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Sound of the Pipa

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Sound of the Pipa (琵琶行), or Song of the Pipa, is an unlicensed Game Boy game released by Gowin. It is their first known release for the console and their first known unlicensed video game to be released in general. The name AMind is credited on both the game's title screen and box art, which is likely referring to the developers of the game. Little is known about AMind or if they released other games. The game was likely released in 1993 as the year is stamped on the circuit board of the cartridges and the game was featured in advertisements included in older releases of the game Magic Ball by Gowin, which feature a copyright date of 1993.

Overview[]

The game is a puzzle game similar to Tetris. An outline of a shape is seen atop a platform at the bottom of the screen. The objective of the game is to fill that outline with blocks which fall randomly from the top of the screen. Those blocks may be rotated as they fall, and the player has a preview of upcoming blocks that will fall after the current one lands. The previewed blocks may be cycled out. If the play believes the falling block to be unfavorable, they may choose to drop it off the side of the platform to get rid of it. The player is also given a choice of a few bomb type items that delete blocks. The stage is completed when the outline is filled and no blocks appear outside of it.

Trivia[]

  • This is game is known to feature the "Official Gowin Seal of Quantity" (a modification of the Nintendo Seal of Quality) on its box art.
  • This game has the ID number GS01, making it the earliest title released by Gowin.
  • Being created in the early 1990s, this is one of the oldest unlicensed titles made for the Game Boy.
  • Gowin would re-release many of their monochrome titles, however no re-release of Sound of the Pipa is known to exist, and the game is not mentioned on Gowin's website or in the manuals and boxes of the newer Gowin releases.
  • The price tag on a photographed boxed copy of this game shows a retail price of 390 New Taiwan Dollars.
  • Other early Gowin titles were likely developed by other companies. An example of this is Lost Trips, a 1998 game that was originally released in 1993 as Top Secret, which is credited to Songtly and Jumbo (likely referring to Jumbo Team). This would suggest that AMind is the developer of this game.

Gallery[]

References[]

  1. ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/Gameboy/comments/fa6bpu/not_a_fan_of_pricing_posts_but_maybe_you_can_help/
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