Gamate

The Gamate,[2] known as 超級小子 (pinyin: chāojí xiǎozi, literally "Super Boy") in Taiwan and 超级神童 (pinyin: chāojí shéntóng, literally "Super Child Prodigy") in China, is a handheld game console manufactured by Bit Corporation in the early 1990s, and released in Australia, some parts of Europe, Asia (Taiwan and China), Argentina, and the United States.

Not to be confused with gamete.
Gamate
Gamate and 3 games
ManufacturerBit Corporation
United Microelectronics
TypeHandheld game console
GenerationFourth generation
Lifespan1990–1994
MediaROM Card
CPUUMC UA6588F (earlier revision)
NCR 81489 (later revision)
both 6502 based
Memory16KB RAM
DisplayLCD in 4 greyscale
Graphics160 x 152 pixels
SoundAY-3-8910[1]
mono internal speaker
Power6V, four AA batteries
Dimensions16.7 × 9.7 × 3.3 cm (6.58 × 3.82 × 1.3 inches)

The only emulator that supports it is MESS,[3] with games also playable on a MiSTer. Over 70 games, not all dumped, are known to have been produced for the system.

History

The Gamate was first of the many handheld consoles released following Nintendo's Game Boy.

UK magazine advert

It was originally released by the Taiwanese game company Bit Corporation[4] in conjunction with local distributors around the world, such as Alston Research in the USA, the joystick maker Cheetah Marketing in the UK, toy company GIG in Italy, video game importer Uranium in Switzerland, Greek Software in Greece,[5] ITMC subsidiary Yeno in Germany, Famiclone manufacturer Electrolab in Argentina and PlayMix in Sweden.[6]

Bit Corp. ceased operating in 1992[7] but UMC and its subsidiary Funtech continued to produce Gamate hardware and software.[6]

Hardware

Unlike other Taiwanese or Hong Kong Game Boy competitors, such as the Watara Supervision, Hartung Game Master and the Mega Duck, the Gamate's internal hardware contains no epoxy covered chips and was assembled in a quality manner. The build quality is relatively akin to that of the Game Boy. The shell is made of thick plastic and with batteries installed, the unit feels very similar to the weight of a Game Boy.

Screen

The screen on the Gamate is very similar to the Game Boy. It is a greenish color, with manual contrast adjustment, and non-backlit. Backlit screens were not common in 1990. Moving objects appear blurry and faint - the quality known as "ghosting" - which can make game play very frustrating.

The Gamate seems, however, to have had two different types of LCD screen used throughout its lifespan. The easiest way to tell which type one has is by turning the Gamate on without a game in - the "bad" one displays vertical lines while the "good" one displays a slightly corrupted checkerboard pattern.[8][9]

Sound

The Gamate internally uses an AY-3-8910 sound chip that can generate 3 channels of square waves and one for noise. The Gamate's mono internal speaker is of poor quality, giving off sound that is quite distorted, particularly at low volumes.[8] However, if a user plugs into the headphone jack, some of the sound channels are mapped to the headphone's left/right channels that forms stereo audio, and the output is of a relatively high quality.

Shell

The G1001 Gamate is dark grey in color and has a "x" D-pad and small speaker vents. The G1002 Gamate are dark grey in color and have a "+" D-pad design and large speaker vents. A variant in the latter design, with a white shell and red buttons also exists.

Serial numbers

All Gamates have a seven digit serial number near the card port on the rear of the console. The first two digits represent the year of manufacture, while the last five represent the unit's chronology. Therefore, a unit with the number "9001687", was the 1687th produced in 1990. The newest unit thus far discovered was produced in 1993.[8]

Specifications
  • CPU UMC UA6588F (earlier revision); NCR 81489, 8 bits (BIT WS39323F)[9] in a QFP-100 shell (later revision)
  • ROM 2 KB (UM6116M-2L CMOS static RAM, pin compatible with ROM/EPROM chips)
  • RAM 16 KB (2 × CXK5864M-15L chips) of static RAM
  • Case: Grey plastic
  • Keys D-pad, A, B, START and SELECT
  • Sound General Instrument AY-3-8910, output via either internal mono speaker or external stereo headphones
  • Media ROM card, very similar to HuCard (PC-Engine), My Card (SG-1000) and Sega Card (Master System) 19×2 pins
  • Input/Output
    • Cartridge Slot
    • Stereo headphones
    • Power
    • External link connector (for 2-player games)

Expansion
  • Gamate link cable
  • Ni-CD battery pack

Games
Snowman Legend screenshot
Snowman Legend
Tornado screenshot
Tornado
Treasure Hunter screenshot
Treasure Hunter
Screenshots from three Gamate games

Games cartridges for the Gamate are slim plastic cards with exposed pins, similar to PC-Engine or Master System cards.[10] Within the large illustrations are the game title and, unlike most systems, a simple numerical designation (C1-001, C1-002, etc.), making organization reasonably simple for collectors. The exact number of games released remains unknown. Some articles regarding the Gamate state it has "about 35 games or so", but the true number may be closer to 70. One contributing factor to this ambiguity is that as Bit Corp. had passed into bankruptcy, games continued to be published by UMC, but very few left the Asian market.

Many titles are clones of popular games from the era (Tetris, Bomberman, Lode Runner, Battle City, etc.). Bit Corp. (and later UMC) is given sole credit within each game, but inconsistencies in game content and labeling make it far more likely that several developers were involved in designing individual games; two external developers are currently known, Gamtec and Hengmao Electronics.[6] Some titles suffer from assorted bugs. A few titles seem to be original concepts, and a great many more remain mysterious due to their scarcity.

