a chip instead of soldering) and was assembled in a quality manner. The build quality is relatively akin to that of the Game Boy. The shell is made of a thick plastic and with batteries installed, the unit feels very similar to the weight of a Game Boy.
The Gamate seems, however, to have had two different types of LCD screen used throughout its lifespan. The easiest way to tell which type one has is by turning the Gamate on without a game in - the "bad" one displays horizontal lines while the "good" one displays a slightly corrupted checkerboard pattern.
Games cartridges for the Gamate are slim plastic cards with exposed pins, similar to PC-Engine or Sega Master System cards. Within the large illustrations are the game title and, unlike most systems, a simple numerical designation (C1-001, C1-002, etc), making organization reasonably simple for collectors. The exact number of games released remains unknown. Some articles regarding the Gamate state it has "about 35 games or so", but the true number may be closer to 70. One contributing factor to this ambiguity is that as Bit Corp. had passed into bankruptcy, games continued to be published by UMC, but very few left the Asian market.
Many titles are clones of popular games from the era (Tetris, Bomberman, Lode Runner, Battle City, etc). Bit Corp (and later UMC) is given sole credit within each game, but inconsistencies in game content and labeling make it far more likely that several developers were involved in designing individual games; two external developers are currently known, Gamtec
and Hengmao Electronics. Some titles suffer from assorted bugs. A few titles seem to be original concepts, and a great many more remain mysterious due to their scarcity.
While in general the higher-numbered games were released later and in smaller quantities, there seems to be little correlation with this principle prior to the C1-040's, with random numbers inexplicably difficult to find.
Pinyin
Pinyin is the official system to transcribe Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet in China, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. It is also often used to teach Mandarin Chinese and spell Chinese names in foreign publications and used as an input method to enter Chinese characters into...
: chāojí xiǎozi, literally "Super Boy") in Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
and 超级神童 (pinyin
Pinyin
Pinyin is the official system to transcribe Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet in China, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. It is also often used to teach Mandarin Chinese and spell Chinese names in foreign publications and used as an input method to enter Chinese characters into...
: chāojí shéntóng, literally "Super Child Prodigy") in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, is a handheld game console
Handheld game console
A handheld game console is a lightweight, portable electronic device with a built-in screen, game controls and speakers. Handheld game consoles are run on machines of small size allowing people to carry them and play them at any time or place...
manufactured by Bit Corporation
Bit Corporation
Bit Corporation was a Taiwanese game developer and console manufacturer.-Games:Bit Corporation was one of the few Taiwanese companies to produce original software for the Atari 2600 rather than simply pirating the works of others, which it released worldwide under both its own name and the Puzzy...
in the early 1990s, and released in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, parts of Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
, Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, the USA, and possibly other regions.
It never sold in numbers comparable to the Game Boy
Game Boy
The , is an 8-bit handheld video game device developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on , in North America in , and in Europe on...
or even the Watara Supervision
Watara Supervision
The Watara Supervision is a monochrome handheld game console, originating from Asia, and introduced in 1992 as a cut-price competitor for Nintendo's Game Boy. It came packaged with a game called Crystball, which is similar to Breakout...
, and as a result information on the console and its games remains scarce - no emulator
Emulator
In computing, an emulator is hardware or software or both that duplicates the functions of a first computer system in a different second computer system, so that the behavior of the second system closely resembles the behavior of the first system...
or ROM
ROM image
A ROM image, or ROM file, is a computer file which contains a copy of the data from a read-only memory chip, often from a video game cartridge, a computer's firmware, or from an arcade game's main board...
dumps exist. However, over 70 games are known to have been produced for the system, and a color version was rumoured to have been released in Asia and Mexico, but this has never been confirmed.
