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Games Entertainment

New Gameboy Announced 350

Posted by CmdrTaco from the my-eyes-thank-them dept.
Xenex writes "From Planet GameCube: Nintendo today announced a US March 23rd release date for their Game Boy Advanced SP system. The GBA SP features a clamshell design that when folded is 3-inch square and an inch thick. The unit will also be also front lit, and totally backwards compatible with all previous Game Boy software." As any GBA owner can tell you, the screen in earlier models sucked pretty terrible. I'm looking forward to trying this one out.
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New Gameboy Announced More

New Gameboy Announced

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  • Link (Score:5, Informative)

    by BJH ( 11355 ) on Tuesday January 07, 2003 @08:47AM (#5031915)
    Here's a link [yahoo.co.jp] to a photo from the Japanese announcement.

    • Re:Link (Score:5, Informative)

      by SmasKenS ( 104811 ) on Tuesday January 07, 2003 @08:55AM (#5031973) Homepage
      Some more images. Image [mainichi.co.jp]. Page [impress.co.jp]. Front [clara.co.uk], buttons [clara.co.uk], ports [ve3d.com].

      • Re:Link (Score:2)

        by Zigg ( 64962 )

        So we have this additional port, looks like power or something. Does this mean that a GameCube link cable will be designed that can actually power the GBA? Because the current model doesn't; you need to leave your GBA on batteries when playing linked games. Annoying as all get out.

    • Re:Link (Score:5, Funny)

      by psxndc ( 105904 ) on Tuesday January 07, 2003 @09:35AM (#5032264) Journal
      [dubbing]
      Japanese citizen: What creature has destroyed our server?
      Japanese citizen 2: Look, it's Godzilla!
      Japanese citizen: No, it's... it's.... slash-dot
      [/dubbing]

      A big green and white web page crashes through downtown Tokyo, laying waste to all servers in it's path...

      psxndc

  • awesome (Score:4, Funny)

    by tps12 ( 105590 ) on Tuesday January 07, 2003 @08:48AM (#5031920) Homepage Journal
    Now all someone needs to do is port Linux to it, and it'll make a nice little PDA.

    • Re:awesome (Score:2, Interesting)

      by SpoonMeiser ( 316685 )
      4 buttons and a 4 way pad... writing notes on it might be a little tricky.

    • Re:awesome (Score:3, Informative)

      by PeDRoRist ( 639207 )
      Well maybe you should have a look at this [insertcredit.com] It's not a GBA it's a GPi, a GP32 (korean handheld by Gamepark [gamepark.com]) merged with a cellphone. It uses Linux 2.4 kernel, can run GP32 games/utilities and homemade software (including stuff like ScummVM), play divx and mp3s, connect to the internet, etc etc The only drawback is that it hasn't been released yet, at least to my knowledge.

  • Front lit? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Paladin84 ( 176257 ) <Paladin84&yahoo,com> on Tuesday January 07, 2003 @08:49AM (#5031928)
    Bah, for years us gamers have been asking for a backlit system like the Gamegear.... It's taken Nintendo what, 6 years to answer this simple request? I have to support them on the price tag however, it's the same price as the GBA was when it was origionally released, and much better looking. I do wonder if this thing will accept the "backup" cartridges floating around, or if they've built in copy protection of some sort... any thoughts? Maybe I'll hold out just a little longer, the Gameboy Color just isn't cutting it these days :)

  • Pictures of the new GBA (Score:5, Informative)

    by TheWickedKingJeremy ( 578077 ) on Tuesday January 07, 2003 @08:49AM (#5031930) Homepage
    ... as provided by Gamespot [gamespot.com]
    • What are the ports on the back? They appear to be RJ11 and RJ45 connections, which would imply phone and/or ethernet. Could this actually be the world's smallest laptop?

      • Re:Pictures of the new GBA (Score:5, Informative)

        by TheWickedKingJeremy ( 578077 ) on Tuesday January 07, 2003 @09:04AM (#5032037) Homepage
        What are the ports on the back? They appear to be RJ11 and RJ45 connections, which would imply phone and/or ethernet. Could this actually be the world's smallest laptop?

        ... I am no expert, but I know the current GBA has ports on the back of it, too. One of them I use to connect my GBA to my Gamecube... And I know GBAs are capable of being linked together via a cable, so that probably explains it. I pretty sure there is no added functionality to this new GBA in terms of network/internet capability.

