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I bought a Cybiko at launch

Dranakin

Dranakin

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,967
Inspired by this thread.

Cybiko.jpg



I completely bought into the hype of a internet communications device that could download games, send emails, and chat with your friends wireless. I literally saved up my money for a year to buy this from Toys R Us instead of a Game Boy Advance. It was massive failure of a device and platform.

  • You could draft emails, but you could not send or receive them until you plugged your device and synced it with your computer (think iTunes syncing with the iPod)
  • The chat range with other Cybiko devices was abysmal, the signals could barely penetrate backpacks, and it drained your battery in about 10 minutes
  • The speaker was a cheap mono speaker that YOU COULD NOT CHANGE THE VOLUME ON. I had to go into my dad's toolbox and find industrial tape and made a "stack" of a tape square in order to put over the speaker
  • The games that you could download were about as complex as a Tamagotchi / Tiger Handheld device
  • There were add-ons to the device, such as an MP3 player, but it was super clunky and the program to play music crashed all the time. Plus, in 2000, SD cards were insanely expensive.

Needless to say, I abandoned this device (or rather, the platform abandoned me) within a year and I ended buying a GBA and Advance Wars once I could save up for another purchase.
 
grang

grang

Member
Nov 13, 2017
10,066
Man you're one of the first people I've seen bring this thing up. I was OBSESSED with the idea it and all the commercials. I begged for months and got it for my 10th birthday. Of course, no one else had one so it's not like I could chat with anyone. I was fucking 10 so I didn't need to email anyone or use the calendar. The games were so shitty. My parents had told me I should get something else but I insisted. I kept up the charade that I loved it for maybe a month before finally just putting it away.
 

Deleted member 1849

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
6,986
Finally, one of these threads I can sympathise with. Got one of these as well.

What a complete waste of money.
 
huH1678

huH1678

Member
Oct 30, 2017
1,029
Man i have never heard of this device before and i guess for good reason, the idea is cool but the execution seems shit.
 

Greyline108

Avenger
Nov 24, 2017
259
I remember wanting to look for some info on this device months ago but I couldn't for the life of me remember the name of it. I wanted one really badly back when they came out, but never ended up getting my hands on one, and it sounds like that was for the best.
 
SpaceKangaroo

SpaceKangaroo

Member
Oct 28, 2017
331
I had one of these with its dumb pen. I remember some weird Tamagotchi game with the character looking somewhat like a smurf?

I think I ended up with the Xtreme edition at some point too.

I don't remember hating it. I think most of my childhood hate surrounds selling most of my game collection for an NGage when I was like 12.
 

RJeddy

Member
Dec 4, 2017
721
I remember seeing these in gaming mags back in the day and PLEADED with my parents for one, but it was crazy hard to find near us. Eventually I got one and I was definitely not as impressed as it wasn't anywhere as cool as the marketing made it seem.
 
HandsomeCharles

HandsomeCharles

Member
Oct 26, 2017
3,919
Dranakin said:
Inspired by this thread.

Cybiko.jpg



I completely bought into the hype of a internet communications device that could download games, send emails, and chat with your friends wireless. I literally saved up my money for a year to buy this from Toys R Us instead of a Game Boy Advance. It was massive failure of a device and platform.

  • You could draft emails, but you could not send or receive them until you plugged your device and synced it with your computer (think iTunes syncing with the iPod)
  • The chat range with other Cybiko devices was abysmal, the signals could barely penetrate backpacks, and it drained your battery in about 10 minutes
  • The speaker was a cheap mono speaker that YOU COULD NOT CHANGE THE VOLUME ON. I had to go into my dad's toolbox and find industrial tape and made a "stack" of a tape square in order to put over the speaker
  • The games that you could download were about as complex as a Tamagotchi / Tiger Handheld device
  • There were add-ons to the device, such as an MP3 player, but it was super clunky and the program to play music crashed all the time. Plus, in 2000, SD cards were insanely expensive.

Needless to say, I abandoned this device (or rather, the platform abandoned me) within a year and I ended buying a GBA and Advance Wars once I could save up for another purchase.
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grang said:
Man you're one of the first people I've seen bring this thing up. I was OBSESSED with the idea it and all the commercials. I begged for months and got it for my 10th birthday. Of course, no one else had one so it's not like I could chat with anyone. I was fucking 10 so I didn't need to email anyone or use the calendar. The games were so shitty. My parents had told me I should get something else but I insisted. I kept up the charade that I loved it for maybe a month before finally just putting it away.
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Nappael said:
Finally, one of these threads I can sympathise with. Got one of these as well.

What a complete waste of money.
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Click to shrink...

