Pocket Sonar

I am quite surprised how popular fishing is in Japan. Considering all the fishing games released for the Famicom, Super Famicom and Game Boy, fishing must be a very popular pasttimes, especially since only a few of these games ever made it to the US. If there is still any doubt fishing is popular in Japan, one only has to look at this unusual device, which would almost certainly never be released in the US, or anywhere else.

This is, essencially, a fish-finder, a device which uses sonar (hence the name) to locate fish underwater. Sportsmen have bought similar devices in standalone units for a long time, for a lot more money. How this stands up to the standalone units costing a lot more, who knows. I would guess the Game Boy's small, low-res screen hinders it effectiveness, since the screens on the standalone units are larger with better res, and would, I think, allow one to see more of the area underwater. Also, like any fish-finder, it can also detect water depth and terrain beneath the surface.

To use this device, you attach it to the Game Boy, then float its sensor on the top of the water. What each part above is, I don't know, since the site I found the pic did not have the parts labeled. I assume the blue part plugs into the Game Boy (as you can see in the box picture), and the yellow part floats on the water somehow. Also included with this device is a fishing game, for those times the fish are not biting in real life :) Anyways, if you have more info on this device, please let me know.

Info and pics courtesy GBC Dojo

Back to Game Boy Peripherals Index