53 replies to this topic

[Student Driver]

Yeah, I picked up a Caplet as well this week at Wal-Mart for $15, and had fun with them on breaks and such at work.  I'm amazed at the clarity/brightness of the screen, and have even found some of the "generic" titles worthy of a little attention.  I haven't had battery problems yet, with my original set of AAAs having lasted through perhaps 10 hours of play thus far.  I can imagine the batteries die quickly, though, since the backlight is really bright.

[Flojomojo]

$15 is a great price for either of these. Did they have a lot of them left?

[Student Driver]

My local Wal-Mart has perhaps 3-5 apiece of the three releases (Caplet, Tablet, and Disney Princess) at $15 apiece currently.  If you've got a Wal-Mart nearby, check out the electronics section (rather than the toys section).  I believe the price is a home-office clearance.

Edited by Student Driver, Thu Apr 12, 2007 5:57 AM.

[Student Driver]

Yes, I'm going on about the VG Pockets some more...

I'd never taken a close look at the 25-game Tablet, and had always wondered why they were charging as much for this system as for the 50-game Caplet, especially since the Caplet had better graphics and more arcade ports.  Bored while at Wal-Mart, I decided to take a look at the "starter kit" included with the Tablet.  It's not just a carrying case and lanyard (and some weird mini-keychain thing, the actual purpose of which confuses me), but it also includes the AV cable, which wasn't mentioned on the box!  The AV cable is *not* included with the Caplet.  Explains at least a little of the price discrepancy.

I ended up picking up a Tablet; I couldn't justify $15 for just the unit itself, but having the cable made it worthwhile.  The AV cable (when I've seen it available) has been $10 by itself, and I'd been wanting one to play the shooters on my Caplet.

[Jess Ragan]

Holy schmegeggies!  The VG Pocket pills are ten times better than the old handhelds from 2005.  The quality of the screen is incredible... it's got a very fine resolution, bright colors, and none of that ugly crosshatching that made the display in the old system an eyesore.

Even the games themselves are a huge improvement, although only a few of them are worth playing for more than five minutes.  There's a lot of content here that seems lifted from other games; not just basic gameplay concepts but graphics and sound as well.  One game called "Submarine" uses graphics from Irem's In The Hunt.  Another game looks and plays EXACTLY like the Super NES version of Aero Fighters.  It makes you wonder just how the developers got away with all this blatant intellectual property piracy...

JR

[Lord Thag]

I like the new VG pockets as well, particularly the new caplet one. Pretty good stuff. Beats reader's digest on the throne anyday

Edited by Lord Thag, Sat Apr 21, 2007 11:46 PM.

[George Gray]

Just picked up the Space Invaders/Burgertime unit.  Boy, what a deal.  I got it on clearance for ten bucks at a local Wal-Mart.  While the Burgertime is faithful, I have a hard seeing the levels on the tiny screen.  I really need to plug it into the telly.  Unfortunately, the bloody A/V connector is really small and none of the cables I have will fit--of course.  Anyone know where to get the A/V cable?  I know Gamestop USED to carry these, but I've not seen any in the Richmond,VA area for awhile now.  Anyway, the games-most of them, anyway-are kind of fun.  I really liked the Tetris variation and several of the flying/shooting games are addictive.  Space Invaders had me hooked longer than most of the games and the Bust-A-Move game is also addicting.  I had never played that one, so I was pleasently surprised at how much fun it was.  Burgertime-the real reason I bought the Caplet-was a bit frustrating to play, as stated above, because the screen is just too small. It is the only game I had a hard time playing.  Overall, the unit is very nice.  The screen is wonderful, not as good as my DS Lite, but very good, especially for a ten dollar game.  Well worth a look.  Now, has anyone hacked these things yet?

[jboypacman]

I think i better hit the Wal-Mart this weekend then.I been wanting one of thoses BurgerTime/Space Invaders combos but i thought $30 at the time was a wee bit high for them.The price seems right now.

[George Gray]

jboypacman, on Wed Jun 20, 2007 9:11 AM, said:

I think i better hit the Wal-Mart this weekend then.I been wanting one of thoses BurgerTime/Space Invaders combos but i thought $30 at the time was a wee bit high for them.The price seems right now.

The store I went to only had the one (that I saw, anyway.)  The box was rather tattered as well.  But, for ten bucks, it coulda been in a zip loc bag.

[jboypacman]

I went down to the Walmart down the road from me and they had a few of these in stock but they were still priced at $30.

[blastermaster]

got one at walmart a couple weeks ago for $10, honestly its a pretty nice little unit, and some of the other games on it are not bad. the screen is also sharp and bright. anyone know if this is hackable at all?

[George Gray]

blastermaster, on Sat Jun 23, 2007 2:15 AM, said:

got one at walmart a couple weeks ago for $10, honestly its a pretty nice little unit, and some of the other games on it are not bad. the screen is also sharp and bright. anyone know if this is hackable at all?

Don't know about the hackability of these, but I do agree...some of the generic games are enjoyable.  So far, my faves are:
Bubble Wubble
Final Escape
Bubble Blaster
Jewel Master 2

I sorta like Tiger Rescue, but have a hard time with the controls.  I'm not sure why, but the scheme seems more wonky than the other shmups do.
The three title games are decent, but Burgertime is, for me, unplayable on the small screen.

