Customer Reviews

ConsoleHyperscan Video Game System

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

We purchased this game console for our six year old son, for Christmas. He had asked for it, so we ordered it, and it promptly showed up on our door step about a week later, and this was during the christmas rush. The unit is smaller than I expected but it has been sturdy enough. It was easy to hook up, our nine year learned quickly how to use it, and easily taught our six year old. They play with it about a couple opf times a week. All in all it has been a wise purchase for our six and nine year old, although our thirteen year old has no interest.

My 8 yr old grandson wanted this for Christmas but the price was over $100 so when I saw it for under $15 on Amazon, I got it for his birhtday in February. He and his 9 yr old brother LOVE it! I also purchased one booster pack at the same time. Then I found another game and booster pack at Target for a very reasonable price. So he got the game system, two games and two booster pack of cards all for under $50.00! Both he and I were happy! (The only reason I give this a "4" is because the games are a bit hard to come by)

The console itself is an interesting design you have to scan cards to do certain things through out the games you play. Poor design for anybody 10+ years old. Great for younger kids though. The controller isn't to bad but it isn't great.

My 10 year old son really loves this game being able to add characters during battle. I read the instructions and the quality of care this toy requires is not for a "rowdy" child or a young one. It is a delicate machine.

I like the hyperscan because you can collect and trade cards. I also think the gameplay is fun. The only bad thing is the cards come at random. ever since i got the hyperscan i have wanted one card. I have bought eight x-men booster packks because the card i want is nightcrawler and have not got him. Just saying i have also bought IWL and a booster pack for it and marvel heroes. overall i think the hyperscan is really fun. I play it almost everyday.

My kids really wanted, but spend more time on the PS2. I also got the Ben 10 expansion, but think they need a disk? Was not clear when purchased. Honestly, for the money, if Santa didn't bring it, it would go back.

Length:: 0:45 Mins

With the exception of perhaps Envizion's EVO Smart Console (of which only 3000 units were ever produced) or ZAPiT Games' Game Wave Family Entertainment System, Mattel's HyperScan may well be the most obscure video game console to grace the 7th (and still current) Generation of video game hardware.

Indeed, the now defunct game platform was slated to do battle with such heavy hitters as the Playstation 3, Xbox 360, and Wii came from none other than toy-manufacturing giant Mattel, who many video game historians will recall could be considered a pioneer in the video game world with their 1979 Intellivision console. While the Intellivision offered up some legitimate competition to its prime target, the Atari 2600, the HyperScan, sadly, could not duplicate such market presence. It was released in 2006 and the project was abandoned in 2007 after only five games saw the light of day.

However the hard facts of the HyperScan tragedy fail to reveal the whole story. Knowing that the relatively modest hardware itself would never lure potential gamers away from the Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft juggernauts, Mattel took a unique approach to establishing a niche in the highly competitive marketplace. The HyperScan, as its name suggests, aimed to combine two seemingly disconnected hobbies that many kids around the world are undeniably passionate about: video games and trading card collecting.

The hardware itself, a hinged clamshell design, consists of two critical components: A CD-Rom drive and a RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) reader. Games, not unlike those on the original Sony Playstation or Sega's Saturn, are CD-based media. However unlike the aforementioned systems, the HyperScan requires the use of RFID chip-equipped cardboard cards that can be scanned at various in-play moments to perform a whole plethora of tasks from character selection, to power-ups, from unlocking new levels to saving character stats for later game sessions.

Before we cut to the actual hardware, let's first take a moment to discuss the RFID reader's potential. In short, it works and works well. Truly the possibility of creating a customized gaming experience through use of such cards is limitless. The attractive artwork, durability, and near-instant data transfer rate of the cards absolutely obsoletes the memory card concept and is far more portable (and stable) than any hard drive. The HyperScan's biggest crime perhaps is that it was never able to harness the potential contained within its very reason for being.

That said, the five game packs released for the system each contain a CD-Rom disc and six or seven requisite cards (usually just enough to get underway). However, it becomes clear very early on that a majority of the game's options and completion-ability depend heavily on the acquisition of additional Intellicards (as they are officially known). Mattel's plan was to offer booster packs containing, at random, many of these cards (games typically had around 100-170 or so cards total each to collect and use). Here is the HyperScan's greatest strength and biggest downfall: Success depended upon the company's ability to create a demand for these cards to the likes of which witnessed with properties like Magic: The Gathering and Pokemon. Suffice to say, this type of fervor never manifested.

