So lately I've been rather bored and obsessed with a little piece of handheld history called the
Barcode Battler.
It was a single-game device that could only display numbers rather than graphics. You would scan in cards with barcodes on them and the game would generate a character or a power-up, which appeared in the form of numbered stats. It came with its own set of cards but the main selling point was the ability to make your own cards by clipping barcodes off common household products and pasting them onto blanks. There were two of these released, but only the second one (much more advanced than the first one mind you) made it outside of Japan, where it subsequently flopped. Meanwhile in its native land, the Barcode Battler was absolutely HUGE. Huge enough that they made special sets of cards (such as the Super Mario World set listed on TMK) and games for the Famicom and Super Famicom that required a special dongle to connect the two machines together.
Sadly this system gets kind of a bad rap due to its lack of graphics and finacky card scanner. But I, for one like the concept. Maybe it's because I see the appeal in imagining what everything looks like and having tangible objects (or "feelies" to adventure game enthusiasts) come along with the game. Fortunately, I'm not the only one. A fellow named Combat King has this funky
website dedicated to gathering information on all things Barcode Batterl-related as well as figuring out how the machine's internal math works. He's even got a spiffy barcode generator (listed on the site under "Technical". I couldn't link directly to it.) which inspired me to make this thread.
Basically it's a forum RPG based on the Barcode Battler's battles. You guys submit barcodes, I plug them into Combat King's generator, then we battle.
How Generation WorksYou may submit any type of barcode found in your house (8-digit, 10-digit, 12-digit or 13-digit). Upon plugging it into the generator it will determine the type, either a fighter or a power-up.
Fighters come in two varieties: Warrior and Wizard. Warriors are allowed to use Attack and Defense power-ups while Wizards may use magic spells. Their stats are HP, Strength and Defense. Some also have an extra ability (e.g. Reduce opponent's Defence by 30%) so keep that in mind.
Power-ups come in three varieties: Strength Boost, Defense Boost and HP Boost. They either last for one turn or the entire battle, depending on the barcode used.
Upon submitting a barcode, you may give it an name and an appearance for fun. It would also be a smart idea to list what the name of the product is so I know you're not cheating. Heck, provide a picture of the product if you feel energetic enough. I'll be keeping a list of everybody's barcodes along with what they generated here in this post.
How Battles WorkOne player may challenge another play to a battle, then decide on the number of rounds it'll last (3, 5 or 10). Each player then chooses 1 fighter, looks over their stats, then chooses 1 power-up to give them.
Use a d2 to decide who goes first.
On your turn you may do 1 of the following:
Battle - Attack the other player. Damage is calculated as such: Base Strength x (d4 roll) - Opponent's Defense = Total Damage
Power - Recover your HP by using SP. Each player starts the battle with 5 SP and may use up to 3 at a time. 1 = 25% of total HP, 2 = 50%, and 3 = 75%.
Magic - Only Wizards may use this option. You may cast a spell using your MP. Each Wizard starts the battle with 10 MP. The spells are listed below:
F0 = 0 MP = Steal opponent's MP (determined by a d4 roll)
F1 = 2 MP = Damage the opponent (Base Strength x 2) (Use a d4 to determine hit rate. If you roll a 1 it misses.)
F2 = 5 MP = Damage the opponent (Base Strength x 4) (Use a d4 to determine hit rate. If you roll a 1 it misses.)
F3 = 2 MP = Recover 30% of total HP
F4 = 4 MP = Recover 60% of total HP
F5 = 3 MP = Decrease opponent's Defense by 25%.
F6 = 5 MP = Increase your Defense by 30%
F7 = 4 MP = Decrease opponent's Strength by 25%.
F8 = 6 MP = Increase your Strength by 30%
F9 = 3 MP = Prevent opponent from using SP.
Players take turns until either one of them runs out of HP or until all rounds are over, in which case the player with the most remaining HP wins.
That covers the rules, now get out there and go digging for barcodes. Maybe you'll get lucky and find a winner.
Yeah you're all totally gonna ignore/hate this. 
