ONM Remembered – #282
“Exchange electronic mail messages with other SmartComTM users”
from Pokémon Master Guide (1999)
A common sight in the mags of the 90s – check out all these sick devices for your handheld of choice! Want to have fifty million save files for Final Fantasy Legend? Want to play Revenge of the Gator on the big screen? Want to find the phone number of the nearest Chinese restaurant using only four buttons and a d-pad? Well, have CodeJunkies got just the thing for you!
I’ve talked long and hard about my stupid infatuation with big dumb devices for the Game Boy, but I’ll also say I’m glad to see them gone. You can’t keep relying on third-party bozos forever to excuse your lack of a backlight, Ninty! And the very notion of buying a £25 cartridge just to have e-mail, a calculator and an alarm on the go seems… well, very 90s, doesn’t it? In its defence, the original Game Boy probably had a strong enough battery life that it could serve as an alarm clock. My PSP can barely survive my Friday commute.
I wonder if any two people ever exchanged messages using the SmartCom. Outside of the CodeJunkies offices, that is.
