Hi-Ten Bomberman (Hi for Hi-Def, Ten for 10-Players) is said to be the first HDTV formatted game. although it most likely was low-resolution, it was widescreen. Hi-Ten Bomberman was either made for the PC-FX and not released, or it was *intended* for the PC-FX but actually ran on two PC-Engine systems to get the widescreen output. Hi-Ten was basicly a demo used to promote the PC-FX. as said, Hi-Ten was never released on either the PC-Engine or the PC-FX.
however, Saturn Bomberman was derived from Hi-Ten Bomberman. Saturn Bomberman had a few changes and some additions. (NetLink play for the U.S.)
my question however is, what was in Hi-Ten Bomberman that was *not* in Saturn Bomberman? (i.e. Bonk) was there anything about Hi-Ten that is better than Saturn Bomberman? any info, comments, screenshots, etc on Hi-Ten would be most appreciated.... I remember seeing an article on it in Next-Generation, in their PC-FX preview, in one of the earliest issues. ((#2, February 1995 perhaps?)
USENET quote
http://groups.google.com/group/rec.games.video.sega/msg/a33203bba929277b?dmode=source&hl=en
Hi-Ten Bomberman was not a PC-FX game, and was not a commercial product. It
ran on a modified PC-Engine (maybe plus some other hardware) and was part of
a traveling exhibit, perhaps one of those "Summer Carnival" contests Hudson
held in Japan. I believe it supported 10 players.
In fact, there's no Bomberman game on the PC-FX at all so far as I recall.
Saturn Bomberman in the 10-player mode is probably based on Hi-Ten
Bomberman; hence it runs in a letterboxed mode to replicate the 16x9 aspect
ratio.
http://www.pcenginefx.com/PC-FX/html/pc-fx_world_-_f_r_-_hi-ten_bom.html
Hi-Ten Bomberman
Developed by Hudson Soft - Action - Unreleased
Hi-Ten Bomberman was a game that was originally planned to be released on the PC-FX, however due to NEC's publishing guidelines, Hi-Ten would never be released for the unit. The game in its original form would never be for sale, but it did however make an appearance in the Hudson Soft Gaming Caravan back in 1993 as part of a competition. Hi-Ten Bomberman was a 10 player version of the popular PC Engine/TG-16 game "Bomberman", and was formatted for play on wide-screen HDTV's - the first game ever for the HDTV standard (at the time, HDTV's have been in Japan for many years). You could play as many different characters like "Bonk" or "Bomberman" (Woman or Man) and many more. It is believed that Hudson Soft later released this version, redone slightly, as "Saturn Bomberman", which includes the PC-FX "widescreen" 10-player mode. Saturn Bomberman is basically what the PC-FX version should have been like.
edit: more info
http://www.tinyurl.com/bohw5
HI-TEN BOMBERMAN WAS A SPECIAL VERSION OF THE POPULAR GAME BOMBERMAN THAT WAS FORMATTED FOR A WIDE SCREEN, HI-DEFINITION TELEVISION MONITOR. THE LARGER PLAYING FIELD AND IMPROVED PICTURE ALLOWED FOR UP TO 10 PLAYERS TO COMPETE AT THE SAME TIME.
IT WAS USED ONLY AS A CONTEST GAME IN THE ANNUAL HUDSON "GAME CARAVAN," AND WAS PROBABLY NOT PLAYED ON A PC ENGINE SINCE IT WAS BEING DISPLAYED ON AN HDTV.
HI-TEN BOMBERMAN ALLOWED FOR THESE SPECIAL MODES OF PLAY :
10 PLAYER BATTLE ROYAL
3 TEAMS OF 3 PEOPLE
2 TEAMS OF 5 PLAYERS
5 PAIR TEAMS
EDIT: more info discovered!
http://bonk.classicgaming.gamespy.com/game.ktn?Game=htbm
Overview
Hi-TEN Bomberman was the world's first HD-TV video game and was used by Hudson Soft to demonstrate their HD-TV technology. The first version demoed at the 1993 Hudson Soft "Super Caravan" as part of a Bomberman competition and ran using two PC Engine CoreGrafx (5 players on each machine) and a computer to output to the HD-TV. For the 1994 contest, the game was apparently updated to run on a Project Tetsujin "IronMan" prototype board, which many believe eventually became the PC-FX. This version of Bomberman featured up to 10 players and purportedly included Bonk, though this has not been confirmed. Hi-TEN Bomberman was later ported to the Sega Saturn under the name Saturn Bomberman, and Saturn Bomberman does feature Bonk, so it is likely that Hi-Ten also featured Bonk. In 1993, Hi-TEN Bomberman was given the Committee Chairman's Award at the "High Vision Awards 93" hosted by the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications. Many believe that the game was never released on the PC-FX due to NEC's strict content guidelines on the system, though it was eventually ported to the Sega Saturn.