        • Re:Pictures of the new GBA (Score:5, Informative)

          by Jace of Fuse! ( 72042 ) on Tuesday January 07, 2003 @09:38AM (#5032289) Homepage
          Actually, you're partially correct. There is no ADDED functionality, but there are link cables for Gameboy Advances to allow them interconnectivity with Cellphones in Japan. This was a huge selling point for the GBA when it was first introduced, but as I understand it game developers never really warmed up to it so it's something of a dud.

          I would provide links, but searching Japanese sites is kind of hard for me, not being a Japanese speaker. Still, Google search does find several kind of relevent links, and then there was this [rpgamer.com] photo.
      • the "RJ45" is the power, while the "RJ11" is the game link, to link to the gamecube, or other GBAs, or maybe even a regular GB, if you have the proper crossover cable (my little cousin has this cable for pokemon and backwards compatibility with older GBs, so they do exist). i think you can do video out using the game link port somehow, too. nintendo sells some sort of adapter
      • One port is for the old link cable, and the other is for the new battery recharging pack [com.com]
    • Thanks for the link.

      Those shots don't reveal an obvious hand position to me. Where would you hold it? You'd want your left thumb on the direction pad, your right on the buttons...that's quite some contortionist act if you also need to balance the device.

      Hmm. Unsure. I think I would've preferred them just adding a decent screen to the current model.

      Cheers,
      Ian

  • More to come... (Score:5, Informative)

    by GweeDo ( 127172 ) on Tuesday January 07, 2003 @08:51AM (#5031942) Homepage
    There is another press conference coming in NY between 9am-11am EST. It isn't know at this time what they are announcing. It is believed that the GBA SP will be announced for the US (since this conference is being held by NOA). Hopefully we hear more than just about GBASP (though I can't wait to buy one of um!)

  • So fast (Score:5, Insightful)

    by thing_from_space ( 449789 ) <[thingfromspace] [at] [gmail.com]> on Tuesday January 07, 2003 @08:52AM (#5031950)
    Due March 23rd? Of this year? That's less than a quarter away. I'm not some industry insider, but I try to keep up with the new gadgets like this and I've not heard a word about this device.

    Could this be some cheap, quick alternative for those of use that have complained so loudly about the shortcommings of the GBA (like the lack of some kind of lighting)?

    • Re:So fast (Score:3, Informative)

      by mccalli ( 323026 )
      I've not heard a word about this device.

      It was announced at Nintendo's anniversary bash (70th anniversary?) recently. Or at least, that's what I remember from reading the UK Gamecube newsgroup.

      My fiancee bought an Advance in the first couple of weeks after launch - she took it back the same day as the screen was entirely unusable. Looking forward to this one - GBA seems to be the last refuge of 2D games (besides MAME, of course). And I like 2D games.

      Cheers,
      Ian

    • Re:So fast (Score:2, Informative)

      by SpoonMeiser ( 316685 )

      There was actually an article about this in Edge magazine in November, and they were saying that they had conformation of online stories... so supposedly it's been reported on the net somewhere

      They did say it'd have 2 new face buttons though, and also that they hoped the actual thing would have a bit more wow factor then their artists sketch, when in fact it has decidedly less.

    • Re:So fast (Score:4, Informative)

      by Dark Paladin ( 116525 ) <jhummel&johnhummel,net> on Tuesday January 07, 2003 @09:15AM (#5032118) Homepage
      There have been rumors for a little while (see Gamers.com for examples), but nothing concrete until this moment, and Nintendo was in "denial" mode. (This is where they deny all rumors for 4 months, then come out with a press release validating all the rumors - standard for most of the game industry.)
    • I don't believe that Nintendo-the-good would slap a silly new case on a GB and make no technological changes. Clearly, this is all-new technology. Probably 256-bit, or something.
      • Take a look at the history of the Game Boy... there were plenty of minimal-change iterations, and none of them affected gameplay or development. The only ones that did make a difference were the Game Boy Color's release, and the GBA's release... oh, you were joking :p

  • Interesting (Score:2, Insightful)

    by captainclever ( 568610 )
    The design is somewhat different to the previous two models, but looks pretty snazzy. I'd quite like a tiny computer/PDA that looks like that, just stick a keyboard on instead of the D-Pad and buttons :) I Wonder if it will have an IP stack, bluetooth/3G/WiFi games anyone? that would be cool
  • I wonder how long till the GameBoy XP comes out?
    It will run old games in GameBoy9x mode.