[A Sprite]

George Gray, on Sat Jun 23, 2007 11:33 AM, said:

blastermaster, on Sat Jun 23, 2007 2:15 AM, said:

got one at walmart a couple weeks ago for $10, honestly its a pretty nice little unit, and some of the other games on it are not bad. the screen is also sharp and bright. anyone know if this is hackable at all?

Don't know about the hackability of these, but I do agree...some of the generic games are enjoyable.  So far, my faves are:
Bubble Wubble
Final Escape
Bubble Blaster
Jewel Master 2

I sorta like Tiger Rescue, but have a hard time with the controls.  I'm not sure why, but the scheme seems more wonky than the other shmups do.
The three title games are decent, but Burgertime is, for me, unplayable on the small screen.

Tiger Rescue is my addiction. For those who have no idea what we're talking about, think early to mid 90's Arcade vertical shooter, complete with character select, power-ups, smart bombs, and boss battles.



A close relative.

Credit: Gamespy

The catch?

The difficulty is also arcade quality, and there are no continue points when you run out of lives - it's back to the beginning of the stage. I'll admit to never beating the final boss on the first level until I discovered the auto fire button...

Only recommended for hardcore shmup fans. But if you are, this in an essential purchase.

Edited by A Sprite, Sun Jun 24, 2007 4:47 PM.

[jboypacman]

These still havnt dropped in price in my area yet.

[George Gray]

Greetings again!

After failing to find the proper video cable, and unwilling to spend twenty bucks for the 'starter kit' via mail order, I made one myself.
An old 'hands free' cell phone adapter was sacrificed since it that bloody little connector on the end.  Unfortunately, it is a single pole connector, so I only get video out, but that is ok.  The audio is not that great on most of the games.  It definitely helps on some of the games, like Burgertime.  It wasn't until after I actually played for about an hour that I realized that it defeats the purpose of the unit...it kills the portability if you have to be tethered to a bigger screen monitor.  I am not complaining though, I actually like the generic games more than the three A titles anyway.  
This little guy is just amazing.  I was not expecting much at all and have been pleasently surprised.  

When they drop the price in your store, get one of these.

[jboypacman]

Just check them again yesterday and they are still full price.

[Murph74]

jboypacman, on Sat Jul 21, 2007 7:47 AM, said:

Just check them again yesterday and they are still full price.

I been watching too/still-- both still at $30 here in St. Louis at both of my Wal Marts. :/

[Bill Brasky]

I wonder how the video out circuitry works and if it could be easily added to the GBA. No need to buy a GC/GB player to view it on the big screen TV.

[roland p]

Has someone already hacked this system? Put other roms on it, turn in into an atari lynx (just kidding) Someone mentioned that the lcd accepted rgb, so maybe it could be turned into a monitor.

Bill Brasky, on Fri Sep 21, 2007 1:39 AM, said:

I wonder how the video out circuitry works and if it could be easily added to the GBA. No need to buy a GC/GB player to view it on the big screen TV.

I guess it's internally a standard video signal which is displayed on the lcd or outputted via the composite cable. My Turbo Grafx Express worked that way, although it hadn't the composite out cable, but I hacked one on a defect Express.

Perhaps you could use this: http://www.gameboy-a..._tv_adapter.htm

[Bill Brasky]

roland p, on Fri Oct 5, 2007 3:30 AM, said:

Perhaps you could use this: http://www.gameboy-a..._tv_adapter.htm

I had one of those. They're only designed to work with the old style GBA. I own an SP version.

[TwinChargers]

I saw at my local Gamestop that they had a 50 game Caplet for sale for $20.  Ironically enough, they also had the 25 game Tablet for sale for the same price.  I bought the Caplet obviously and have enjoyed it alot.  Quite impressed with the quality.  I might just have to go out and buy the Tablet also since its still under a dollar a game.

[S1500]

I still play mine from time to time.Swore i saw the video adaptor(as well as the other acccessories) for under 10 bucks on Amazon.

Only found 1 game that uses more than 1 button. That's the one puzzle game where you can pull pieces down & shoot 'em back up. I had a similiar game to that on my old cell phone.

Makes me wonder what other hackability this thing has, like a joystick port.

[Parrothead]

I have been reading all this as Jungletac just contacted me directly about distributing their products through ChaseTheChuckwagon.com.  I didn't realize they were the ones who manufactured the VG pockets (which I have and quite like for what they are).  I have asked them to send me samples before making a final decision to carry them on the auction site

[nathanallan]

I like them. Color screen that's very sharp, easy controls, lightweight but not too small to cramp your hands. Mike you are the man.

If you carry them it would bea boon to the site and I will likely buy several for here. Has there been a new model?

One game I like is Deep Storm on the little blue 50 games one. It's like a kids version of Space Harrier 3D!!

Excellent graphics, too, last a long time if you take care of them.

[Parrothead]

nathanallan, on Thu Jul 23, 2009 10:00 PM, said:

I like them. Color screen that's very sharp, easy controls, lightweight but not too small to cramp your hands. Mike you are the man.

If you carry them it would bea boon to the site and I will likely buy several for here. Has there been a new model?

One game I like is Deep Storm on the little blue 50 games one. It's like a kids version of Space Harrier 3D!!

Excellent graphics, too, last a long time if you take care of them.

I am talking with them about an exclusve CTCW version.  They seem like a good company to work with and very responsive to my questions.  They are sending me some of their latest products for review   Looks like you will be seeing some of there stuff for sale in a new Chuckwagon company store.

Edited by Parrothead, Fri Jul 24, 2009 8:19 AM.