The end of the game.com

[Mr. Sound-About]

Howdy, y'all.

This has been in the works for far too long and today, I'm nauseous to announce that:

“The end of the game.com” rides again.
www.diskman.com/presents/gamecom

Yep. My formerly threadbare website about a handheld game system that's even less enjoyable than the Supervision [!!]... is back. Now bloated with far more information than you'll ever care to know, to experience it is a grand adventure in masochism. (Though still less painful than actually playing game.com games.)

If you're wondering why I've wasted so much time building a virtual shrine to such a useless piece of plastic stuffed with shoddy electrical components, it's simple: I did it because I knew no one else would. Amen.

So come on by and relive all your game.com favorites!
(I'd say, "You'll be glad you did," but we both know you'll regret it.)

 

[cta]

Nice to see somebody spreading the love appreciation awareness of the game.com. Failed systems deserve to be remembered too.

 

[wheelaa]

I admire your dedication in finishing so many of the games.


(https://www.diskman.com/presents/gamecom/indy500.htm)


(https://www.diskman.com/presents/gamecom/scrabble.htm)

 

[Anthony817]

Hey, Supervision was at least kinda cool lol. I did have a games.com in 98 though, thought it was the coolest thing at the time. I was in middle school though lol. Thought the PDA features made it cooler. Obviously in hindsight I know it is shit now, but eh at the time I was ignorantly blissful. Thanks for documenting it.


Are there any emulators out for this thing?

 

[Mr. Sound-About]

Thanks guys, I'm really hoping to scare people straight so that they don't waste any money on the thing.

As for the endings... yowza... not anywhere near as tough as playing thru Supervision games, but still pretty taxing. A lot of wasted hours there, to be sure.

 

[la-li-lu-le-lo]

I actually had one of these pretty soon after it came it out. Admittedly, it was pretty bad, but it was interesting in a lot of ways. It was one of the first handheld game systems with a built-in touchscreen, and also one of the first (if not the first) with built-in internet connectivity. But yeah, it was still pretty bad. I actually still have mine with the original box, though I've lost the stylus.

 

[Arcadia]

How the hell did they manage to score such big IP's?

 

[Mr. Sound-About]

How the hell did they manage to score such big IP's?

They were Tiger, man: A company all about licensed products, with years of experience. Securing deals like that, quickly and aggressively, was one of their biggest strengths. Which just makes it all the more depressing that those big IPs got paraded thru the muck and quickly relegated to the bargain bin.

 

[Mechi]

I had one of these in the early 2000s. I got it cheap in a clearance sale at one of the local game stores, along with Mortal Kombat Trilogy and Resident Evil 2. Interesting to play these ports, but I soon traded them in and got a GP32 instead.

 

[Mr. Sound-About]

Today's update:

Added some details and screenshots for Holyfield Boxing, NBA Live '99, and Small Soldiers to the rumored games page. This info was mostly scooped from the archived website of developer Handheld Games.

game.com rumored games page

 

[Hawanja]

I had no idea there were so many games for it. I still have my game.com back on the shelf somewhere, but I haven't turned it on it like a dozen years.

 

[Mr. Sound-About]

I had no idea there were so many games for it.

"It plays more games than you IDIOTS have brain cells!"

 

[cta]

OMG they even got a low budget Segata Sanshiro!

Geemu-Kom Don José, Geemu-Kom Don José, geemu dot com - go playyyy!

 

[Mr. Sound-About]

OMG they even got a low budget Segata Sanshiro!

I interviewed him for the site...

www.diskman.com/presents/gamecom/johnyoung.htm

The commercial he starred in really was the best and most effective one. They had the '90s attitude nailed, man.

 

[Mr. Sound-About]

Hey, Supervision was at least kinda cool lol.

 

[Allie]

You can also add Virtua Fighter 3 and Sonic X-treme to the list of titles announced for the Game.com then cancelled, with the first of these likely being reworked into Fighters Megamix, while it's possible the latter similarly became Sonic Jam...

P.S. Does anyone know if Metal Gear Solid ever went into development for this handheld, or was it just another high profile conversion promised yet ultimately never delivered?

 

[Mr. Sound-About]

You can also add Virtua Fighter 3 and Sonic X-treme to the list of titles announced for the Game.com then cancelled

What's your source on this? I've never seen any official announcements or even "hints" from Tiger about either of these.

Does anyone know if Metal Gear Solid ever went into development for this handheld

Unfortunately I've not uncovered any proof. If and when I do, it'll be posted on the site & also shared here.

 

[Tyree_Cooper]

So those snapshots from Symphony of the Night... are they fake... or did they really start development?

 

[Mr. Sound-About]

So those snapshots from Symphony of the Night... are they fake... or did they really start development?

The ones I've seen look pretty durned fake to me. Which doesn't surprise me. Tiger published outright fake screenshots and vids frequently, from many of the game.com games. No way they'd be able to get away with that kind of bullsh*t these days, but back then... *shrugs*

Anyway, I currently have no concrete evidence as to the actual, factual status of Castlevania. Anything I can confirm will be added to my website, and announced here.

 

[Tyree_Cooper]

Well they did make a Tiger handheld version of the game, so it might as well be real. Who would have thought they'd make that, it's even worse than Tiger.com. That's why I'm not sure it's fake, but there's no proof other than those screenshots.