View source for Bit Generations

{{Infobox video game series
| italic title   = no
| title          = bit Generations
| image          = Bit Generations.jpg
| developer      = [[Skip Ltd.]]<br />[[Q-Games]] (Digidrive)
| publisher      = [[Nintendo]]
| released       = {{vgrelease|JP|July 13, 2006 (Series One)}}{{vgrelease|JP|July 27, 2006 (Series Two)}}
| genre          = [[Action game|Action]], [[Puzzle game|puzzle]], [[art game]]
| platforms      = [[Game Boy Advance]]
}}
{{DISPLAYTITLE:''bit Generations''}}
'''''bit Generations''''' is a [[video game]] franchise for the [[Game Boy Advance]], published by [[Nintendo]]. It was first announced under the name '''''Digitylish''''' at the [[Electronic Entertainment Expo]] (E3) in 2005.<ref name="digilux">{{cite web | author=Harris, Craig | date=March 13, 2006 | title=IGN: Digitylish Series Returns | url=http://gameboy.ign.com/articles/695/695560p1.html | publisher=[[IGN]] | access-date=2009-09-12}}</ref> Each of the games in the series feature simple controls, gameplay and graphics. All the games were developed by [[Skip Ltd.]], except for ''Digidrive'', which was developed by [[Q-Games]].

The ''bit Generations'' series has only been released in Japan. The games were released in two "series" - the games in Series One were released in Japan on July 13, 2006. Series Two was released on July 27, 2006. However, from June 1, 2006, Nintendo had sent out 700 copies of the games to random [[Club Nintendo]] members, encouraging them to preview the games and to post their opinions at the ''bit Generations'' official website. Each game costs 2000 yen.

In March 2006, some of the games were given an [[Entertainment Software Rating Board|ESRB]] rating and were labelled under the title '''''Digilux Series'''''.<ref name="digilux"/> However, Nintendo of America did not announce a release of the series in North America. Stickers depicting the game logos in ''[[Super Smash Bros. Brawl]]'' indicated that the game series was intended to be released under the title ''Digilux'' outside Japan. Some of the games were eventually released under the ''[[Art Style]]'' banner for the [[WiiWare]] and [[DSiWare]] services.<ref name=ignartstyle>{{cite web | author=Harris, Craig | date=October 1, 2008 | title=IGN: Art Style's Bit Generation | url=http://wii.ign.com/articles/915/915341p1.html | publisher=IGN | access-date=2009-09-12 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090625044606/http://wii.ign.com/articles/915/915341p1.html | archive-date=June 25, 2009 | url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Games==
===Boundish===
'''''Boundish''''' is played similar to the ''[[Magnavox Odyssey]]'' game ''Tennis'' and the arcade game ''[[Pong]]'', with players hitting an orb back and forth between two paddles. However, each level of the game contains different objectives that require the player to alter the way the orb is battered about.<ref name=ignartstyle/>

===Dialhex===
{{main article|Rotohex}}

===Dotstream===
[[Image:Bit Generation Games.JPG|thumb|''bit Generations'' cartridges]]

'''''Dotstream''''' is played by players guiding their dot, which results in a line trailing behind it, through a track filled with obstacles such as squares, rectangles, and circles. Races (known as "drawings") are typically 2 laps long.

''Dotstream'' features three modes, Grand Prix, Spot Race and Formation. Grand Prix is considered the "main game", with players racing around five circuits, with new drawings unlocked in this mode. Spot Race is a [[time attack]] mode centered on unlocked drawings. Formation begins with the player starting with one dot and having to collect small pellets to fill up a meter. When the meter is sufficiently filled up, another dot will appear to assist in the collection of pellets. While only the player's dot can be directly controlled, additional dots can be manipulated by holding down the appropriate Formation button.

A [[WiiWare]] version was released in North America on May 24, 2010, and in the PAL region on June 25, 2010, under the name '''''light trax'''''.

===Coloris===
'''''Coloris''''' sees players eliminating colored squares by altering the color of other squares to make them the same color as the squares nearby.

