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Gameboy Advance SP Released Today in North America
Txiasaeia writes "The latest version of Nintendo's venerable Gameboy has been released today in North America. The Gameboy Advance SP builds upon its predecessor by adding a front lit display, and a foldable design in order to protect the screen. Also, instead of using AA batteries to power the device, it uses a
Lithium-Ion battery. Other than that, the basic architecture of the system remains the same as the original Gameboy Advance. Most online retailers' first shipment has been sold out, but my local Walmart had plenty of copies.
Check out this Gamespy review." I snagged one at lunch today. The screen is vastly improved from the original GBA. Now the only question is how many Pokemon I can collect ;) (And yes Hemos, we got you one too ;)
Today? Sheesh... you're behind the times. Roomie got his yesterday! :)
When is the Gamecube device to let you play GBA games on the Gamecube coming out? That would be worth purchasing, especially if it let you play games as if you had 2 GBAs linked.
Job? I don't have time to get a job! Who will sit around and bitch about being broke and unemployed then?
These features should had all been in the original GBA release. It's a nice addition to a already good gaming system, but I can't help but think I wasted money on the original release.
Unless I am completely insane, it seems they have forgotten to include a headphone jack on the unit I messed around with. Anyone else find it?
Gameboy is the last refuge of new, quality 2-D gaming. Am I the only one that misses spirites? I remember thinking someday we'd have anime quality 2-D games, now I guess I'll never see animation quality Street Fighter IX in an arcade. =/
"You know why you do not see me styling wit my homies? Because I have no homies!!" -Mojo Jojo
It seems as though Nintendo is slowly coming out of it's slumber. They are beginning to realize what their fans have been clamoring for, and are trying to give the fans what they want. The original GBA comes out and no one can see anything without a spot light on the screen, so they release a new GBA with a lit screen and rechargeable batteries. The GameCube isn't marketed well, so they offer free games with every purchase. Original NES fans want their favorite series revamped, so they get Metroid Prime, and other oldies to be shown at E3 (perhaps Earthbound). Nintendo perhaps finally realizes the threat that Microsoft can pose and that soley by marketing out the ying-yang, they have taken a sizeable portion of the pie. Maybe the GBA SP is but another small step towards the agressive Nintendo we grew up with in the 80's.
"Chances of RHIC-induced Armageddon are exceedingly rare, but... you never know." - MIT Physicist Bob Jaffe
I had a chance to hold the new GameBoy Advance SP.
Big problem--it doesn't fit your hands comfortably. I like the older GBA design because all the controls fit your hands very comfortably.
no link?
Interestingly I was wandering through BestBuy two days ago and there, on the shelf, not drawing any attention to itself (heck, it was almost hidden) was several GBA SPs. I had to blink twice, cuz I knew they were not supposed to be out yet.
:)
I guess some stock-dude just put them out there not knowing to hold off until today. No one was grabbing them, but I did.
-- David
David Whatley
this is probably very good for nintendo since the gamecube doesn't seem to be competeing as strong in the console market. sony may snag a lot of the share with PS's but there is basically no competition at all for gameboys.
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Since I installed my Afterburner GameBoy light kit many many many months ago for practically nothing, I have no need for a barely improved piece of gaming hardware that doesn't really offer me anything more for the cost.
What a waste.
Those of you that will use this device in public may want to know that it does not have a headphone jack built-in. You have to buy a seperate add-on ($5) that plugs into the expansion port.
I picked up mine yesterday and the screen is evenly lit, and even the darkish Castlevania game is playable in a dim room.
Whenever the offence inspires less horror than the punishment, the rigour of penal law is obliged to give way...
You can return your old Gameboy Advance for 40 dollars off a Gameboy Advance SP. Seems like a pretty fair and reasonable deal to me. I plan on doing that myself.
..There's a-dooin's a-transpirin'
everyone makes fun of my GBA because it is pink, they call it "gay". that is why i will get the purple GBA SP. no one wants to borrow it, so more advance wars and castlevania for me. i can not wait to get my hands on one, but do not want to go to wal-mart. you will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.(/geeky star wars reference)
I hate sigs.
next friday old chap, that's the 28th...
Pfft - Sorry, what?
I hate Nintendo. I've bought almost every Gameboy released in the U.S. since its inception: The original Gameboy in 1989, the colored Gameboy (NOT the GB Color!) in 1995, the thin Gameboy in 1998, the Gameboy Color in 2000, and the GBA Advance in 2001, for which I even bought the Afterburner for $35 (it's now $25). Now Nintendo releases a Gameboy with a clamshell design, a built-in lighting system, and a rechargable battery, and again I am awash in gadget envy. Well, at least I can take solace in the fact that I'm not a total idiot, I didn't buy the Virtual Gameboy!