    Seriously, have they not learned from M$ that staying compatible with older stuff limits you?

    • Re:Wait for GameBoy XP (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Transient0 ( 175617 ) on Tuesday January 07, 2003 @09:07AM (#5032062) Homepage
      Are you joking?

      This is videogaming we're talking about. Legacy support is one of the most important features you can offer. The Playstation 2 owes a large portion of its success to its ability to play the massive library of existing PS1 games. Ditto for the Game Boy Advance. What's more, Nintendo would have to be insane to release an entirely new handheld system with an entirely library of completely incompatible games so hot on the heels of the wildly successful GBA. Introducing a new game format without legacy is a certain death notice for the old format(games are still developed for PS1, but there are no developers i know of working on the N64). The backlash from angry GBA users would be deadly to Nintendo.

      Even if what you are saying is true and including legacy support limits your ability to progress in unexplored directions(and i'm not admitting it does until you show some pretty convincing evidence. I see no reason why an entirely new format couldn't be defined and then have an emulator which runs the old format inside the new scheme. Considering that each new console generation includes large hardware advances it is a necessary truth that games in the previous format will be less demanding and so emulation is a viable option). Even then, providing legacy support would still be the right choice in the video game industry. Now that Sony has pushed the envelope, I doubt you will see many future consoles without legacy support.

      • Re:Wait for GameBoy XP (Score:5, Interesting)

        by Jace of Fuse! ( 72042 ) on Tuesday January 07, 2003 @09:29AM (#5032211) Homepage
        It should be pointed out that the Gameboy Advance does some trickery to accomplish Gameboy Classic compatibility. It's both a software and hardware based backfall, and it's not perfect but it works well enough to cover the vast majority of the games.

        Still, if for some reason you feel the need to EMULATE a Gameboy Classic on a Gameboy Advance without resorting to it's built in capability then feel free to put your roms on a Flash Advance cartridge and run those Gameboy roms under GBonGBA [mapage.noos.fr]. It's still slow and beta, and there's some question as to if it will ever run full screen, but then -- on future Gameboys, it just might. ;)

  • Adult audience (Score:2, Interesting)

    by edwilli ( 197728 )
    It look to me that these are designed for adults. It looks a lot slimmer and inconspicuous. Could this mean Nintendo is moving toward a more adult audience?
  • Wonder how many kids will snap the clamshell hinge? I remember my first Motorola Startac phone and the problems I had with that...

    Does look cute though. And thank God it has a lit screen.

    Does it have the same specs as the GBA? (Wasn't clear to me).

    -psy
    • man. are you a decendant of Bam Bam (flintstones)? i have at least 8 friends who have one of those motorola flip phones, including the originals, and i've never seen them break, be it from dropping or opening them. i can't imagine nintendo's child's device would be more fragile than that. yes, it has the same specs, AND a rechargeable battery. this is the most important thing to me, as it means no more AA batteries to buy, just pop it in the cradle and you're good to go.

  • When will Nintendo catch up with the 90's? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Kombat ( 93720 ) <kevin@swanweddingphotography.com> on Tuesday January 07, 2003 @08:56AM (#5031982)
    This is great and all, but it is still frontlit. When will Nintendo realize that people want a backlit, colour LCD display. They're cheaper than ever nowadays, and Sega had such a beast in the early 90's (or was it even the late 80's?) with the GameGear.

  • its a little small, aint it? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by LordYUK ( 552359 ) <jeffwright821.gmail@com> on Tuesday January 07, 2003 @08:56AM (#5031985)
    The GBA was a very nice size, it was comfortable to hold and all the buttons were easily accesible. Now, if I were 6, I wouldnt have a problem with a smaller design, but I am not 6, and my main reason for upgrading past the GBA is the backlight, but if I cant get to the shoulder buttons (judging from screenshots, no hard facts obviously) then its worthless. Smaller is not necessarily better if functionality is lost as a result.

    Still, this IS nintendo we're talking about, and I've gotten used to all their controllers so far, so I guess we'll see. Of course, the controllers have kinda gotten bigger as I've gotten older, so that might be a reason why they are always comfy...

    The backlit sure sounds nice, though. =)
  • I modded my daughters GBA.. and now it's amazing. and it gave her the edge in school as NOBODY else has a backlit GBA.

    If nintendo would simply pull their heads out of their arse and just put the backlight mod on the existing product it would increase sales on it's own.

