Watara Supervision

Watara Supervision

The Watara Supervision.
Manufacturer	Watara
Type	Handheld game console
Generation	Fourth generation
Release date	1992
Introductory price	US$49.95 (equivalent to $84.23 in 2015)
Media	Supervision cartridges
CPU	8-bit 65C02 clocked at 4MHz
Display	160×160 pixel resolution, 4 shades of grey
Power	4 × AA batteries or 6V AC/DC adapter
Related articles	Game Boy

The Watara Supervision (also known as the QuickShot Supervision in the UK) is a monochrome handheld game console, originating from Asia, and introduced in 1992 as a cut-price competitor for Nintendo's Game Boy.^[1] It came packaged with a game called Crystball, which is similar to Breakout. One unique feature of the Supervision was that it could be linked up to a television via a link cable. Games played in this way would display in four colors, much like Nintendo's Super Game Boy add-on for the SNES.^[1] A full color TV link was also in the works, but because of the Supervision's failure to make a major impression among gamers it was cancelled, along with the games which were in development for it.

Though the machine garnered some attention at launch (mainly due to the low price point for the machine and its games, which many felt might enable it to make inroads into Nintendo's market share) it was ultimately unsuccessful in unseating the Game Boy from its position as the world's most popular handheld. Reasons commonly cited are the poor quality screen which was prone to blurring and made following the action difficult, a general lack of games and the simplistic nature of those that were released.

Yet another problem was that most of the games that were available were developed in Taiwan or Hong Kong, meaning that fans of big-name Western and Japanese developers were underwhelmed by the apparent lack of support from these companies. Only a tiny handful of games were developed by third parties, including Sachen and the British developer B.I.T.S.. Up against Nintendo's list of popular franchises (Zelda, Mario, Metroid) and those of its third parties (Castlevania, Mega Man) - all of which eventually surfaced on the Game Boy - the Supervision's games were of little interest to most.

Marketing

To keep their costs down, Watara farmed out the international marketing and distribution to third parties leading to various versions including the QuickShot Supervision, Travell Mate, Hartung SV-100, and Electrolab in Argentina, under two different models: the Supervision (in a form factor resembling Nintendo's Game Boy) and the Hipervision. In Taiwan, it was released as the 泰可BOY (Tiger Boy).^[1] The QuickShot version differed from the original Watara format by having the console body split into two parts enabling the screen to be tilted in relation to the control section.^[1]

In the mid 1990s, the Supervision was once offered as a final prize on the television game show Legends of the Hidden Temple. It was also offered as a prize on the premiere of the similarly short-lived The New Price is Right in 1994.

The Supervision model released without the tilting screen.

Quickshot's UK version of the Supervision was heavily featured for a time on ITV's gaming show Bad Influence!^[1] Presenter Violet Berlin could be seen playing a Supervision in many of the show's publicity photos.

Technical specifications

• CPU: 8-bit 65C02 processor, running at 4 MHz
• Screen: 61 mm × 61 mm (2.37 inches × 2.37 inches), 160 × 160 pixels, 4 greys LCD.^[1] There was no hardware video acceleration, graphics had to be drawn by software to a framebuffer.
• Sound: 2 Tonal and 1 Noise Channel plus additional audio DMA stereo output channel. Built-in speaker and headphone jack with stereo earphones included.
• Power: 4 × AA batteries or 6V AC/DC adapter
• Communication port: Two Player Link using DE-9 connector.
• Cartridge port
• Controls for 1 Player
• TV adapter (optional)
• Tiltable Screen (2 positions)

List of games

Main titles

#	Title	Developer(s)	Release year
1	Alien	Watara	1992
2	Balloon Fight	Thin Chen Enterprise	1992
3	Block Buster	Watara	1992
4	Brain Power	Watara	1992
5	Bubble World	Bon Treasure	1992
6	Carrier	Watara	1992
7	Cave Wonders	Bon Treasure	1992
8	Challenger Tank	Watara	1992
9	Chimera	Watara	1992
10	Chinese Checkers	Sachen	1992
11	Classic Casino	Bon Treasure	1993
12	Climber	Bon Treasure	1992
13	Crystball	Watara	1992
14	Dancing Block	Thin Chen Enterprise	1992
15	Delta Hero	Bon Treasure	1992
16	Devil Paradise	Watara	1992
17	Dream World	Bon Treasure	1992
18	Eagle Plan	GTC	1991
19	Earth Defender	Bon Treasure	1992
20	Fatal Craft	Bon Treasure	1992
21	Final Combat	Thin Chen Enterprise	1992
22	Galactic Crusader	Sachen	1992
23	Galaxy Fighter	Thin Chen Enterprise	1992
24	Grand Prix	Bon Treasure	1992
25	Happy Pairs	Sachen	1992
26	Happy Race	Sachen	1992
27	Hash Block	GTC	1992
28	Hero Hawk	Thin Chen Enterprise	1992
29	Hero Kid	Watara	1992
30	Honey Bee	Bon Treasure	1992
31	Jacky Lucky	Bon Treasure	1992
32	Jade Legend	Watara	1992
33	Jaguar Bomber	Bon Treasure	1992
34	John Adventure	Sachen	1992
35	Journey to the West	Watara	1992
36	Juggler	Bon Treasure	1992
37	Kabi-Island: Gold in Island	Thin Chen Enterprise	1992
38	Kitchen War	Bon Treasure	1992
39	Kung-Fu Street	Thin Chen Enterprise	1993
40	Linear Racing	Watara	1992
41	Ma Jong	Watara	1992
42	Magincross	Thin Chen Enterprise	1992
43	Matta Blatta	B.I.T.S.	1992
44	Olympic Trials	Divide By Zero/B.I.T.S.	1992
45	P-52 Sea Battle	Watara	1992
46	Pacboy & Mouse	Watara	1992
47	Pacific Battle	Bon Treasure	1992
48	Penguin Hideout	Thin Chen Enterprise	1992
49	Police Bust	Bon Treasure	1992
50	PoPo Team	Sachen	1992
51	Pyramid	Thin Chen Enterprise	1992
52	Recycle Design	Bon Treasure	1992
53	Scaffolder	Bon Treasure	1992
54	Soccer Champion	Watara	1992
55	Sonny Xpress!	Watara	1992
56	Space Fighter	Bon Treasure	1992
57	Sssnake	B.I.T.S.	1992
58	Super Block	Bon Treasure	1992
59	Super Pang	Sachen	1992
60	Super Kong	Thin Chen Enterprise	1992
61	Tasac 2010	Thin Chen Enterprise	1992
62	Tennis Pro '92	B.I.T.S.	1992
63	Thunder Shooting	Thin Chen Enterprise	1992
64	Treasure Hunter	Bon Treasure	1992
65	Untouchable	Bon Treasure	1992
66	Witty Cat	Bon Treasure	1992

Multi-game titles

• Block Buster/Cross High [2-in-1] (1992)
• Hash Block/Eagle Plan [2-in-1] (1992; developed by Bon Treasure)
• Hash Block/Jacky Lucky/Challenger Tank/Brain Power [4-in-1] (1992)

Preservation

Like many consoles, the Watara Supervision has lived on through emulation (see MESS). Cowering's Good Tools includes a tool called GoodSV, which catalogues 47 Supervision games in version 2.01.

References

1. "Retro Console Review: Quickshot / Watara Supervision". RetroCollect. 2011-02-05. Retrieved 2011-11-06.

External links

• Syd Bolton's "World's First Supervision Page"
• Watara rewritable multigame cartridge