The HyperScan is a discontinued home video game console from the toy company

Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company headquartered in El Segundo, California. Founded in Los Angeles by Harold Matson and the husband-and-wife duo of Ruth Handler, ...

, and was marketed for tweens. The console uniquely includes a 13.56 MHz

radio-frequency identification Radio-frequency identification (RFID) uses electromagnetic fields to automatically Automatic identification system, identify and Tracking system, track tags attached to objects. An RFID system consists of a tiny radio transponder called a tag, ...

(RFID) scanner that reads and writes to special IntelliCards which activate features in, and save data from, the games. Players can enhance their characters by scanning cards. The HyperScan was released in North America on October 23, 2006. Games retailed for $19.99 and the console for $69.99 at launch, but at the end of its short lifespan, prices of the system were down to $9.99, the games $1.99, and booster packs $0.99. Only five games were released, and two more were canceled. The HyperScan was critically panned upon its release for having outdated 2D graphics, a weak game library, and being less capable than other similar consoles such as the VTech V.Flash, which was released the month prior. Critics lamented the number and cost of IntelliCards needed to complete a set. With disappointing sales, Mattel discontinued the HyperScan the following year, and canceled all upcoming game and card releases.

Hardware

The HyperScan uses a Sunplus SPG290 SoC implementing the S+core 32-bit

microarchitecture In electronics, computer science and computer engineering, microarchitecture, also called computer organization and sometimes abbreviated as μarch or uarch, is the way a given instruction set architecture (ISA) is implemented in a particular ...

designed by Sunplus Technology. The S+core instruction set architecture has a 32/16-bit hybrid instruction mode, features Advanced Microcontroller Bus Architecture (AMBA) support and includes S JTAG for in-circuit emulation. The system has 16 MB of DDR SDRAM. Video output is a composite video cable permanently attached. Its native resolution is 640×480, with up to 65,535 colors. Its SoC supports TFT LCD, but the system does not implement this. One

USB Universal Serial Bus (USB) is an industry standard, developed by USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF), for digital data transmission and power delivery between many types of electronics. It specifies the architecture, in particular the physical ...

port is at the rear. The

RFID Radio-frequency identification (RFID) uses electromagnetic fields to automatically identify and track tags attached to objects. An RFID system consists of a tiny radio transponder called a tag, a radio receiver, and a transmitter. When tri ...

scanner that operates at 13.56 MHz. Cards utilize RFID storage that has 96 bytes of user memory, an 8 byte unique ID, and 6 bytes of one time programmable memory. The HyperScan's RFID systems were provided by Innovision Research and Technology plc, a fabless semiconductor design house based in the UK which specializes in RFID systems and chip design. Games are distributed on UDF format CD-ROMs. Two controller ports use a six-pin mini-DIN connector.

Software

A partly disassembled HyperScan shows the RFID scanner. Only five games were released, and two more were canceled due to the system's poor sales and reception. Game Packs consist of a game disc and six game cards (seven for ''Spider-Man''). Additional cards which contain characters, abilities, moves and levels when scanned are part of a six-card Booster Pack, released for $10/pack. As with most

trading card A trading card (or collectible card) is a small card, usually made out of paperboard or thick paper, which usually contains an image of a certain person, place or thing (fictional or real) and a short description of the picture, along with other t ...

packs, the cards were randomized. Multiple booster packs were intended for certain games. ''X-Men'' intended to have 102 cards to unlock parts of the game in separate "red" and "black" series; the latter went unreleased due to the console's cancellation. Following the system's discontinuation, hobbyist programmers created a few homebrew demos including a CD-Door demo, 3D wireframe demo, and a Bluescale demo.

Retail

The HyperScan controller The system was sold in two varieties: a cube and a 2-player value pack. The cube box version was the version sold in stores. It included the system, controller, an

X-Men The X-Men are a superhero team in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer/editor Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby, the team first appeared in Uncanny X-Men, ''The X-Men'' #1 (September 1963). Although initial ...

game disc, and 6 X-Men cards. Two-player value packs were sold online and included an extra controller and 12 additional X-Men cards. The included game was rated "T" and the remaining games were rated "E10+" by the ESRB.

Reception

The system was universally panned by critics for its clunky design, broken controls, poor library, long loading screens, and the unnecessary usage of cards to select characters, and was officially discontinued in 2007. It is featured as one of the ten worst systems by '' PC World'' magazine.

References

External links

Mattel Hyperscan – Ultimate Console Database

Feature titled "THE MOST BIZARRE CONSOLE FLOPS IN GAMING HISTORY"
by ADAM JAMES at SVG.com {{Home video game consoles 2000s toys Discontinued video game consoles Products introduced in 2006 Products and services discontinued in 2007 CD-ROM-based consoles Mattel consoles Seventh-generation video game consoles Sunplus-based video game consoles