  • front lit?!? (Score:3, Funny)

    by IIRCAFAIKIANAL ( 572786 ) on Tuesday January 07, 2003 @09:01AM (#5032014) Journal
    FRONT LIT?!?!

    Words fail me. I hope it works better than I think it might. It's ugly, probably going to cramp my hands up worst than the GBA does, and the fucking thing isn't even backlit?

    From a business standpoint it makes no sense either. Cell phones are big in Japan. Why not make a combo cell-phone/gba (and make it backlit of course).

    ARGH!!!! WHAT ARE THEY THINKING? IT'S UGLY!!!

    No, wait, must recover... remember, Nintendo good, do no wrong....

    *Remembers virtua-boy*
    *explodes*
    • Shut yer yap, whiner. I added a frontlit (yes, frontlit) mod to my GBA and it looks AMAZING. And, it doesn't suck down the juice like a full backlit LCD screen does, so I have about 8 hours of play time even with the light on. I think frontlit it the way to go completely.

      For those with the "old" GBA, check out the Afterburner kit. I got one when they were first released, and for $35, it's a great improvement. So, go buy a $50 GBA, and the $35 Afterburner kit. Plus you even get to void your warranty to install it!

      I have a Game Gear, too. That thing was way ahead of its time (1990), but it went through batteries like crazy because of the backlit screen.
      • Dude, it was a joke. I was making fun of the typical fanboy and how many of them will probably react. Seriously, I mostly dislike the clamshell design. Looks fragile.

        Anyone that doesn't know, front lit means that there is a piece of clear plastic film over the lcd screen that lights up:
        ------- plastic
        ....... clear plastic film that lights up
        ======= lcd screen
        The articles actually kind of make it sound like it's going to light up around the edges of the LCD, which is wrong :)
        • I agree about the design; doesn't look ruggedized enough for the typical 10-year-old ;).

          The nice thing about the Afterburner frontlit mod is that the screen looks great in both sunlight and total darkness. If there's sunlight around, then it just looks like a normal reflective LCD since the sunlight is much brighter than the provided frontlit light film. But in total darkness it looks about the same with the lit plastic film. I prefer it to the backlit look of the GameGear which looks *fab* at night but not that great in natural light.

  • GBA News (Score:4, Informative)

    by randomErr ( 172078 ) <ervin.kosch@nOspAm.gmail.com> on Tuesday January 07, 2003 @09:02AM (#5032018) Journal
    Nintendo updates GBA [gamesindustry.biz]
    Much as sources including reputed UK gaming mag Edge have been speculating over
    the last few months, the GBA SP boasts an updated clamshell design, improved ...

    Nintendo announces Backlit GBA [gamers.com]
    Dubbed GBA SP, the new model comes in a redesigned clamshell case with
    a screen that flips up (think cellphone) to reveal the control pad. ...

    New Game Boy Advance revealed [zdnet.co.uk] ... conditions. Partly to offset the demands of the internal light, Nintendo
    has added rechargeable batteries to the GBA SP. And to ...
    The Next Game Boy Is Here [gamepro.com]
    Nintendo to sell premium model of Game Boy Advance [hardwarezone.com]
  • i wonder how this thing 'feels' in your hand, meaning - it has a hinge, and a portion of the weight is hanging off at an angle - will it get too heavy, or at least awkward, after a while?

  • A quick analysis looking over it (Score:5, Informative)

    by Dark Paladin ( 116525 ) <jhummel&johnhummel,net> on Tuesday January 07, 2003 @09:04AM (#5032038) Homepage
    The Good:

    "Backlit" screen - it's really more like the Afterburner, but probably of a higher/clearer quality (without the "blue tint" the Afterburner sometimes gives - not trying to knock the Afterburner, it's a great hack).
    Long battery life - 10 hour with light on, 18 with light off.
    Clamshell - as someone who games "on the go" and with a 9 month old son who likes to eat Daddy's GBA, this is a good thing.

    The Bad:

    Rechargeable batteries - would be nice if we could put AA as a "backup" or something. But Nintendo was against a rock and a hard place - if they allow any third party rechargeable batteries to be put in, there could be compatibility issues (really a non-issue except from a legal "we won't support it if it breaks" kind of thing - kind of like some MP3 players that have their own brand of AA rechargeables).

