{{Short description|2001 video game}} {{Expand Japanese|topic=vg|date=May 2015}} {{Infobox video game |title = Chee-Chai Alien |image = Chee-Chai Alien cover.jpg |developer = Creatures |publisher = Creatures |director = Hirokazu Tanaka |released = {{Video game release|JP|February 27, 2001}} |genre = Action |modes = Single-player |platforms = Game Boy Color }}
{{Nihongo|'''''Chee-Chai Alien'''''|ちっちゃいエイリアン|Chitchai Eirian|"Tiny Alien"}} is a video game developed by Creatures, Inc. and released on the Game Boy Color in Japan on February 27, 2001.<ref name=creatures>{{cite web|title=ちっちゃいエイリアン|url=http://www.creatures.co.jp/products/ちっちゃいエイリアン|publisher=Creatures, Inc.|accessdate=5 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150320035101/http://www.creatures.co.jp/products/%e3%81%a1%e3%81%a3%e3%81%a1%e3%82%83%e3%81%84%e3%82%a8%e3%82%a4%e3%83%aa%e3%82%a2%e3%83%b3|archive-date=20 March 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> It was designed and developed by Hirokazu Tanaka.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Horowitz |first1=Ken |title=Beyond Donkey Kong: A History of Nintendo Arcade Games |date=2020 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=9781476684208 |page=230 |quote=Nintendo's corporate policy probited employees from working for other companies, leading Tanaka to resign in 1999 to join Creatures full-time. While there, he designed and developed the Game Boy title ''Chee-Chai Alien'' (2001).}}</ref>
It utilizes the Game Boy Color's infrared port and has a built-in rumble feature. It is compatible with the Game Boy Printer.<ref name=gamewatch>{{cite web|author1=船津稔|title=クリーチャーズ、新感覚"宇宙救済ゲーム"「ちっちゃいエイリアン」|url=http://game.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/20010119/creat.htm|website=Game Watch|accessdate=6 May 2015|language=Japanese|date=January 19, 2001}}</ref> Because the game must use the Game Boy Color's IR sensor, the game will display an error screen when inserted in a Game Boy or a Game Boy Advance, being one of the only Game Boy Color games that the GBA does not support.
Players use the infrared sensor on the Game Boy Color to find artificial light sources, to which the Game Pak responds by rumbling. The game comes with a "spectrum communicator", a plastic device that can be attached to the Game Boy Color to enhance the sensitivity of the infrared sensor.<ref name=gamewatch/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Baxter |first1=Daniel |title=Peripheral Vision: Inside the Game Boy's Accessories & Add-ons |date=13 March 2023 |quote=In another notable example, ''Chee Chai Alien'', players had to harness everyday liught sources such as lamps in order to capture tiny creatures called Chaliens. The game even came packaged with a plastic tool that snapped onto the Game Boy Color to better filter and concentrate infrared light into the port.}}</ref> However, even with the attachment, the game still struggled to detect light sources.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Baxter |first1=Daniel |title=Peripheral Vision: Inside the Game Boy's Accessories & Add-ons |date=13 March 2023 |quote=Despite how it looks, the attachment didn't always work as intended and sometimes failed to help with the game at all. ''Chee Chai Alien'' was not always sensitive enough to infrared light to begin with.}}</ref>
==Legacy== The Game Boy Advance game ''Nonono Puzzle Chalien'', also developed by Creatures, was spun off from ''Chee-Chai Alien''. One of the minigames from ''Nonono Puzzle Chalien'' was then spun off as the DSiWare title ''Spin Six'', developed by Zener Works. ''Spin Six'' is the only one of the three to be released outside Japan.
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==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[http://www.chailien.com/ Official website] {{in lang|ja}}
Category:2001 video games Category:Action games Category:Creatures (company) games Category:Game Boy Color games Category:Game Boy Color-only games Category:Japan-exclusive video games Category:Single-player video games Category:Video games developed in Japan {{action-videogame-stub}}