Shonumi
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shonumi.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
Shonumi
@shonumi.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
16 followers 3 following 30 posts
Video game historian and preservationist. Author of the GBE+ emulator.

[bridged from https://mastodon.social/@Shonumi on the fediverse by https://fed.brid.gy/ ]
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shonumi.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
New article about the Wantame Card Scanner is live:

https://shonumi.github.io/articles/art39.html

This one details the inner workings of a Nintendo DS barcode scanner. It was used for a game called Wantame Doko Demo Style.

It's one of the rare DS peripherals that send data as microphone input […]
Original post on mastodon.social
mastodon.social
November 7, 2025 at 6:20 PM
shonumi.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
For most of September, I worked on emulating a card scanner for the DS. It's used for a game called Wantame Music Channel: Doko Demo Style.

You basically get to dress up 3D puppies and have them dance in rhythm games.

The scanner itself connects via the DS' […]

[Original post on mastodon.social]
A 3D dog from the game Wantame Music Channel: Doko Demo Style. She is wearing a strawberry cake dress, holding her paws out as a meter on the side of the screen fills up. A 3D dog from the game Wantame Music Channel: Doko Demo Style. She is wearing a gothic lolita dress and headdress, twirling around as a meter on the side of the screen fills up. A 3D dog from the game Wantame Music Channel: Doko Demo Style. She is wearing a fancy idol dress and a penguin-shaped hat. She bashfully looks down, embarrassed by the player's extreme lack of fashion sensibility.
September 29, 2025 at 2:18 AM
shonumi.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
Well, Japan Post (among others) is temporarily suspending the acceptance of any US-bound package worth over $100 USD.

https://www.post.japanpost.jp/int/information/2025/0825_01_en.html

Kind of a gut punch. It took years for JP's shipping to the US to adequately recover from COVID.

This is […]
Original post on mastodon.social
mastodon.social
August 25, 2025 at 8:21 PM
shonumi.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
Seems the US is ending *ALL* de minimis tariff exemptions in August. Previously it was suspended for China and HK only; soon it will end for all countries.

This effectively puts a tax on all imports for both new or used items. This could be devastating for video game preservation projects in […]
Original post on mastodon.social
mastodon.social
July 30, 2025 at 7:17 PM
shonumi.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
Yo, did Stop Killing Games just reach the 1M signatures?! Tell me I'm not tripping right now and this is real. This is great news for video game preservation in that case!

https://eci.ec.europa.eu/045/public/#/screen/home
July 3, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Reposted by Shonumi
shonumi.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
I'm pleased to announce the release of my new book, "Nintendo's Lost Handheld: The Pokémon Mini"

Dive into Nintendo's long forgotten handheld, explore its fascinating history, take a tour of the hardware's capabilities, and browse it's full library of games! […]

[Original post on mastodon.social]
Cover of "Nintendo's Lost Handheld: The Pokémon Mini" featuring a cartoon vector recreation of the handheld and its cartridge. Preview of the introduction of the book. Beginning of the chapter focusing on the Pokemon Mini's hardware, starting with the CPU. Lead-in page for one of the Pokemon Mini's games, Pokemon Pinball mini, featuring data such as launch dates, supported hardware features, number of players, developer, and Game ID.
June 26, 2025 at 10:46 PM
shonumi.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
I'm pleased to announce the release of my new book, "Nintendo's Lost Handheld: The Pokémon Mini"

Dive into Nintendo's long forgotten handheld, explore its fascinating history, take a tour of the hardware's capabilities, and browse it's full library of games! […]

[Original post on mastodon.social]
Cover of "Nintendo's Lost Handheld: The Pokémon Mini" featuring a cartoon vector recreation of the handheld and its cartridge. Preview of the introduction of the book. Beginning of the chapter focusing on the Pokemon Mini's hardware, starting with the CPU. Lead-in page for one of the Pokemon Mini's games, Pokemon Pinball mini, featuring data such as launch dates, supported hardware features, number of players, developer, and Game ID.
June 26, 2025 at 10:46 PM
shonumi.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
So, after a brutal marathon of edits and revisions, my new book about the Pokemon Mini is set to be published soon. Once Amazon signs off on a quality check, it's good to go! The process takes 72 hours max tho.

I just hope the print quality is consistent. Amazon seems to be slacking. Barnes and […]
Original post on mastodon.social
mastodon.social
June 25, 2025 at 9:12 PM
shonumi.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
Also, the EUR release date of Pokemon Tetris is wrong!! It's been said it launched on the same day as the Pokemon Mini (Mar 15, 2002).

Super Juegos #122 (July 2002) says it was an upcoming release for Aug of that year.

Revista Pokemon #25 (July 2002) says […]

[Original post on mastodon.social]
Super Juegos Issue #122 article about upcoming Pokemon Shock Tetris. Relevant text below: "Aunque Nintendo reserva para el final del verano el grueso de sus lanzamientos en GameCube y GBA, ha decido aliviar un los calores estivales de los propietarios de Pokemon Mini con la comercialización en agosto de Pokemon Mini Shock Tetris; el legendario puzzle creado por Alexeo Pajitnov adaptado al universo de Pikachu y Cia" Revista Pokemon Issue #25 about the upcoming Pokemon Shock Tetris. Relevant text below: "La fiebre TETRIS se estrenará en septiembre en tu Pokemon Mini" "Nintendo lanzará un nuevo cartucho para tu MINI en septiembre, justo a la vuelta de las vacaciones. Por si no son suficientes la 'juerga' Party, el Pinball o la ajustada dificultad del Puzzle Collection ahora se anuncia el único título que podía hacer sombra a esos tres. Después de todo, ¿no fue Tetris el juego que comenzó el fenómeno Game Boy? Ya sabes, una consola superventas y que todo el mundo tiene, y tal. Bueno, en Pokemon MINI también jugaremos a eliminar líneas, pero como habrá Pokemon involucrados, habrá también un montón de sorpresas. Según parace, por cada cierto número de líneas nos haremos con un Pokemon. También tendremos rivales Pokemon contra los que ejercitamos en el noble arte de encajar piezas. En fin, que será una diversión de las que nos gustan. Y que está a la vuelta de la esquina."
June 17, 2025 at 10:11 PM
shonumi.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
So, the exact release date of the Pokemon Mini in Australia is unknown.