    Form factor: Hm. I'm not sure on how comfortable this will be. Once nice thing about the GBA is while it's a little too small for my 1.5 octave spanning hands, the shape is more forgiving. Here, we have...a square shape. Looking at it, I'm not sold on "long hours with Metroid Fusion without finger cramping". We'll see.

    Otherwise, for $90 ($100 after taxes, etc), it looks like a nice evolution for the GBA. Remember your history - Nintendo made several changes to the original GameBoy over it's 10 year life (colors, slimmer, one backlit system, color screen), and Nintendo still has around 50% of the software console market sales locked down (at least when you include that nice sized 35%-40% hold the Gameboy/Gameboy Advance has).
    • I agree with you on the bad form factor.

      The regular GBA isn't really that hard to tote around, the thing slips into my coat pocket, my pants pocket, the pockets in my car door, its slim factor is a lot easier to tote around I think than a cube would be. Try fitting a 3" cube in your pocket. "Is that a SP in your pocket or are you just a pervert?" hehe.

      There are however a couple reasons people will want these.

      1: The oh cool! factor. This will work for a while until they become more popular.

      2: Lighting. One of my biggest complaints on the GBA was the fact that it was incredibly difficult to see the screen very well. Of course, now there's hacks all over to fix this, but most people don't want to mess with aftermarket hacks.

      As for me, I'm a pretty big guy. My hands are about 4 sizes too big for a regular GBA as it is. If I got one of these little cubes I'd look like a giant trying to crush a pea. ;)
    • i think the decision to use a built in rechargeable has to do with

      1) much slimmer than AAs

      2) you need the extra battery life for that front light.

      personally i'd like to see the normal form factor GBA use a slimline battery, the only reason the GBA is as thick as it is is to accomidate for those huge AA's. make a slim rechargeable battery pack and boom, you've got a GBA half the thickness and longer battery life.
    • "Otherwise, for $90 ($100 after taxes, etc), it looks like a nice evolution for the GBA..."

      NO! You are 100% completely wrong!! Stop spreading FUD!!! I live in Oregon, we have no sales tax, so it'll be $90! GEEZ!

      There, I proved somebody wrong, mod me up.

      (Disclaimer: The previous was my impression of a good deal of responses I see on Slashdot. It's meant as a joke, laugh.)

  • I just got one! And they didn't say any mainstream word about it until a quarter before it comes out? I own a Nintendo everything (well, except a "Virtual Boy," that is if anyone remembers it). Still, the GBA is a little too small for my hands, and if you look at the new one, I don't think I could even hold it.

    "Bad Nintendo! Bad, bad, bad, Nintendo!"

    Looks like I'm going to have to have the tattoo of Princess Peach lasered off of my bum in disgust.

  • Still has shoulder buttons, though. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by 2Flower ( 216318 ) on Tuesday January 07, 2003 @09:05AM (#5032045) Homepage

    Very nice design (I love the square clamshell approach) but I still can't play it as easily as I could play the original Game Boy. I may be one of the only people on the planet that this affects, but there's no way I can use the shoulder buttons on the GBA -- and lo and behold, they've carried over to this new one, despite a generally boxy-flat design.

    Shoulder triggers of any kind are very difficult to use for physically disabled gamers, such as LPs or other syndromes which deform the hands. Face buttons, no problem; you brace the controller against a flat surface like a table and you can mash away in Marvel vs. Capcom 2 to your heart's delight.

    But when you have to wrap your fingers around to reach the 'ergonomic' buttons, well, then you have problems. Dreamcast controllers gave me all manners of trouble since the triggers were analog, underneath the thing, and in some games unmappable and mandatory. Nintendo 64 controllers were just a joke, with buttons all over the place including a trigger on the bottom of the thing -- even a joypad shaped controller a friend offered me had a trigger UNDER the joypad! Insane!

    For portable systems, you have no choice of simply plugging in a new controller that meets your needs. It's an integrated unit. It's not economically feasible to make an alternative unit which has four face buttons instead of two face + two shoulder just to accommodate a small percentage of your gaming audience. Understandable, but it's a shame, really. I'd kill to have Advance Wars and Tony Hawk handy for long trips.