The game features two different game modes: clear mode and score mode. In clear mode the player must eliminate a certain number of squares (depending on the difficulty level) before moving on to the next level. In score mode the player must eliminate squares to achieve a high score.

===Orbital===
{{main article|Orbient}}

===Soundvoyager===
'''''Soundvoyager''''' is intended to be playable for blind players by using sound only, without looking at the console's screen. The game involves several different subgames, one of which has players trying to center a dot on a side-scrolling stage on top of an invisible target by only using sounds from the left and right speakers to guide them and another involves the player driving the wrong way down a three-lane road trying to dodge oncoming vehicles by listening to which lane they are in.<ref name=ignartstyle/>

===Digidrive===
'''''Digidrive''''' is the seventh and final installment of the ''bit Generations'' series. Developed by [[Q-Games]], it is the only game in the series not developed by skip Ltd.

The objective of the game is to propel the disc-shaped core to as many meters as possible before the piston collides into the core and ends the game. The player must direct up to three different varieties of "vehicle", each of a different color, into one of four different lanes. If five of the same vehicle fill up the same lane, a triangle will appear and the lane will change to the same color as the type of vehicle that entered this lane.

A DSiWare version was released in the PAL regions under the name '''''[[Intersect (video game)|Intersect]]''''' on October 2, 2009, and under the original '''''Digidrive''''' title in Japan on November 4, 2009, and in North America on November 16, 2009.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://press.nintendo.com/articles.jsp?id=20784 |title=Try Before You Buy: Nintendo Offers 5 Game Demos to Guide Holiday Shoppers |publisher=Nintendo of America |date=16 November 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091119130135/http://press.nintendo.com/articles.jsp?id=20784 |archive-date=19 November 2009 |access-date=16 November 2009 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

==Reception==
[[Image:Bit Generation Box.JPG|thumb|''bit Generations'' game boxes]]

''[[Famitsu]]'' magazine scored games in the ''bit Generations'' series varying scores from average to positive. Based on a panel of four reviewers and a maximum score of 40, ''Dotstream'' received a 30, ''Orbital'' received a 29, ''Soundvoyager'' and ''Digidrive'' each received a 28, ''Dialhex'' received a 27, ''Boundish'' received a 26, and ''Coloris'' received a 23.<ref>{{cite web |author=Riley, Adam |date=July 19, 2006 |title=Nintendo's Latest from Japan Scored |url=http://www.cubed3.com/news/5551/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120323005419/http://www.cubed3.com/news/5551/ |archive-date=2012-03-23 |access-date=2009-08-08 |publisher=Cubed3}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=RawMeatCowboy |date=July 6, 2006 |title=Famitsu scores |url=http://gonintendo.com/?p=3517 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120418232228/http://gonintendo.com/?p=3517 |archive-date=2012-04-18 |access-date=2022-05-05 |publisher=GoNintendo}}</ref>

==Legacy==
5 out of the 7 games appear in ''[[Super Smash Bros. Brawl]]'' as collectible stickers. The games include ''Orbital'', ''Chromatron'', ''Boundish'', ''Digidrive'', and ''Rotohex''.

==See also==
*[[Art Style]]
*[[Bit.Trip]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://www.nintendo.co.jp/n08/bit_g/index.html Official website] {{in lang|ja}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20071014175958/http://www.n-sider.com/newsview.php?type=story&storyid=2264 Article about bit Generations]

{{Skip Ltd. games}}
{{Main franchises by Nintendo}}

[[Category:Action games]]
[[Category:Game Boy Advance games]]
[[Category:Game Boy Advance-only games]]
[[Category:Nintendo franchises]]
[[Category:Nintendo games]]
[[Category:Puzzle video games]]
[[Category:Retro-style video games]]
[[Category:Skip Ltd. games]]
[[Category:Video games developed in Japan]]
[[Category:Video game franchises introduced in 2006]]
[[Category:Art games]]
[[Category:Multiplayer and single-player video games]]
[[Category:Video game franchises]]