Game Boy Advance SP Sells 1.1 Million in U.S. 339
clu76 writes "An article at Business Wire indicates that Nintendo has sold 1.1 million Game Boy Advance SPs since hitting the shelves less than 10 weeks ago. The article goes on to say, 'The new model has sold at a rate of more than 10 per minute, non-stop, since launch.'
Two new colors of the popular handheld have also been announced: Flame (red) and Onyx (black)." I'd attribute this to the SP being the first Game Boy to have a screen that's viewable in total darkness, as well as not requiring batteries. Anyone got ideas for what to do with an old GBA?
Sure... (Score:5, Funny)
I'll take it.
Great Machine, but... (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Great Machine, but... (Score:4, Interesting)
Disagree about the backlit screen. I play inside, outside, everywhere, and the SP screen with backlight on or off is even clearer than the standard GBA screen. If it's really hazy for you, perhaps your unit has a problem? I have a silver and a gold SP and they are both crystal clear.
Also got a Japanese GameBoy Player for my GameCube. Sa-weet! I love playing Golden Sun: The Lost Age on my 40" Sony.
Re:Great Machine, but... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Great Machine, but... (Score:2)
Shades of pokemon...
Re:Great Machine, but... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Great Machine, but... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Great Machine, but... (Score:4, Insightful)
For some reason, people also seem to think that all backlit screens get washed out when viewed under front lighting. That is also wrong. Transflective LCD technology has been around for over a decade. My Newton uses a transflective LCD (a rather nice one, I might add) and it was discontinued over five years ago!
Re:Great Machine, but... (Score:3, Insightful)
old GBA? (Score:5, Funny)
Slashdot editors... (Score:5, Funny)
Boy, one would think the Slashdot editors had never heard of eBay. [ebay.com]
Too damn small! (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Too damn small! (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Too damn small! (Score:2, Interesting)
I did prefer the old GBA d-pad (joystick) a bit, however. The SP one still makes a bit of a clicking noise, although the action is just fine.
Re:Too damn small! (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Too damn small! (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Too damn small! (Score:5, Funny)
Or you could recharge the SP's battery when it drains.
Re:Too damn small! (Score:3, Insightful)
The human race has spent millions of years getting the hell out of the big blue room. I pay good money for a house to avoid it.
You sound like my wife. Heh, ask her about posin oak...
Re:Too damn small! (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Too damn small! (Score:3, Funny)
You forgot our parents' basements.
Re:Too damn small! (Score:2)
My wife, who has much smaller hands, is also perfectly comfortable holding the GBA SP. I can easily accept that it would be uncomfortable for someone with gorilla hands,
Obligatory Slashdot response... (Score:2)
Christ! What's Slashdot coming to?
It's been like 45 minutes with no penis joke posts...
More on colors (Score:5, Informative)
Re:More on colors (Score:3, Informative)
Re:More on colors (Score:3, Funny)
Note for future posts: seething rage does not an intelligent argument make.
Use it? (Score:5, Informative)
Get some rechargable batteries and a lamp. Use it. You'll live.
Or use your m4d h4XX0r1ng skilz and get an afterburner lighting kit for it.
Re:Use it? (Score:2)
You'll live.
Doesn't require batteries? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Doesn't require batteries? (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Doesn't require batteries? (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Doesn't require batteries? (Score:4, Funny)
I thought it was common knowledge that shaking a controller in the direction you want to go can make you jump higher and turn corners sharper and even run just a little bit faster so you don't get smooshed.
It makes sense to make use of that wasted energy.
Re:Doesn't require batteries? (Score:2, Funny)
energy.
I bet I could power my tv for a year with the extra energy I used pressing buttons harder than I needed to.
New users or upgraded users (Score:5, Interesting)
No batteries? (Score:5, Funny)
No batteries, eh? So they finally accepted my idea for the nuclear reactor power pack...
Re:No batteries? (Score:2)
Why do you think they finally justified a backlight? =]
I love my GBA SP (Score:3, Interesting)
Oh, and the headphone adapter. What the hell is up with that?
Re:I love my GBA SP (Score:5, Interesting)
It would be nice, though, if the just the screen turned off when it closed to save a bit of power.
Re:I love my GBA SP (Score:5, Insightful)
-sleep mode which is a low-power consumption mode available in some games
-game link, where the gameboy is mostly inactive, like on Legend of Zelda
-mp3 player attachment
But like FroBugg said, the screen's light should go off automatically, though you can turn it off yourself.
Re:I love my GBA SP (Score:2)
I bet you still try and 'catch' your fridge's light by surprise.
Lemme give ya a hint -- if you unplug the fridge, then open the door, it'll be too occupied wondering about the loss of power to turn the light on!
That would be an obvious feature, tho, in seriousness. Maybe they'll fix it in SP2
Re:I love my GBA SP (Score:2)
Sorry, forgot the tags.
Re:I love my GBA SP (Score:2)
What?
- Your boss seeing you?