    • if a disabled person wants front facing buttons, there's no reason he/she couldn't get his/her EE-ish friend to disassemble it, and move the shoulder buttons to a more accessable spot with some solder+wire in one of those radio shack project boxes. probably a 2 hour hack or so. parts and (probably free) labor would add maybe 20% of the cost to the box, which is a hell of a lot less upmark in price than a disabled computer system would run.

      just curious, but what is an LP syndrome? louis parkinson's or somthing? my medical knowledge is weak at best. if you have a similar syndrome or somthing, get in contact, and i can probably build you somthing to use all the buttons easily for your GBA in a relatively compact case.
      • You read my mind. Find one of your friends who's into hacks like this (like me :) and get him to reposition buttons...typically, they're just momentary spst switches, which are easy to either move or replace or duplicate using parts from radioshack. If you want to go a little nicer, order some custom buttons off the web.

        --trb
    • You reminded me of an old project that Nintendo had back in the 8-bit days, the nintendo hands-free controller. You moved a little ball with your chin to handle the direction keys, and sucked and blew on a straw for the A and B buttons. I never actually used one myself, so I can't say how you did start of select, or how long you could play the game without hyperventilating, but I was always impressed that they had made it at all. I wonder if they've tried similar projects for later systems?

  • A decent picture comparison (Score:5, Informative)

    by phoenix_orb ( 469019 ) on Tuesday January 07, 2003 @09:06AM (#5032051)
    Yahoo Picture [yahoo.com]

    Here is a decent picture of the new unit next to the old unit
  • Yikes the control area of the thing looks tiny! Someone mentioned if Nintendo is going after the adult market due to the more "sophisticated" design. I ask the opposite, is Nintendo potentially alienating their adult market by making the controls too small to use confortably by anyone over the age of 15.

    Also, in the shot of it next to the "old" GBA, doesn't it look like it's actually a little bigger when it's opened up? It's probably a lot thinner, but I think it has a bit of a clunky/chunky prototypish look to it.
    • Primary market for Nintendo is Japan. People in Japan like incredibly tiny electronics. Their cellphones are not much bigger than my credit card. So I imagine Nintendo cares fuckall for whether you think the thing is too small or not. One of the reasons the Xbox is losing money so badly is that the controllers are too big for the Japanese market.
      The Japanese gaming market makes or breaks systems. Period.

      Kintanon
  • Somehow the design sets me off, it reminds me of the first cellular handhelds, blocky, and unwieldy. But just my opinion...

  • Front Lit and Size... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by redink1 ( 519766 ) <redink1@ h o t m a il.com> on Tuesday January 07, 2003 @09:14AM (#5032112) Homepage Journal
    Some people seem to think that front lit is evil, and back lit is some sort of necessity. But, back lit LCD displays drain batteries really, really, really fast... way beyond what Nintendo's 10 hour general guideline for Gameboy products.

    And it isn't like they are sticking light bulbs in the thing for their front lit display... it looks like the Afterburner's transparent light-emitting polymer.

    As for the size... I was concerned for a bit too, even before i saw the pictures. But then I was reminded that the old Gameboy and Gameboy Color models weren't that hard to hold, and this seems to be a return to that kind of form factor. But those L and R buttons do look hard to press...

  • In related news... (Score:3, Funny)

    by El Camino SS ( 264212 ) on Tuesday January 07, 2003 @09:15AM (#5032114)
    Mirosoft announces its foray into the portables with the new X-boy gaming system, allowing users to have all the portability of playing such fast-paced and unconfusing Microsoft favorites like Age of Empires and Flight Simulator with all of the kiddies in the neighborhood.*

    *Included in the system is its own rechargeable power supply, backlit screen, co-op cable, and pull cart.

  • GB Screen... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Jace of Fuse! ( 72042 ) on Tuesday January 07, 2003 @09:16AM (#5032126) Homepage
    As any GBA owner can tell you, the screen in earlier models sucked pretty terrible.

    I think most gameboy owners would disagree with that statement at least partially.

    The original Gameboy had bad smearing as the pixels moved, and let's face it, black and white is still black and white no matter how many shades of baby-shit-green you make it.

    So here, yes, the Gameboy screen sucked.

    But then the Gameboy Pocket moved on to an actual more "black and white" BW screen, with much faster pixel updates and screen visibility was never an issue unless you used the thing in the dark. At this point, the Gameboy screen didn't suck too bad for the time.

    The Gameboy Color game along and I couldn't have been happier. It's pixels were big enough that they reflected just enough of the light from the environment that you were in that any well lit area provided plenty of light. Anybody who doesn't know this never had one. This screen didn't suck.