Man, just imagine all the fun you guys could have had if you'd lived within 10 meters of each other!
 
krae_man

krae_man

Master of Balan Wonderworld
Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,601
OP, you should have held out for the Cybiko Extreme.
wyoqhZa.jpg


Also, who is going to create the "I bought a Gizmondo at launch" thread?
 
dock

dock

Game Designer
Verified
Nov 5, 2017
1,370
I love how hideous that model is, OP!!

Such a weird time for 'PDA' devises (it weirds me out when games refer to 'PDA')
Tapwave Zodiac, Game.com and the Gizmondo fighting in the wake of the Palm Pilot.
 
Alien Bob

Alien Bob

Member
Nov 25, 2017
2,465
Man, that picture is making a single neuron deep, deep in my brain twitch with a hint of a whiff of a dream of a memory, but that's it
 
LordValhalla

LordValhalla

Member
Jan 9, 2018
567
I got one the xmas it came out too. I was lucky enough to have a friend that was dumb enough to buy it too. But we could never get the chat feature to work and by that time cell phones were starting to boom in our highschool.
 
laciel

laciel

Member
Oct 25, 2017
68
In all honesty, the Cybiko got me interested in programming and taught me how to setup a compiler and program in BASIC as a kid, i owe it to that stupid toy for my interest in computer science today lmao

thanks cybiko!
 
m_shortpants

m_shortpants

Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,244
My brother and I had the Cybiko extreme.

We had a lot of fun with them. There were so many homebrew games that you could get, it was great. You could even transfer your games wirelessly to other people and then play them. I have memories of sending my brother a game while he was in the toilet, and then playing multiplayer with him once it finished....after some time.

Fun times.
 
gameburke

gameburke

Member
Oct 27, 2017
24
I had one! I had to use a planner for assignments, and teachers were skeptical about using this instead of paper. My friend and I probably picked it up for super cheap when it was basically dead, because I don't remember it costing a lot.
 
Laserbeam

Laserbeam

Member
Oct 27, 2017
6,451
Canada
oh man, my brother had one of these when we were kids.

I remember there being a moment, however brief, that me and my other siblings were a little jealous.

In the end, I don't think he ever ended up using it for much.
 

Deleted member 1849

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
6,986
cyress8 said:
Is this thing a Palm Pilot for kids? Reminds me of one.
First time ever seeing one of those.
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Pretty much.

Palm led the PDA market back then, but a few companies thought they would try making a PDA for a younger audience by focusing on games and messaging. Basically trying to merge the PDA and Gameboy markets.

The Cybiko was one of those, and was much cheaper than what Palm offered, but didn't use Palm OS at all and was made by some Russian company.
 
iFirez

iFirez

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,577
England
I recently found my original Yellow Cybiko and my silver/blue Cybiko Extreme, in storage. I could hardly remember when I ever had them or what they even where. This thread has reminded me of the many many woes of these devices.
 
Infernostew

Infernostew

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,127
New Jersey
These were popular among my group of friends. I never saw the appeal and glad I didn't waste my parent's money on this. Fun fact though, my friend won a signed Tony Hawk deck for being top 3 on the high scores in a skating video game on Cybiko
 
Real

Real

Member
Oct 28, 2017
5,423
Daaaamn, OP. Never even heard of that.


Someone should compile these threads into a website - people talking about obscure ass electronics they own and their story with them. These are fun reads.
 
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Alex3190

Alex3190

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,127
Jeez I remember this, I wanted one so badly. I was obsessed with communication devices as a kid. I ended up getting the..

Cybiko Extreme!!!

Somehow the device went missing years later. Not sure where it ran off to.
 

devcybiko

Member
Jul 18, 2019
2
I am DevCybiko - the preeminent 3rd party developer of software for the original Cybiko hand-held computer for teens. In 2001 I created more third-party apps for the Cybiko than any one else. I created the B2C (Basic-to-C) compiler, AOL Instant Messenger client, TCP/IP framework, Defender, GameShow, Chess, and many other applications. The B2C compiler allows you to create games for the Cybiko

I'm selling 13 of them on eBay...
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Cybiko-CY44801-CY6411-LOT-of-13-AS-IS/273934285427
 
RecRoulette

RecRoulette

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
26,044
I begged my grandparents to get me one of these for Christmas, and they did. I remember not being able to do shit with it because our house didn't have a computer
 
laciel

laciel

Member
Oct 25, 2017
68
devcybiko said:
Did we know each other? I wrote the B2C Compiler.
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Dudeeee, no way! I don't think so... I didn't really involve myself in any communities or anything back then, was too young lol

But man, I've got a lot to owe to you for my like entire life path lmao, those were such fun times for me! I wouldn't have ever thought the person would be here on Resetera haha

I wish I could buy you a beer or something!
 
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