Websites (including Bulbapedia) will tell you it was released anywhere from Oct 3, 2001 to Oct 11, 2002.

Thankfully, the Australian magazine Nintendo Gamer covered it in their 8th issue […]

[Original post on mastodon.social]
Inside Table of Contents for Nintendo Gamer #8 (April 2002) Article from Nintendo Gamer Issue #8 (April 2002) about the Pokemon Mini. It covers the 4 games launched in that country. It mentions the Pokemon Mini being on sale in Australia at the time. This indicates a launch date some time in March 2002.
June 17, 2025 at 9:31 PM
shonumi.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
Here's something interesting I discovered today:

Apparently the developers for Pokemon Race Mini used some kind of debug mode or build to capture screenshots for their manual.

You can see this with the time: 9'59"99

Normally after reaching that time, the […]

[Original post on mastodon.social]
A single page from the manual of the game Pokemon Race Mini. It demonstrates several actions Pikachu can take in-game, such as jumping. The time in the top right corner reads 9'59"99, a time that is normally impossible to get in the game without crashing.
June 14, 2025 at 6:32 PM
shonumi.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
Update on the Glucoboy from Reddit.

Apparently the person that owns it is the same one who submitted it to the Video Game History Foundation some years back. The ROM was dumped in 2023, so it's already been preserved!

Had a chance to talk with them. It's great that they have a passion for […]
Original post on mastodon.social
mastodon.social
June 9, 2025 at 7:32 AM
shonumi.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
Apparently, someone found a copy of the Glucoboy from when they were a kid:

https://reddit.com/r/gamecollecting/comments/1l6a9x1/easily_the_rarest_thing_i_own_and_it_was_entirely/

These things unbelievably rare. They basically shouldn't exist. Like at all.

When Bayer bought up Guidance […]
Original post on mastodon.social
mastodon.social
June 8, 2025 at 8:29 PM
shonumi.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
The release of the Switch 2 kinda has me nervous... Let me explain.

I'm like *this* close to finishing my new book on the Pokemon Mini. Really close!

Anytime you write a book about video game history, there's a chance a brand new console will make your info outdated. This new book references […]
Original post on mastodon.social
mastodon.social
June 5, 2025 at 6:51 PM
shonumi.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
New article about the GBKISS LINK is live:

https://shonumi.github.io/articles/art38.html

This one examines an infrared modem released by Hudson in 1998. This enabled GB-to-PC connections and opened up the internet to the Game Boy.

Here, I detail the process of emulating its infrared […]
Original post on mastodon.social
mastodon.social
June 3, 2025 at 4:23 PM
shonumi.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
New article about the Agatsuma TV Tuner is live:

https://shonumi.github.io/articles/art37.html

This piece delves into only officially licensed TV tuner for the Game Boy Advance.

It explores the process of getting a GBA emulator to simulate over-the-air real-time TV broadcasts. Yet another […]
Original post on mastodon.social
mastodon.social
April 30, 2025 at 5:14 PM
shonumi.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
One of the first examples of DLC for the Game Boy can now be emulated.

Pocket Family GB used the GB KISS LINK to download a Family Photo Event from Hudson's website. It allows players to save photos of their current family with the GB Printer.

DLC files […]

[Original post on mastodon.social]
GB KISS menu with the "Family Shot" DLC all the way to the right side. Executing the Family Shot DLC for Pocket Family GB. The final print of the Family Photo Event.
April 21, 2025 at 7:55 AM
shonumi.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
Back in 2018, I emulated the Soul Doll Adapter. Think toys-to-life Skylanders stuff, but on the GBA. It had 103 figurines that would unlock characters in the game.

I managed to recreate the data for most of them, but a handful I could never get working […]

[Original post on mastodon.social]
True Wind Dragon Soul Doll Blaze Dragon Alternate Version Soul Doll GW Nicole Soul Doll Colonel Blaze Dragon Zen Armed Soul Doll
April 3, 2025 at 11:10 PM
shonumi.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
Things on my 2025 bingo card:

* 💰 Increase in wealth inequality
* ⚠️ More microplastic pollution
* 🪖 Global strife and armed conflicts
* 📉 Economic distress
* 🤡 Continued erosion of social norms and sanity

Things not on my 2025 bingo card:

* A new (semi?) open world Mario Kart game that lets […]
Original post on mastodon.social
mastodon.social
April 2, 2025 at 3:56 PM
shonumi.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
New article about the Campho Advance is live:

https://shonumi.github.io/articles/art36.html

The article delves into the challenges of dumping one of the most convoluted cartridges on the Game Boy Advance as well dealing with telephony.

Imagine how crazy you'd have to be to turn a GBA […]
Original post on mastodon.social
mastodon.social
March 10, 2025 at 5:33 PM