    The Gameboy Advance comes along, and using the same type of screen, only larger with higher resolution pixes, and suddenly everyone things the Gameboy Screen is "notorious for shitty screen"? I don't get this. The majority of the Gameboy's life has been spent as the Pocket and Color, not the Classic and Advance. If you ask me, all things considered, the Gameboy has always been an EXCELLENT design, and still is.

    If you don't like the Advance screen? Use a GB color. They still sell them. Definately want those ADVANCE games? Get a Afterburner modified [yourhappyplace.com] Advance from YourHappyPlace. It's around $150 shipped to you with the lighting and the dimmer chip installed, but it's an excellent investment and the screen looks great.

    I'm sorry, I just can't agree that the Gameboy screen has always sucked. I just think Nintendo made a pretty bad mistake not lighting the GBA themselves.

    As for this new Clamshell design, I hope that's a prototype, because rumors have been talking for a while about 4 face buttons, and that one still only has two.
    • Because the GBC and GBA have, IMHO, damn dark screens. I play mine using the worm light unless I'm either outside (at which point the screen is great) or directly beneath a light in my house. I don't mean ceiling lights either, I mean directable lamps. Also, I think the reference to notorious screen is mainly aimed at only the GBA. When it came out everyone, and I mean everyone, was like "This is sooooo awesome. Except the screen is too dark". It was the one real flaw with the system (well that and that they stayed with only two front buttons).

      psxndc

      • Worm Light is a nice add-on, but I was never able to deal with the glare. You'd always get this really hot spot of light near the top of the screen. If you play with the angles enough, you could get it so that it didn't interfere, but it always seemed a little half baked. Directable lamps are definitely the only way to go.

  • The screen sucked? (Score:2, Interesting)

    by festers ( 106163 )
    As any GBA owner can tell you, the screen in earlier models sucked pretty terrible.

    Well, as a GBA owner, I can tell you the screen only sucks for 13 year olds trying to play their GBA under the covers past their bed time. For everyone else able to use their GBA in proper lighting, the screen is just fine. I love my GBA and have no plans to buy a new one because of the screen.

    • Re:The screen sucked? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by iapetus ( 24050 ) on Tuesday January 07, 2003 @09:42AM (#5032317) Homepage
      As a GBA owner I can confirm that the screen sucks in many situations. Poorly lit hotel rooms (and I've been in a few), train corridors, cars, outside in the evening.

      I'm sick and tired of being told that there isn't a problem with the screen, and that it's fine in good lighting or in sunlight. This is a *portable* gaming system - it should work where *I* go. I shouldn't have to go where it works.

      Afterburner was a neat solution, but to have things addressed by Nintendo directly is even better. I'm looking forward to picking up a GBA with a screen that actually allows me to play Castlevania without a full lighting rig.
    • I second this. I've never found the GBA's screen to be a problem in any of the places I've taken it. It would be nice to have a backlight so it would be possible to play in the dark, but I can list alot of other more important things I can't do in the dark either (reading for one) that make the need to play handheld video games in it pretty shallow. Get a lamp already!

  • I want to play text adventures on that thing!

  • I love my GBA, but I still completely fail to understand why Nintendo built this system, launched it with a number of SNES ports, continues to port SNES games to it, and still gave us fewer buttons than the SNES controller.

    How hard would it have been to add the X and Y buttons? Front-lit or not, there's no way I'm buying another GBA until it comes with more buttons.
  • A new GBA [penny-arcade.com]?

    Does the new one still cut through a tomato and exorcise Daemons? Also, I need to be sure that the new one still won't cause leprosy and blindness.
  • but! Yhis isn't too unreasonable. This is obviously the 'Megaton' rumour, the two biggest ones floating around were the "Nintendo buys Campcom/Sega/Namco/whoever so they make games exclusively on the 'Cube", the other being "Nintendo gets shitloads of money from Sony for the PlayStation trademark." When people started talking about the idea of a new gameboy it was thrown out more or less because no one could imagine that Nintendo wanted to piss off all of their customers, but I don't think this is so bad. The only real advantage this thing has is size, the rechargable battery and backlight. If you were going to be a vanilla GBA and then all the accessories needed to match the specs of the GBA "SP" it would run you well over the GBA SP pricetag of $100. And hell, if you don't want it, it's not like it plays any games you can't play on your old GBA.

