Gunpei Yokoi died in a car accident on the 28th of April 1997, leaving behind a unfinished project that would become the final testament to his engineering genius. The WonderSwan was the last piece of hardware he worked on before his death, a console developed in collaboration with his own firm, Koto Laboratory, and Bandai. This handheld game console was officially unveiled in Tokyo on the 8th of October 1998, but its true story began years earlier when Bandai, a company founded in 1950 by Naoharu Yamashina, decided to enter the video game market. Originally a manufacturer of toy cars and plastic models, Bandai had found success with the Tamagotchi virtual pet in 1996, yet the company's greatest electronic game success remained elusive until the WonderSwan. The console was designed to be a more powerful and affordable alternative to Nintendo's Game Boy Color and SNK's Neo Geo Pocket Color, featuring a 16-bit processor and a unique dual-orientation design that allowed gameplay in both vertical and horizontal modes. Despite its innovative features, the WonderSwan was never officially released outside Japan, and its sales peaked at only 8% of the Japanese handheld gaming market before being overshadowed by the Game Boy Advance.
A Company Divided
The path to the WonderSwan was paved with corporate turmoil and a failed merger that nearly derailed Bandai's ambitions. In 1997, Bandai had planned to merge with Sega to form Sega Bandai Ltd., but the board of directors decided to oppose the merger less than a week after approving it. Bandai president Makoto Yamashina took responsibility for failing to gain the support of his company for the merger, and Sega accepted Bandai's actions at an emergency board meeting later that day. This decision left Bandai to enter the market without outside support, forcing them to rely on their own resources and partnerships. The company's history of electronic games was mixed, with the Intellivision released in Japan in 1982 and becoming one of the first third-party licensees on the Family Computer in 1985. The failure of the merger meant that Bandai had to navigate the competitive handheld market alone, a challenge that would define the WonderSwan's fate. The console was launched on the 4th of March 1999, and despite the company's struggles, it managed to sell 3.5 million units, capturing up to 8% of the Japanese handheld gaming market at its peak.Designing for Grace
The WonderSwan was named to highlight its aesthetics and technical capabilities, as the swan is recognized as an elegant bird with powerful legs that aid its graceful swimming. The console was available in nine casing colors, including pearl white, skeleton green, silver metallic, skeleton pink, blue metallic, skeleton blue, skeleton black, camouflage, and gold. Three limited edition two-tone models were also released in frozen mint, sherbet melon, and soda blue, with these colors chosen through an online poll at Bandai's website. The metallic and pearl white models were discontinued on the 22nd of July 1999 to make room for the special two-tone editions. The console's design was not just about aesthetics; it was also about functionality. The WonderSwan featured a dual-orientation design, allowing gameplay in both vertical and horizontal modes, and was powered by a single AA battery, offering a battery life of 40 hours for the original monochrome version. The console's screen was capable of displaying up to 16 shades of gray, in contrast to the four displayed by the Game Boy, and its physical measurements were 105mm x 65mm x 25mm, weighing 100 grams. The WonderSwan's design was a testament to Gunpei Yokoi's engineering philosophy, which prioritized simplicity, affordability, and long battery life.