History
The Gamate appears to be the first of the many handheld consoles released in reaction to the success of Nintendo's Game Boy. It was originally released by the Taiwanese game company Bit CorporationBit Corporation
Bit Corporation was a Taiwanese game developer and console manufacturer.-Games:Bit Corporation was one of the few Taiwanese companies to produce original software for the Atari 2600 rather than simply pirating the works of others, which it released worldwide under both its own name and the Puzzy...
in conjunction with local distributors around the world, such as Alston Research in the USA, the joystick maker Cheetah Marketing
Cheetah Marketing
Cheetah Marketing was a United Kingdom-based company that produced electronic music-related hardware products and software for home computer systems during the 1980s. They later changed their name to Cheetah International Ltd....
in the United Kingdom, and toy company GIG in Italy. Bit Corp. ceased operating in 1992 but UMC
United Microelectronics Corporation
UMC was founded as Taiwan's first semiconductor company in 1980 as a spin-off of the government-sponsored Industrial Technology Research Institute .-Overview:...
and its subsidiary Funtech
Funtech
The Funtech Entertainment Corporation is the Taiwanese company responsible for the Super A'Can amongst other things such as Geographic Information Systems and office equipment and office supplies. It was a subsidy of UMC until it collapsed due to the failure of the Super A'Can....
continued to produce Gamate hardware and software.
Hardware
Unlike other Taiwanese or Hong Kong Game Boy competitors, such as the Watara SupervisionWatara Supervision
The Watara Supervision is a monochrome handheld game console, originating from Asia, and introduced in 1992 as a cut-price competitor for Nintendo's Game Boy. It came packaged with a game called Crystball, which is similar to Breakout...
, Hartung Game Master
Hartung Game Master
The Game Master is a handheld game console developed by the German company Hartung to compete with the Nintendo Game Boy. It was also released in the UK as the Systema 2000 by already well established maker of cheap LCD games Systema. The Game Master has a 64 x 64 monochrome LCD screen capable of...
, and the Mega Duck, the Gamate's internal hardware contains no "glop-top" connections (where a small amount of black resin is dripped over a chip instead of soldering) and was assembled in a quality manner. The build quality is relatively akin to that of the Game Boy. The shell is made of a thick plastic and with batteries installed, the unit feels very similar to the weight of a Game Boy.
Screen
The screen on the Gamate is very similar to the Game Boy. It is a greenish color, with manual contrast adjustment, and non-backlit. Backlit screens were not common in 1990. Moving objects appear blurry and faint - the quality known as "ghosting" - which can make game play very frustrating.The Gamate seems, however, to have had two different types of LCD screen used throughout its lifespan. The easiest way to tell which type one has is by turning the Gamate on without a game in - the "bad" one displays horizontal lines while the "good" one displays a slightly corrupted checkerboard pattern.
Sound
The Gamate's mono external speaker is of poor quality, giving off sound that is quite distorted, particularly at low volumes. However, if a user plugs into the headphone jack, the sound is revealed to be programmed in stereo. If listened to in this manner, many of the game soundtracks are revealed to be quite melodic and sophisticated.Shell
The G1001 Gamate is dark grey in color and has a "x" D-pad and small speaker vents. The G1002 Gamate are dark grey in color and have a "+" D-pad design and large speaker vents. A variant in this design, with a white shell and red buttons also exists.Serial numbers
All Gamates have a seven digit serial number near the card port on the rear of the console. The first two digits represent the year of manufacture, while the last five represent the unit's chronology. Therefore a unit with the number "9001687", was the 1687th produced in 1990. The newest unit thus far discovered was produced in 1993.Specifications
- CPU UMC UA6588F (earlier revision); NCR 81489, 8 bits (BIT WS39323F) in a QFP-100 shell (later revision)
- ROMRead-only memoryRead-only memory is a class of storage medium used in computers and other electronic devices. Data stored in ROM cannot be modified, or can be modified only slowly or with difficulty, so it is mainly used to distribute firmware .In its strictest sense, ROM refers only...
2 KB (UM6116M-2L CMOS static RAM, pin compatible with ROM/EPROM chips) - RAMRam-Animals:*Ram, an uncastrated male sheep*Ram cichlid, a species of freshwater fish endemic to Colombia and Venezuela-Military:*Battering ram*Ramming, a military tactic in which one vehicle runs into another...
16 KB (2 x CXK5864M-15L chips) of static RAM - Size : 16.7 x 9.7 * 3.3 cm (6.58 x 3.82 x 1.3 inches) in grey plastic
- Keys D-pad, A, B, START and SELECT
- Screen LCD in 4 greyscale, 160 x 144 pixelPixelIn digital imaging, a pixel, or pel, is a single point in a raster image, or the smallest addressable screen element in a display device; it is the smallest unit of picture that can be represented or controlled....
s - Sound internal speaker mono, external stereo headphones
- Media ROM card, very similar to Hu-Card (PC-Engine), My Card (Sega SG-1000) and Sega Card (Sega Master SystemSega Master SystemThe is a third-generation video game console that was manufactured and released by Sega in 1985 in Japan , 1986 in North America and 1987 in Europe....