    The only thing I'm worried about is the size, I mean, maybe they took the problems people had with the GBA into consideration when they made this one and there's some nifty ergonomics that make it fit perfectly, but it's like they don't realize Americans have bigger hands. I know Nintendo makes a killing in Japan with every system, especially recently with consoles: N64 sales in Japan is what kept them afloat-- scratcth that, not entirely true, I'm pretty sure they have large enough cash reserves to weather a bad console launch, no link tho' cause I'm lazy, let's say it kept them profitable. Same with the GameCube, it may not be doing well in the States, but it sells very well in Japan.

    Does the same hold true for GBA sales as well? Is the US that big a market for Nintendo or do not even need to please us to make a tidy profit? I supposed this is all a crazy rant until we get to play with it, it just looks kinda cramped. I can't wait until my local $elecStore has this out for people to play with,

    • You are correct. Nintendo has halfway surrendered the US market to Sony. Sony cares a lot more about what the US buyers think that Nintendo does. Part of that reason is that Nintendo has been gaining marketshare over Sony in Japan. So while Sony still sells a LOT of consoles in Japan their big market is starting to be more and more the US, whereas Nintendo cares fuckall for the US because they make most of their money on Japan now. They know a decent portion of people in the US will buy their stuff if they design it to get the most marketshare in Japan. And even if the launch fails in the US, Japan will still snap it up.

      Kintanon

  • Yay! (Score:4, Interesting)

    by sebi ( 152185 ) on Tuesday January 07, 2003 @09:43AM (#5032323)

    Glad that this was rumored for quite a while, so I didn't get a GBA yet. But I read [ign.com] something that kinda annoys me:

    The unit will not have a headphone jack; Nintendo has created a special adapter for the GBA SP that plugs into the link port which enables users to plug in standard headphones. Sold seperately, of course.

    That is evil. Is the link port the one you use to connect to the GameCube, or the one you use to play against others?

    • Yeah, that link port is one and the same. But why would one use headphones while the GBA is plugged into the cube?

      • You wouldn't. You might want to when playing against others though. That's why I asked. Well, having to pay extra for a dongle still is evil.

  • totally backwards compatible with all previous Game Boy software.

    It Doesn't look like this can support the e-reader. unless they plan on making one specificially for this version of the Gameboy. I could be wrong though.
  • I just ordered a GBA with Afterburner last week :-(

  • Argh! (Score:2)

    by Cyph ( 240321 )
    I spent over an hour installing an Afterburner kit on my GBA, and now they release this? They're evil, eeevil.

  • I just though tof something... (GASP) (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Jace of Fuse! ( 72042 ) on Tuesday January 07, 2003 @10:53AM (#5032779) Homepage
    Some of us are fanatical about games in general, and since we carry our Gameboys with us everywhere, toting around many cartridges is a chore...

    Now, there are devices out there such as the Game Wallet and the Flash Advance, devices which essentially let you copy Gameboy Advance games. But more importantly, they let you consolodate your games onto a single cartridge, and yes it works really well.

    What I've been wondering is does this new Gameboy detect such carts and prevent them from working? I was giving it some thought and one of my basic problems with the Flash Advance is the fact that it will mostly be used for piracy. That's something of a shame too because Gameboy cartridges are dirt cheap at most used game shops. I picked up a handful of great games not long ago for about $25 total. Still, Nintendo needs to protect their system and the 3rd party developers so I'm wondering, do the Flash Advance cards WORK with the Gameboy Advance SP? (GASP hah hah)

    Hmmm.
  • Anyone else pissed off that they got a GBA for Xmas and Nintendo releases this news the week after?

    Pretty slimy tactic if you ask me.

    The only time you should have to replace a console is when it breaks. It should have been designed properly the first time. What do we do with our *old* GBAs now?

  • What Nintendo REALLY did wrong. (Score:3, Interesting)

    by pecosdave ( 536896 ) on Tuesday January 07, 2003 @11:30AM (#5033040) Homepage Journal
    The GBA is a nice system, it's at least as powerfull as the old SuperNintendo therefore all the good old games are being ported. Where Nintendo screwed up isn't the physical look/size of the GBA, but the fact that they left out the X and Y buttons. This is only a problem due to the number of ports being made, such as the port of SuperMario world. The ability to bail off of Yoshi's back easily mid jump was one of the best tactics Mario had, the GBA kinda lacks that. I don't see why the new version couldn't have included them for furture ports. The older GBAs would still be able to play the games but like the old Sega Genesis when it went to six button controls from three they wouldn't have quite the same functionality. Nintendo are you listening? Not to late to stop the manufacture.

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