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Gameinis

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Gameinis (HK) Limited is (was?) a electronics manufacturer based in Kwun Tong, Kowloon, Hong Kong.[1] The company focused on producing Famiclone game systems, as well as game console accessories and karaoke machines. It is unknown if the company is still in operation.

The Gameinis brand appears to have been established by Saiva Limited, also based in Kwun Tong, who used the Gameinis label as a brand name beginning in 1999. Saiva would file a trademark registry for the Gameinis name in 2003.[2] Gameinis (HK) Limited would later be established as a separate company (?), and would register a trademark for the PC Kid brand.[3]

Games[]

There are four Famicom games that are directly connected to Gameinis, at least three of which are bundled with various iterations of the Virtual Station console; these games are Ping Pong, TV Soccer, Boxing, and Dance Party. The former three titles utilize motion control accessories, with the cartridges featuring a motion sensor molded into the top of the plastic. It is unknown if Gameinis developed these games themselves, or if they were commissioned to/published from another development company.

These games would be republished in various forms, including VT03 conversions developed by Cube Technology and Shenzhen Niutai Technology; however, the Gameinis versions appear to be their original/earliest releases. Notably, later revisions of the game software from other publishers feature the Gameinis logos unused in the code.

The sports games use music and sound effects lifted from Oeka Kids: Anpanman to Oekaki Shiyou!! for the Famicom. This audio is shared with several pieces of "educational computer" software, which are believed to have been developed by Shenzhen BHD Electronic (potentially indicating a development connection to the company). Dance Party uses original music of a rather poor quality.

Ping Pong[]

A first-person ping-pong game; uses a wireless ping pong paddle as its controller. Features two opponents and uses sampled sound effects. Later variants add additional "Rally" and "Smash Training" game modes as well as an alien opponent.[4]

A VT03 conversion of this game would be developed by Cube Technology as Super Ping Pong, featuring sampled music on the title screen (sourced from Robert Miles' "Fable"). This variant would later be ported to various other forms of hardware by Shenzhen Niutai, including Sunplus SPG (16 and 32-bit) and "Firecore" Mega Drive ports.

TV Soccer[]

A soccer game; uses a wireless leg strap accessory as its controller. Features three game modes: "Shoot Mode" has the player alternate between kicking and goalkeeping. In "Technique Mode", the player must kick a ball into the air as many times as possible without letting it hit the ground. "Match Mode", in earlier revisions, merely loads up the original Famicom/NES version of Soccer; in later releases, this is replaced with an originally-programmed mode. Later variants add multiplayer modes to Shoot and Match Mode, for up to four players. In addition to the Oeka Kids music, the game uses the opening riff from Hogan's Alley.

An alternate 8-bit release is titled Virtual Soccer, and features modified graphics and menus.[4] Another 8-bit version, simply titled Soccer, was released by GLK (Gold Leopard King?) as a dedicated plug & play system, and features additional cutscenes; this variant was likely developed by Shenzhen Niutai.[5] A VT03 conversion of the Soccer version was developed by Shenzhen Niutai for the "Game Sporz" soccer plug & play, featuring sampled music in-game;[6] the VT03 port was also included on a Virtual Football console from an unknown manufacturer.

Boxing[]

A first-person boxing game; uses a wireless leg strap accessory as its controller. The player is visually represented as a pair of levitating boxing gloves. The background title screen image appears to be a photo of George Foreman. The ring girl sprite is lifted from the NES port of Best of the Best: Championship Karate.

The Cube Technology VT03 game Super Knock Out appears to be based on Boxing in gameplay mechanics, but is seemingly reprogrammed from scratch. Shenzhen Niutai would similarly release a VTxx clone of the game, also titled Boxing; this version uses much smaller graphics for the opponent boxer.

Dance Party[]

Also labeled as "Crazy Dance" in selection menus. A Dance Dance Revolution clone, likely intended to use a DDR-based dance mat as a controller. Uses sampled "Ready...Go!" audio from Puzzle Bobble/Bust-A-Move. The title logo is modified from the DuckTales logo. One of the backgrounds features, Princess Peach, April O'Neil, the shopkeeper from Gun-Nac, and a character from The Krion Conquest.