- That cute chick at the bus stop thinking you're a kid?
- Dropping it while you wipe?
- Which is it?
Re:I love my GBA SP (Score:3, Funny)
that's it, then (Score:2, Funny)
Now you're playing in the shower...Nintendo shower!
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Re:I love my GBA SP (Score:5, Informative)
From an interview with Kenichi Sugino [gamepro.com], the guy behind the design of the GBA SP:
Not sure that I buy that but there you go.Old GBA use (Score:5, Interesting)
Save it for use as a controller for your Gamecube for when Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles comes out. It's rumored to *require* a GBA for every player.
--Jeremy
Re:Old GBA use (Score:2)
But apprently the GBA isn't used for much [planetgamecube.com] (skip to the last paragraph). If Square has a brain, they'll axe the requirement.
Re:Old GBA use (Score:3, Informative)
Intriguing, but... (Score:2)
I love Nintendo as much as the next guy, but if that were true I would certainly hope it didn't turn into an industry-wide practice for lots of games. No doubt such games would have their market, but I don't know how long folks would be able to swallow having to buy several very different units before going "Hey!"
Re:Intriguing, but... (Score:2)
It's a multiplayer game
Even still, I do plan on getting an extra GBA just in case (besides, my gi
Re:Old GBA use (Score:2)
Hmm (Score:3, Informative)
GBA SP Rocks (Score:3, Interesting)
To say the least, it's worth the money. Even more so if you (like I) owned zero consoles before it.
The thing lasts forever with the light on, and even longer with the light off. And it's very, very small. Only downside might be the attachment you have to buy for the headphone jack but the sound isn't really that important.
Nintendo did an awesome job with the SP. Now if only they had 4 buttons instead of just A and B...
Re:GBA SP Rocks (Score:2)
What about the "L" and "R" buttons?
I like my "old style" GBA, alot more comfortable, and is it that hard to find a light to play it near? I haven't done the mod only because I haven't had the need to.
Old GBAs (Score:2, Interesting)
Actual Sales (Score:2)
I think EB locally, maybe even globally, was offering them for $49 with the return of your current GBA. Not a bad deal.
finally, a 'masculine' color (Score:2)
Re:finally, a 'masculine' color (Score:2)
Black and white aren't hues. They most certainly are colors, regardless of what your elementary school teacher told you. She probably also taught you that the primary colors are red, yellow, and blue, too...
Anyone got ideas for what to do with an old GBA? (Score:2, Funny)
I wonder... (Score:3, Informative)
Everyone pretty much said that they get a shipment of 12 of them every couple of weeks, 6 of each colour, although sometimes they come in seperate shipments. They also have no idea when they will receive them (except for a couple of the larger retailers like WalMart which gets more regular shipments, though the shipments are the same size).
Re:I wonder... (Score:2)
http://www.costco.com/frameset.asp?trg=
At my local one they have the big pack with games and books and all kinds of stuff.
I still prefer my old GBA (Score:3, Insightful)
My hands are somewhat big and i find the grip on the SP model too small and awkward, the old model is a bit bigger, but with the afterburner, i actually think you're better off(the dimmer chip has different levels of intensity, and an auto-off feature, very handy if you leave it turned on because you can't save at that moment).
By the way, i think Nintendo has done wrong requiring an adaptor for headphones, because in both the old GBA and the SP the speaker is practically useless.
Re:I still prefer my old GBA (Score:3, Informative)
And IIRC, Nintendo released a translucent green GameBoy Pocket in Japan that had a light. It was called the GameBoy Light or something similar.
A great guy (Score:5, Funny)
What to do with the old one? (Score:4, Insightful)
Save it. Final Fantasy: Chrystal Chronicles uses a GBA hooked up to your Gamecube as a controller.
Some people will shout that they did this just to sell more GBAs, but it all makes sense, really. A Final Fantasy where the game pauses every time one of four players need to change equipment?
This method also encourages you to talk to each other during the game, since you only see your own stuff and need to tell the other players that you're low on healing potions or whatever.
Re:What to do with the old one? (Score:2)
Hmmm... (Score:4, Informative)
Mutter curses while throwing it in the dumpster on your way out to get the newest version, now with Tint Control®. Gotta stay on the bleeding edge you know.
Seriously tho, Toys for Tots or something along those lines would be a nice this to do with "out-dated" game systems, just make sure you pack the games with them.
Sold Out (Score:2)
Kinda slow, eh nintendo? (Score:3, Informative)
I'm suprised Nintendo is waiting until September to release it in the 'states.
The red one is nice looking though. I'll stick with my silver though.
connect it to the gamecube (Score:2)
Get rid of the old GBA? (Score:2)
On the plus side, the original Xbox controller fit my hands quite nicely. :)
Flame and Onyx: Strippers? (Score:5, Funny)
What to do with an old GBA (Score:5, Funny)
Deving (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Deving (Score:2, Informative)
Devr's [devrs.com]
GBADev [gbadev.org]
Total darkness? (Score:5, Informative)
What about the Gameboy Light? [ncsx.com]
Power consumption ? (Score:2, Interesting)
Wha? (Score:2, Interesting)
Eh? Mean extra batteries?
