Gameboy Advance SP Reviewed & Disassembled

lotech writes "lik-sang has a review with full photos of the new Nintendo Ganeboy Advance SP. Not just supplying heaps of photos they have even beaten the pack on voiding the warranty and include heaps of internal photos. The handheld market is heating up with new releases from Nokia too and also the feature packed GP32. Oh and maybe then there maybe some Sony competition soon?"

Comments

With the size of a mini CD I don't see why Sony ..

[adzoox]

With the size of a mini CD I don't see why Sony ... could make something with a 3 inch screen and mini DVD and integrated controls. No expnsion slot needed just USB for ethernet, memory, etc.

Make it capable of using Mini DVD Videos like the Hitachi Camcorders. Other features: TV out, USB, Mp3 capability. I think this would be a popular convergence.

They could even release 5 game PS1 packs on one mini DVD. Most of those games were 100 - 300 MB.

I believe battery technology is where it would need to be for a unit like this as well.

multiple functionality key

[Anonymous Coward]

If current devices just keep getting smaller, soon I'll have a jumble of things bouncing off my keychain. It's stupid. I can't hold a feather up to my ear to talk on, or a piece of paper for playing games on. I want some feedback from gravity to know if my phone has gone silent because the connection dropped or I dropped it!

The better solution by far would be to combine a few of them so that my phone, pocket computer, camera and portable game machine all fit in one nice small (but not too small) package. If the manufacturers don't figure that out, they won't be selling them for much longer. The market for these things is hitting the point of diminishing to no returns.

And another new console design...

[Memetic]

Another new design called B'ngo,a sub $200 handheld console / phone is covered on The Register.

Cynical Nintendo marketing or just bad design?

[DrXym]

The GBA shipped with a shiny, glarey, barely visible screen with no backlight. Was this just gross incompetance on the part of Nintendo or part of some scheme to keep selling us new models that promise to fix the massive deficiencies in the last one? I find it hard to believe they didn't know, all the way through developing and testing the thing that the screen was so appalling. How much would the backlight circuitry have cost them? A few cents maybe?

Frankly, I might have bought more games for my GBA if I thought I could actually see them. Instead it sits in a drawer except for occasional forays in good lighting. Nintendo can go to hell if they think I'm going to make the same mistake twice.

Re:Cynical Nintendo marketing or just bad design?

[Anonymous Coward]

nintendo said that they had a given price they wanted to achieve with the GBA, and that they would rather include a bad screen than a slow processor since you can upgrade the screen later, but if you want to upgrade the processor, you'll have to change the games, and making a console obsolete after just one year is probably worse than what they've done now.

Uh, no.

[Viewsonic]

Nintendo has been doing little flip-open portable game systems long before Apple did anything cute with their computers.

Hmmm... GBA-SP or NGC?

[rickthewizkid]

I'm trying to decide which one I want. Both have their appeal.

Of course, One question I had when I heard about the GSP was that the e-reader wouldn't work with it. I would imagine that with the homebrew/demo scene that the original GBA would be better because one could decode the protocol used on the e-reader, print your own cards, and publish your own game that way. That, plus the GSP probably has new "license protection"/DRM/Region Coding/Developer lockout/authentication etc. that the original GBA doesn'have.

Just my Z80's worth
--RickTheWizKid

Flash Linkers?

[GothChip]

I'm waiting to get one when they are released in Europe.

Does anyone know if current Flask Linkers will work with the new GBA SP?

GBA-SP has no region lockout that the GBA had.

[Viewsonic]

And the NGC (Nintendo GameCube)will also have the GBAPlayer which attaches to the bottom of the NGC and will play all your GBA screens through the NGC on the TV Screen.

Re:With the size of a mini CD I don't see why Sony

[adzoox]

Current, "nearly CD diameter" CD Players get 20 hours off of two AA batteries. A Casio 4" TV gets about 4 hours off of two AA batteries. With a higher capacity LI ON or Polymer battery like the iPod has in it, the ability to play Mp3's and watch movies - like the rumored video iPod - could EASILY sell millions of units at $199. The gamecube could be shrunk, less controller, less bulk, less packaging = possibility to add the features I have mentioned. There would be almost ZERO cost for production (a little R&D) to produce a Gameboy cart interface for it. An entire gameboy "electronics set fits into a space about the size of a gameboy cart!

Besides, who YET has money money initially selling the hardware?

And I disagree with you. Cart games are EXPENSIVE to produce. optical games can be cranked out up to 20X faster and if I read right at Tokyo ETimes about this; a total "optical game" package costs even after royalty for about $4-$7 US. A cart costs up to $15 to produce.

Nintendo has LOST the home war. They will soon lose the portable war if they don't come up with something better than cartridges.

ARM processor

[ScannerBoy]

Anyone have any specs on the processor and when I can expect to install my favorite *nix version on the SP?

Come on, I can't be the only one who thought of it!