Once Upon a Time, Grocery Barcodes Unlocked an RPG World
When a barcode-scanning handheld made waves in gaming
Barcodes have become ubiquitous objects in modern life. The first grocery product to be scanned, a 10-pack of Wrigley gum in 1974, would signify the creation of a standardized storage method for pricing information. Nor did this technology remain limited to the commercial arena. In the early â90s, a Japanese company would create a handheld console that would presage technological developments.
Battling barcodes
Epoch, a Tokyo-based toy company, sought a way to gain a larger foothold in the entertainment industries. The companyâs Cassette Vision became one of the first successful programmable consoles when it had been released in 1981. A decade later, they would introduce an innovative handheld console â the Barcode Battler.
The companyâs previous handheld console, the Game Pocket Computer, had been a disastrous failure, with only a couple of games created before its discontinuation. With the release of the Barcode Battler in 1991, Epoch did not want to repeat history. Its design, with an in-built barcode scanner that could read cards, meant it stood out from the crowd.
Barcode Battlerâs gameplay premise was exciting: The player could scan barcodes, even those attached to grocery items, which would unlock a character, item, or power-ups. After the player scanned the code, they could train their characters to grow stronger.
A world of possibilities
Since the console itself wasnât easy to understand, the manual had to provide a lot of information. One such topic was the story. The Epoch Tomy Barcode Battler User Guide provided some background:
And so began âThe Commerce Conflictâ fought throughout the four Eras Barcode Nebulan time. This interstellar war has been raging for hundreds of our earth years â a conflict so brutal, so terrible that it has transformed the once peaceful inhabitants into hardened warriors, warring wizards, and mutated fighting machinesâŠ
There wasnât much on-screen representation of this story, though. Characters, of either Wizard or Warrior class, only made appearances as numbers (Life energy, attack power, and defense power). This was a theatre of the mind.
Players could test their characters against each in a two-player mode or two single-player modes â against in-built enemies or enemy cards. The story mode had four Battle Eras, each with five Light Worlds. To progress, the player had to find three hidden keys in each Battle Era as well as defeat the various opponents. When a player defeated the Emperor Boss, the ability to fight against enemy cards (mode C2) became available.
In the hands of the player
After its 1991 release, the Barcode Battler became popular in Japan. Special edition cards, with characters from The Legend of Zelda and Super Mario franchises, illustrated the merchandising potential of the device. Certain cards also allowed one to engage in themed battles against famous Nintendo enemies such as Ganon.
The craze would come to the rest of the world in 1992, in the form of the Barcode Battler II. Excitement ran high as consumers imagined the possibilities of the product. Advertisements, which promised amazing experiences, fed the hype.
Once in the player's hands though, the console left some people cold. Its major selling point, the barcode scanner, was a bit temperamental. With only one game, the handheld console offered little replayability as well.
Within the handheld console market, the Barcode Battler had to compete against the Nintendo Game Boy upon its worldwide release in 1990. In contrast to the Battler, the Game Boy could represent dynamic, moving scenarios on-screen. Even with discounts, sales of the Barcode Battler didnât soar in the West.
A hint of future developments
Japan would go on to make greater use of the expanded abilities of the Barcode Battler IIâs abilities. With its output port, the handheld console could be attached to a Famicom and Super Famicom, much like how the Game Boy Player or e-Reader would connect with the GameCube.
Released in late 1992, Epoch published the game Barcode World for the Famicom, which expanded the handheld original premise in several ways, including giving the game graphics. The Amazing Spider-Man: Lethal Foes, released in 1995 for the Super Famicom, allowed additional content to be unlocked with a Barcode Battler II.
Although it wasnât a worldwide sensation, the Barcode Battler presaged the future of pervasive games. Collectible characters whose stats grow with progression would become a major feature of handheld consoles â PokĂ©mon being a prominent example. Scanning, in the form of QR codes, would also be a significant innovation in the mobile phone sphere.
In the end, Epochâs console would be a weathervane for the winds of change. The Barcode Batterâs ideas were exciting enough to initially catch the attention of consumers, though the device itself didnât have enough capabilities to fulfill these heightened expectations. Gamers would have to wait for technology to catch up with the ambitious concept.