Amazing how Nintendo can continue to dominate the handheld gaming market year after year. One of the major points about a gameboy (be it the original or the new advaced ones) is that they don't suck down the batteries like some of the other flops (gamegear? could you even play all the way through a game without having to swap batteries).
Already got black (and red) in UK (Score:3, Informative)
I haven't felt this honoured since Silent Hill 3 turned up... or when we got the English version of Shenmue II.
Yay, go UK!
In other news... (Score:2)
What to do with an old GBA? (Score:2)
port winCE on to it?
Web Server (Score:2)
Here's an idea... (Score:2)
Yawn (Score:2)
Nintendo intentionally released the non-lit GBA first so people would buy two GBA's. I'm happy with my GBA and I certainly don't intend to buy one twice.
Old GBA? Afterburner an NiMH (Score:2)
Our family has all 3 (no original, but GB, GBA, GBA/SP) - The SP has a nice form factor, but with the afterburner in place, the GBA is also very nice, and in fact the button positions make it a little nicer for gameplay. Doesn't fit in the pocket as well, is all.
Turbo Express.... (Score:2, Interesting)
My beloved street fighter 2 even looked better on the turbo express than it did
Gotta say... (Score:2)
Can't wait for Advance Wars 2 btw, Advance Wars was a hell of a lot of fun. Besides the games it's easy to code for, and just an all around fun little machine.
GameBoy Light was the 1st backlight GB (Score:2, Informative)
"I'd attribute this to the SP being the first Game Boy to have a screen that's viewable in total darkness"
That is not true, the GameBoy Light was the first GameBoy to work in the dark. It was Monocrome Indiglow screen.
Check it out here:
Couple of suggestions (Score:2)
Play games on it?
Sell it on eBay?
unemployed computer scientist (Score:2)
Give it to an unemployed computer scientist.. i happen to know a few..
The reason GBA SP is killing (Score:3, Insightful)
I would have got the original GBA, but I'm hard on my hardware, and screens get scratched. The "clamshell" design of the SP solves that problem.
I also hate buying batteries or battery packs. The SP solves that with an internal Li-Ion battery that lasts as long lit as the GBA could go on a set of alkalines without a light (ten hours) and longer unlit (eighteen hours).
The Castlevania games that every review site ever said "Get a halogen lamp and don't move while playing this" are no longer valid now that the SP has an even front-light (that does make the screen a bit bluer, but still very playable). I don't have to go third-party (sketchy) or trust my own skills (sketchier) to avoid getting dirt in the screen when installing a light.
It's also small. I've got enough crap in my pockets (cell, keys, PDA, etc etc) that I needed something a bit smaller than the GBA. At three inches square, the SP fits the bill.
Yes, the lack of a headphone jack is annoying, but I can play without sound and rarely lose anything. Unfolded, the form factor's similar to the original Game Boy, and I can play it just fine. I guess I have small girly hands. Lucky me.
The SP is replacing old GBAs ("MOMMY MOMMY BUY IT FOR ME" is a popular one, but far from all) and is increasing the userbase to adults who can drop a hundred bucks on a toy. I just wish they'd premiered with all four colors - I would have preferred black to silver. Oh, I'm sorry. ONYX to PLATINUM.
Comment removed (Score:3)
Anyone got ideas for what to do with an old GBA? (Score:4, Informative)
What to do with the old one, you ask??? (Score:3, Interesting)
Newer and improved technical goods almost always have less value as collectible items, than the models that entered the market.
Re:How does it run? (Score:2)
Re:Stats that make me go hmmm... (Score:2)
It's not a hard stat to understand. Take the number of minutes since the release of the GBA SP, divide it by the number sold.
Voila. 1 every 10 minutes. Sheesh, it's not rocket science.
Re:What to do with an old GBA (Score:5, Interesting)
Nintendo did a smart thing by releasing this one - it's suddenly cool to have a gameboy, even if you're not a kid. I hope this will bring the console to older audiences and Nintendo will follow up by releasing games to match the interests of that demographic (versus just releasing games aimed at younger children)
Don't worry, sex is still WAAAAY ahead :) (Score:2, Interesting)
Say that the average male thinks of sex once every 6 seconds (i dont know the actual stat). Assuming there are 6,000,000,000 people in the world, of which 3,000,000,000 are men, then in every period of 6 seconds, there are on average 3,000,000,000 thoughts of sex that occur. That means, there are roughly 500,000,000 million sex-thoughts per second.
Compare that to 1 GBA sp sold every 6 seconds
Don't worry, sex is still WAAAAY ahead
Alex
Re:Games? (Score:5, Informative)
Any one of those is worth getting at least the original GBA.
Re:Games? (Score:3, Informative)