The theory was fantastic; after all, kids were going crazy over cards that did a lot less than these ones did! And the idea of lunchroom trade offs for stats or a well-needed character to complete a game is every bit as logical (maybe even more so) than the lunacy witnessed when people spend big bucks (real money) to purchase virtual goodies on eBay to use within their computer game worlds.

However well it looked on paper, in the real world, the card element was little more than an annoyance to a HyperScan gamer who purchased a new game only to discover that he or she were unable to make the most of the experience without hunting down booster packs that only contained 6-randomly packed cards each! Assuming you never encountered a duplicate card somehow (an impossibility, sure, but let's pretend for the sake of argument), it would still require purchasing 29 booster packs to beat some of the titles completely. At the time of the system's release, games were around $30 and booster packs were priced at around $15 apiece. This formula would mean it could very easily cost a user close to $500 (and a whole lot of persistence) to own a single game in its entirety!

The brilliance of building a high demand for card collecting becomes nothing but a deterrent to video gamers without the funds, patience, desire or social connections to track down 150 individual cards to beat their new game completely. I have found that it is nearly impossible to do so even to this day with games priced at around $5 each and booster packs as cheap as 50-cents a pop.

While the 5th Generation of Video Game Consoles (32 and 64-bit era) is generally considered the collective shift from 2D to 3D console gaming, the 7th Generation HyperScan's entire library consists of 2D fighting and side-scrolling titles made popular back in the 16-bit era (4th Generation).

The reason for this is commonly misinterpreted as due to hardware limitations of the HyperScan but a closer look reveals specs that are actually superior to many systems that were firmly cemented in 3D graphics processing. The HyperScan boasts a 108mhz RISC 32-bit processor with a Sunplus SPG290 SoC Graphics Card, 16 MB RAM, 640×480 native resolution at 65,535 colors. To put this into perspective, the original Playstation was running at 33.86 MHz with only 2 MB RAM while the Nintendo 64 ran at 93.75MHz with 4 MB RAM. This puts the HyperScan soundly ahead of either 5th Generation console and closer to Sega's 6th Generation Dreamcast (which ran at 200mhz with 26 MB RAM).

As such the HyperScan can be credited with crisp textures and large sprites but load times are quite abysmal thanks in no small part to a 4x CD-Rom drive in a time when 48 and 52x drives were middle to low end components.

Surprisingly, there is little fault to be found in the HyperScan's controller, which, resembled the tried-and-true design cues found in the original Playstation/ PS2 with a decent analog stick in the spot typically dedicated to the D-pad (no D-pad to be found here). Button feedback is crisp and intuitive. 8 buttons (four face, two shoulder and two triggers) are more than adequate for all of the games released.

Interestingly, the controllers connect to the console's front (on either side of the power button) via PS/2 connectors commonly found on personal computer keyboards and mice. Whether or not Mattel had designed the hardware accordingly with the hopes of using PC component compatibility down the road was never acknowledged. Additionally the back of the console contains a USB port further suggesting such theories. Sadly the unit's A/V connectors are hardwired into the back of the console, making component audio/ video its only option (especially odd considering composite video output and TFT display support was possible with the hardware).

Of the five games released, three of them were Marvel licenses (X-Men, Marvel Heroes and Spider-Man), one a Cartoon Network property (Ben 10) and one was entirely proprietary (Interstellar Wrestling League). According to sources, two more games, Nickelodeon licenses both, were in the development phase that fell to the wayside when the console was discontinued (Avatar the Last Airbender and Nick Extreme Sports).

Part of the console's failure is attributed to the fact that while Mattel went the extra mile to secure quality licensing, all of the games created for the system were first party developed and distributed. Third party support from 2D video game developing powerhouses like Capcom or SNK would likely have been capable of achieving amazing results with the hardware/ RFID capabilities. Additionally it is widely speculated that having allowed for porting of OPEN GL (OPEN Graphics Library) titles could have put the HyperScan in a position of being a viable low-cost game system.

In all, the HyperScan's tale is certainly one of the shortest-lived and just plain oddest in the history of home video gaming. My own person fascination with the system had most to do with the very idea of a current-generation console focusing on the 2D platforming and brawling of yesteryear that I recall so fondly. Unresponsive controls, a miniscule library, and a corporate greed pricing structure that makes completion of a game virtually impossible are all stunning reminders as to what lead to the system's brief life.

Game is hard to scan the cards and only allows you to fight. We dont need another fighting game.

I bought this system knowing full well how crappy it is. This is nice find for video game collectors, as it will be extinct soon. The games themselves are a real chore to play. The single speed cd-drive makes for constant delays.

My son likes video games of any type. This is a great game that cost alot less.