Sony was successful in pulling the console market out from under nintendo; why have they basically left nintendo free to dominate the hand-held market? One would have to imagine sony could put out a rad product, perhaps using memory stick for game dl'ing instead of proprietary cartridges.
If I could make this sig kill you, I would.
I hate liberals. If you are a liberal, do not reply.
I'm glad I bought a GBA at Christmas. You know, a week before they announced SP for the first time?
My good looks paid for that pool, and my talent filled it with water.
I cant wait for someone to come out for an emulator! I was getting kind of tired shining a desk lamp at my monitor...
but it's truly bizarre that they didn't include it built in
For the same reason that tablet PCs and smaller laptop PCs don't have all the ports built in and need a "port replicator". There's just not enough space on the case.
after all it has a speaker anyway
Unlike the headphone connector, the internal speaker is monaural. Monaural audio is ill suited for first-person shooters such as Doom (now available for GBA) or 007 (coming soon for GBA).
The biggest problem that I have found so far with the description of the headphone/charger jack is that I haven't seen pictures of a headphone dongle with a passthru for AC, so I can't play with stereo sound and mains power at the same time; I would have to wait for the thing to recharge.
Will I retire or break 10K?
The real gem-feature of the GBA SP is the screen, which is perfect for watching television or DVD's (with the tv tuner). I hardly even play games on it. It's become my little entertainment center, and I can take it to school or work.
IT HAS NINJA CONCEALING CAPABILITIES!!
I plug my portable DVD/SVD player into the TV tuner and watch movies ALL the time. The backlit/flipout screen improves this by 100 fold because it's just like having a small television screen. Sharp picture, too. Very nice.
My only grip is the lack of stereo sound. But it's really okay! Doesn't affect the sound quality too much. GG NINTENDO.
Yep. You Europeans also get it in normal, non-metallic colors. I've read in a few places that the metallic paint the SP uses gets scratched way too easily.
I picked mine up yesterday. I havn't bought a GB since the original back when I was 13. Screen: Looks good. Nice colors, no streaking when scrolling, with the backlight on it looks good in any light. With the light off, you need some direct light to see it really, sunlight or a bright room. Battery: I charged it up yesterday and like they advertise, I got about 10 hours of play with the backlight on! Comfort: It fits nicely in my pocket when folded up and is comfortable in the hands when playing. I particularily like the flat buttons. I remember the directional pad became uncomfortable on the thumb after extended play. Not this one. I played Phantasy Star for 4 hours straight and no gamer's thub :)
Drawbacks: It's a bit dissapointing that you need to buy an adapter to plugin headphones. I also appear to be missing a cable to play with my friends. I've been out of the GB world for a while, however, my original did ship with the cable to play head to head games.
Overall: I can't put it down. I especially love the compact size.
Hmm.. looks like it's all charged up again. Back to Phantasy Star (yes, you can use it while it is plugged in, but I was hungry too)
I've bought almost every Gameboy released in the U.S. since its inception: The original Gameboy in 1989, the colored Gameboy (NOT the GB Color!) in 1995
Ahh, the "Play It Loud" series of brick-form-factor Game Boy systems with different color cases. It's a good thing you qualified it with "almost" because you can't claim to have one every GB system unless you have all colors, including the limited editions that were only available as prizes in a Nintendo Power sweepstakes. Collectors have driven up the eBay prices for those.
I have a brick GB, a Super Game Boy (GB->SNES adapter), a GBC, and a GBA, that is, one of each platform. But I also have a Virtual Boy, and you don't. Nyeh!
Do you program?
Will I retire or break 10K?
There are a lot of messages posted right now from people complaining about ergonomics and lack of a head phone jack. There are already 3rd party accessories out to deal with these problems... partially.
I must have missed the CNN story where the cybernetic clones of Sam Walton burst into recording studios and game developer offices and started executing people at random until the content met their specifications.
If, by force, you mean they refuse to sell content that a large portion of their clintelle, (particularly those in the Bible Belt South where Wal-Mart has their primary stronghold) might find offensive then get over yourself.
They also don't sell the finest porno mags but I'm not going to boycott them because they don't sell what I want.
Here's where someone says, "but Wal-Mart is a huge soul-crushing corporation" to which I say there is nothing that Wal-Mart sells that I can't get elsewhere.
That's not saying I love Wal-Mart..I personally dislike them because when they come into town they are the equivalent of retail MOAB which has killed many downtown areas in small towns all across the country..but they don't have shock troops running around forcing content providers to change their plans..
I bought an import on EBay several weeks ago. I'm quite pleased with the system. I had previously bought Golden Sun and a GBA based on some strong reviews of it. I found the original GBA to be essentially unplayable. The small, dark screen was just too unpleasant for my adult (age 35) eyes to handle. I gave up on Golden Sun after a few hours.
