Slashdot Mirror
New Gameboy Announced
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.
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 :)
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)?
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
Last.fm - join the social music revolution
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.
Like woodworking? Build your own picture frames.
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. =)
This is my sig. Its pathetic.
Not really. 4! * 4 = 96, more than enough chord combinations to cover all of the letters and digits.
Karma: Good (despite my invention of the Karma: sig)
The buttons have two states, so it's 4*2^4
Pathman, Free (as in GPL) 3D Pac Man
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.
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.
lysergically yours
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...
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 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.
"Everything you know is wrong. (And stupid.)"
Moderation Totals: Wrong=2, Stupid=3, Total=5.
Posting in slashdot to talk shit about slashdotters.....
Am i the only one who notices that the new model is ugly?
I fuse with Mercer every single day...
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.
++ Say to Elrond "Hello.".
Elrond says "No.". Elrond gives you some lunch.
they're still games I played a DECADE ago.
And they're still fun, too. Nintendo games tend to have excellent replay value. Plus, there is a whole new generation of gamers that might not have played these games yet and it gives them a chance to experience yesterdays great games.