Wonderswan Color

The WonderSwan Color was released on December 9, 2000 (only in Japan). It was created by Bandai, and the successor to the original WonderSwan. In Japan, it was met with modest success and sales (especially considering Nintendo’s near-monopoly of the handheld market). The market share of the WonderSwan Color was approximately 8%, according to Bandai. Much of this success is credited to the low price of the handheld; ¬•6800, or $59. The WonderSwan Color also had great third party support, with companies such as Squaresoft (who ported many of the original Final Fantasy games to the WonderSwan Color). When the WonderSwan Color’s successor, the SwanCrystal, was released, Nintendo had regained support of Squaresoft, however. One of the unique features of the WonderSwan (all versions) was the fact that it could be played either horizontally or vertically.