While in general the higher-numbered games were released later and in smaller quantities, there seems to be little correlation with this principle prior to the C1-040's, with random numbers inexplicably difficult to find.

Game list (incomplete)[11]
Serial number Title AKA title(s) Developer Release year
C1-001Cube-Up[12]Bit Corp.1990
C1-002Witty ApeeBit Corp.1991
C1-003Box ForumBit Corp.1991
C1-004Mighty TankBit Corp.1990
C1-005Enchanted BricksBit Corp.1990
C1-006Mini GolfBit Corp.1990
C1-007Galaxy InvadersBit Corp.1990
C1-008Legend of Dragon KnightBit Corp.1991
C1-009TornadoBit Corp.1991
C1-010Bump N' Run
C1-011Money MazeBit Corp.1990
C1-012Pharaoh RevengerBit Corp.1991
C1-013Dino BiboBit Corp.1991
C1-014Time WarriorBit Corp.1990
C1-015Kill ShotBit Corp.1991
C1-016Volcano Panic[13]Bit Corp.1991
C1-017Devil CastleBit Corp.1991
C1-018Kung-Fu FighterBit Corp.1990
C1-019Dino BallBit Corp.1991
C1-020Bad Bud Chou Chu's Adventure
C1-021Myth of AsamiaBit Corp.1990
C1-022PipemaniaBit Corp.1991
C1-023TennisBit Corp.1991
C1-024MarauderBit Corp.1991
C1-025Jackpot
C1-026FlipuzzleBit Corp.1991
C1-027Monster PitfallBit Corp.1990
C1-028VindicatorsBit Corp.1990
C1-029Brick BlasterBit Corp.1990
C1-030Beach Volleyball
C1-031Bomb BlasterBomb BlastBit Corp.1990
C1-032Cosmic FighterBit Corp.1990
C1-033Fist of ThunderBit Corp.1991
C1-034Superboy
C1-035Treasure HunterBit Corp.1990
C1-036JewelrissBit Corp.1991
C1-037Nightmare of Santa ClausBit Corp.1991
C1-038Mars VoyageBit Corp.1991
C1-039Bomb BlasterBomb BlastBit Corp.
C1-040Money MazeBit Corp.
C1-041Mighty Boxer
C1-042Flying GoblinBit Corp.1991
C1-043Boom!Bit Corp.1991
C1-044Snowman LegendBit Corp.1991
C1-045World Cup Soccer
C1-046Kiki InlandKiki IslandBit Corp.1992
C1-047Fortune 'n Luck[14]Fortune and LuckBit Corp.1992
C1-048BaseballSuper BaseballBit Corp.1992
C1-049Punk BoyBit Corp.1992
C1-050Fortress of FiercenessBit Corp.1991
C1-051Incantational CoupleBit Corp.1992
C1-052Famous1) 7 Famous
2) Famous 7		UMC1993
C1-053MetamorphosiserTough GuyUMC1993
C1-054Magic JigsawBit Corp.1991
C1-055(unknown title, possibly unreleased)
C1-056GP RaceBit Corp.1992
C1-057Fantasy TravelUMC1993
C1-058Heaven ClashQuizFighterUMC1993
C1-059(unknown title, possibly unreleased)
C1-060Further Adventures of Hannibal The CatPhinnex Co., Ltd.1993
C1-061Dinosaur ParkPhinnex Co., Ltd.1993
C1-062(unknown title, possibly unreleased)
C1-063Basketball
C1-064Bao Qing TianThe Legendary Judge1994
C1-065Hot HeroHuǒbào Yīngxióng1994
C1-066(unknown title, possibly unreleased)
C1-067Robin HoodPhinnex Co., Ltd.1994
C1-068The Golden Pyramid1995
C1-069Riddle of the Ancient TombBǎozàng Zhī Mí1994
C1-070Insect WarUMC1995
C1-4014-in-1 (Mini Golf, Cube-Up, Brick Blaster, and Vindicators)Bit Corp.1991
K1-001One Million WhysLǜyě Mí ZōngUMC1993

References
  1. Kevtris. "Gamate Inside".
  2. "Meet the Gamate, the Handheld Which Tried to Take on the Game Boy and Failed". 13 February 2014.
  3. "MESS Git (2015/03/14)". EmuCR. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
  4. Lane, Gavin (17 April 2019). "The Handheld Rivals Which Tried And Failed To Beat The Game Boy". Nintendo Life. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
  5. "Gamate Compact Video Game System". User. No. 13. ΝΕΑ ΕΚΔΟΤΙΚΗ ΕΠΕ. April 1991. p. 35.
  6. taizou. "Gamate: Other Companies". Neo Fuji. Retrieved 26 June 2010.
  7. 普澤、昇友停權. Toybase (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 3 May 2010. Retrieved 26 June 2010.
  8. taizou. "Gamate: Hardware". Neo Fuji. Retrieved 26 June 2010.
  9. "Gamate: Hardware". fuji.12bit.club. Retrieved 2023-07-14.
  10. Gamate Archive Archived 2011-05-11 at the Wayback Machine, Video Game Gazette. Retrieved 14 June 2010.
  11. "Gamate: Games". fuji.12bit.club. Retrieved 2023-07-14.
  12. taizou. "Gamate: Games". Neo Fuji. Retrieved 27 June 2010.
  13. "Image: g13l-161.jpg, (1316 × 2000 px)". togonogo.com. 9 January 2015. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
  14. "Image: g13s-175.jpg, (537 × 800 px)". togonogo.com. 9 January 2015. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
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