The SP model is an amazing difference. I'd have preferred a true backlight, but what they provided is *almost* as good. It's a clever frontlighting system that puts some sort of glowing stripe on all four sides of the screen, hidden from view by the case.
The big problem with all the regular GBA lighting systems was that there were direct reflections and glare. (the Afterburner system is apparently better, but I haven't seen it.) This indirect front-lighting system is nearly perfect. You can see a sort of shimmering 'fringe' effect of widely-spaced squares (which I think are third-order reflections) if you are using it in a very dark room, but it's honestly barely noticeable, and about 20 seconds into the game you'll forget about it.
It seems pretty hard to use, though, in very bright light. This is a little ironic, because the original GBA required extremely bright light to be playable. This one is best in a slightly darkened room. The recessed screen doesn't pick up outside light sources well, and its frontlight is easily drowned out by more than normal room brightness. For outdoor use, you may actually prefer the original GBA.
Complaints: I wish the screen were just a *little* bigger, but it's usable. The lack of a headphone jack is also quite annoying. And I wish they'd stayed with regular AA batteries. I have the NiMH rechargeables, which pack an amazing amount of power in a small space. I'd have preferred to be able to charge up 2 or 3 pairs for an extended roadtrip. 10 hours isn't bad, but with regular AAs you have essentially unlimited battery life.
Nitpicks notwithstanding, this is the system Nintendo should have shipped originally. I'm quite happy with mine.
...If you really wanted one of these units. Like the last GBA release, there is no region lockout on the games or the hardware. No reason not to buy early. The big advantage is being the envy of every geek who sees you playing it on the subway.
I'm tired of bombing the universe
What kills me is that the "new" SP finally has a lighted screen and still the game quality doesn't pass on what TurboGrafix was doing in 1991. I still have an 'old' TurboGrafix Express with lighted screen, TV Tuner, and the game quality is on the same level as what is offered on the 'new' GameBoy Advanced system. Don't get me wrong, the SP is a nice design and a good system, but why in the world haven't they evolved the technology further. Nintendo would rather capitalize on existing mass appeal than develop something that has some real processing power. Even the Pocket PCs have better processors and gaming abilities. Why Nintendo, why? I think Microsoft should make a pocket XBOX, then at least we would have the best technology at the time instead of what the console manufacturers think they can get by with and still sell units. WindowsXP Embedded on a 640x480 screen and call it Pocket XBOX. LOL
No reason not to buy early.
Except that early is more expensive. Lik Sang was selling imported units for about $130, as opposed to $100 from Wal-Mart and Best Buy this week. Add shipping, and you're looking at a big incentive to wait unless you're a rich early adopter.
Will I retire or break 10K?
executing people at random until the content met their specifications.
In many areas, Wal-Mart has a geographic monopoly on trading factory-wrapped video games for cash (no Gamestop/Babbage's, no Best Buy, no Circuit City, no Meijer, no Kmart, etc). Thus, if publishers can't sell at Wal-Mart, they can't sell at all. And if the publishers don't sell, the developers dont eat. And if the developers don't eat, they die.
Will I retire or break 10K?
Sure, you can get it here for $69.
There are 2 kinds of people in this world: Those who write in decimal and those who don't
The buttons are recessed slightly, so it takes a bit of time to get used to. Also, they're slightly smaller than the original GBA, so larger hands might find it awkward, especially with the new configuration. It's also harder to do a soft-reset (which may or may not be a bad thing).
The sound is significantly better (IMO), probably due to the placement of the speaker. It's smack in the middle of the device, so your palms won't muffle the sound (a la GBA). Still, no headset jack.
The shoulder buttons are smaller (L & R), but after a couple of games, it's not noticeable.
The cartridge slot is at the bottom, so certain peripherals like the Kirby tilt module won't work, and the digital camera attachments might be weird to work with.
The AC adapter is really well made, with the prongs folding inside so it's easy to transport. It's also small (about 3/4" x 1.5" x 2") and light. Too bad it's still a wall-wart design.
The screen is now protected due to the design, but the plastic doesn't feel that robust. I'm thinking that it can get easily scratched (though I'm not going to try to find out).
Other than that, I'm *highly* impressed with the GBA SP. If you have a GBA without the Afterburner kit, try to sell it to kid next door or give it to some young relatives. It's just that good. For only $100US, you get an amazing piece of hardware that can entertain you longer than a $2k laptop can on a flight overseas. 9.5/10
Nintendo has done this before.
Gameboy Pocket. Gameboy Pocket Light.
Sony did it with the PSOne.
Of course, this is preferable I think to having later iterations of the same platform LOSE useful features of the earlier ones. (Later versions of the sega genesis and playstation)