It is currently unconfirmed if this game was published by Gameinis; with known Gameinis DDR clones being republished versions of the more common Dance Master game. It is known to appear on an unbranded 2-in-1 cartridge with a Gameinis-based menu, alongside TV Soccer (with its Gameinis copyright notice removed).

An alternate version of Dance Party exists known as DanZ Mate, which is only known to appear on the DanZ Kara plug & play by Game Star (Macro Winners).[7] While using an identical menu interface to Dance Party, the soundtrack in DanZ Mate is completely replaced; predominantly repurposing music from the more common "ex-Subor" Dance Dance Revolution clones, alongside a few custom-made tracks (e.g. "It's My Life") and a few tracks lifted from 2000s multicart menu systems (e.g. "Red River Valley"). Karaoke lyrics are added at the bottom of the screen during gameplay.[8]

Cube Technology is credited as creating a game titled Crazy Danz 2, which is potentially connected to Crazy Dance/DanZ Kara; though further details on this game are currently unknown.

Consoles[]

  • PC Kid series - "educational computer" systems; use a base console shaped like a PC tower, with bundled keyboard, mouse, and game controllers. Releases include the PC Kid, PC Kid 2, PC Kid 3, and PC Kid XP.
  • PC Kid 3 Edutainment Game Station - uses a standard controller (without keyboard/mouse), bundled with a 7-in-1 Famicom cartridge; modeled after the original-model PlayStation.
  • GameStation 2 - labeled as the "sequel" to the above console; modeled after the PlayStation 2. Unlike other Gameinis releases, it is based on Sega Mega Drive/Genesis hardware; comes bundled with a 53-in-1 Mega Drive cartridge.
  • Virtual Station series - series of Famiclone consoles bundled with Famicom cartridge(s) and various accessories; modeled after the "PS one" slim variant of the original PlayStation. Variants would be republished under the Mebe Teck label in some countries.
    • Virtual Station - presumably the original model, including a standard controller and a 64-in-1 Dynavision-based multicart.
    • Virtual Station with Ping Pong - includes wireless ping pong paddle with Ping Pong game cartridge.
    • Virtual Station with Soccer/Boxing - includes wireless leg strap accessory with 2-in-1 cartridge featuring TV Soccer and Boxing.
    • Virtual Station: Virtual Dance Mat Pack - includes a Dance Dance Revolution clone mat, with a cartridge featuring a variant of Dance Master.
    • Virtual Station: Virtual Racing Pack - includes a steering wheel controller, and an unknown bundled cartridge.
    • Virtual Station Wal-Mart Pack - combines all cartridges and accessories (excluding the Virtual Racing Pack) into one package.
  • PowerStation 2 - uses a Virtual Station-based shell, bundled with a Dynavision-based multicart (80-in-1, 101-in-1, or 121-in-1 depending on the unit). Most releases feature Pac-Man on the front of the box. Variants were released under the names 101-Games Plug & Play, Video Games 2, and Video Games 3.

Trivia[]

  • Oddly, the NES-based versions of Table Tennis by Waixing (which itself is republished from the unknown JungleTac affiliate) repurposes the ball-and-paddle graphic from the Gameinis Ping Pong game's title screen; despite that the Waixing game is merely a clone of Pong.

References[]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 https://sourcing.hktdc.com/en/Supplier-Store-Directory/Gameinis-HK-Limited/1X08TX90
  2. ↑ https://www.trademarkia.com/gameinis-g-78192198
  3. ↑ https://uspto.report/company/Gameinis-Hk-L-T-D
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Gg6MBclZFM
  5. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2phuk244IjA
  6. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPWoL_2YWTY
  7. ↑ https://unauthorizon.org/product/recKRw95q2X7tT44v
  8. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=763ts4yZoGw

External links[]

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