) 19x2 pins - Input/Output
- Cartridge Slot
- Stereo headphones
- Power
- External link connector (for 2-player games)
- Power: 6V (four AA batteriesAA batteryAn AA battery is a standard size of battery. Batteries of this size are the most commonly used type of in portable electronic devices. An AA battery is composed of a single electrochemical cell...
)
Games
Games cartridges for the Gamate are slim plastic cards with exposed pins, similar to PC-Engine or Sega Master System cards. Within the large illustrations are the game title and, unlike most systems, a simple numerical designation (C1-001, C1-002, etc), making organization reasonably simple for collectors. The exact number of games released remains unknown. Some articles regarding the Gamate state it has "about 35 games or so", but the true number may be closer to 70. One contributing factor to this ambiguity is that as Bit Corp. had passed into bankruptcy, games continued to be published by UMC, but very few left the Asian market.
Many titles are clones of popular games from the era (Tetris, Bomberman, Lode Runner, Battle City, etc). Bit Corp (and later UMC) is given sole credit within each game, but inconsistencies in game content and labeling make it far more likely that several developers were involved in designing individual games; two external developers are currently known, Gamtec
Gamtec
Gamtec is a video game developer established in June 1989 and based in Taichung City, Taiwan noted for its unlicensed Mega Drive games such as Legend of Wukong and Squirrel King....
and Hengmao Electronics. Some titles suffer from assorted bugs. A few titles seem to be original concepts, and a great many more remain mysterious due to their scarcity.
While in general the higher-numbered games were released later and in smaller quantities, there seems to be little correlation with this principle prior to the C1-040's, with random numbers inexplicably difficult to find.
C1 series
- C1-001 Cube-Up
- C1-002 Witty Apee
- C1-003 Box Forum
- C1-004 Mighty Tank
- C1-005 Enchanted Bricks
- C1-006 Mini Golf
- C1-007 Galaxy Invaders
- C1-008 Legend of Dragon Knight
- C1-009 Tornado
- C1-010 Bump N' Run
- C1-011 Money Maze
- C1-012 Pharaoh Revenger
- C1-013 Dino Bibo
- C1-014 Time Warrior
- C1-015 Kill Shot
- C1-016 Volcano Panic
- C1-017 Devil Castle
- C1-018 Kung-Fu Fighter
- C1-019 Dino Ball
- C1-020 Bad Bud Chou Chu's Adventure
- C1-021 Myth of Asamia
- C1-022 Pipemania
- C1-023 Tennis
- C1-024 Marauder
- C1-025 Jackpot
- C1-026 Flipuzzle
- C1-027 Monster Pitfall
- C1-028 Vindicators
- C1-029 Brick Blaster
- C1-030 Beach Volleyball
- C1-031 Bomb Blaster
- C1-032 Cosmic Fighter
- C1-033 Fist of Thunder
- C1-034 Superboy
- C1-035 Treasure Hunter
- C1-036 Jewelriss
- C1-037 Nightmare of Santa Claus
- C1-038 Mars Voyage
- C1-039 Fortress of Fierceness
- C1-040 Incantational Couple
- C1-041 Mighty Boxer
- C1-042 Flying Goblin
- C1-043 Boom!
- C1-044 Snowman Legend
- C1-045 World Cup Soccer
- C1-046 Kiki Island
- C1-047 Fortune 'n Luck
- C1-048 Baseball
- C1-049 Punk Boy
- C1-050 Fortress Of Fierceness
- C1-052 Famous (7 Famous)
- C1-053 Metamorphosiser
- C1-054 Magic Jigsaw
- C1-056 GP Race
- C1-058 Title unknown
- C1-068 The Golden Pyramid
- C1-069 Riddle of the Ancient Tomb
Multi-game cartridges
- C1-401 4-in-1 (Mini Golf, Cube-Up, Brick Master, and Vindicators)
Unknown ID numbers
- Fantasy Travel
- Dinosaur Park (戎貓極界)
- Basketball game (title unknown)
External links
- Gamate Game List
- Gamate @ Neofuji - game and hardware information, scans, game screenshots etc