(edited by Gawaleus)

Hi and welcome to the J.i21 FAQ!

Q. What does J.i21 stand for?
A. "Jeux et Images du 21e siècle", which could be translated as "games and pictures from the 2st century".


Q. So what's the difference between J.i21 and Nintendo?
A. Nintendo Co. ( Japan ) is the original company. Games where first imported and distributed in other countries by other companies (such as Nintendo of America). J.i21 was the disributor for France.

Their address was:

JI21 Jeux et Images du 21é siecle
45, Rue Croulebarbe
75013 PARIS

But don't bother to write them, because this company doesn't exist anymore.


Q. Is there difference between J.i21 games and the classic from Nintendo Japan?
A. Yes and no. The first think that you could see is on the box. There is a big J.i21 logo on the front (on the left part). Writtings are also in French (as you may not know, France is a country where french language is the only one spoken and some laws says that every item sold on the country must be in french ). The back of the box show between 2 and 6 games, all with the J.i21 logo on the game itself. Some of the games (depending on the release date) had french notations underneath the buttons. There where very little games which had the J.i21 logo on the left side. In this case, the Game&Watch logo was printet on the right hand side. The Popeye J.i21 was the first advertising game. It was used as demo product, to show other companies how they could use the games as advertising products. See our FAQ about Promo Game&Watch for more information.

Here is a J.i21 Popeye with the J.i21 logo and french notations undernaeth the buttons:



Game&Watch games from France also had a silver sticker on the back side with the technical information printed on it. The sticker was at the same place, where the standard games had these information printetd in their case itself. It's unknow if every game from France had this sticker. There are many out there without it, but maybe the stickers did come off during the time.

Here's a Turtle Bridge with the silver sticker:



Q. How much games where sold by J.i21 Company?
A. There are 24 known games.


Q. From which series?
A.
- Game & Watch Or (G&W Gold) : 3 games
- Game & Watch grand écran (Widescreen) : 9 games (all but Egg)
- Game & Watch écran double (multiscreen) : 9 games (From OP-51 to PB-59)
- Game&Watch new Widescreen : 3 games (DJ-101, ML-102 and NH-103)

And here they are:

ManholeHelmetLionParachuteOctopusPopeyeChefMickey MouseFireTurtle BridgeFire AttackSnoopy TennisOil PanicDonkey KongMickey & Donald Green HouseDonkey Kong II
Maro Bros.Rain ShowerLife Boat
PinballDonkey Kong Jr.Mario's Cement FactoryManhole


Q. I see Fort apache instead of Fire attack... is it another game?
A. Some games have their name tranlsated to french (when possible):

- Manhole : Petit Pont
- Helmet : Casque
- Octopus : Octopus (although Vidéopoche translate it with "Pieuvre")
- Fire : Au Feu
- Fire Attack : Fort Apache (not a real translation, just a reference to some action movies)
- Turtle Bridge : Le pont des tortues

Q. Is there rarity in the J.i21 series?
A. The most rare J.i21 games known to exist is of course the J.i21 Popeye pictured above, the Rain Shower and Life Boat. There where rumors for a long time about Rain Shower and Life Boat if these game do exist as a J.i21.
Until they were dicovered:

In terms of rarity, all i could say is that i rarely see a Pinball (PB-59) on eBay. Also the games Manhole (MH-06), Lion (LN-08), Mario's Cement Factory (ML-102) and Manhole (NH-103) show up rarely on eBay. The most common J.i21 is Fire Attack ID-29. I've seen it more than eight times and I got three of them). Parachute and Snoopy comes often in second place.

Update September 2011:
There are two different versions of the boxes from J.i21 Donkey Kong DK-52:

Thanks to the member fredolococo for providing the pictures of the J.i21 Life Boat and J.i21 Rain Shower.