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Game Boy Advance SP Sells 1.1 Million in U.S.
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?
When the Backlight is on the screen gets all hazy from too much reflection and glare from it's own internal light. Also, let's not forget you have to pay extra to get a headphone jack. That extra accessory makes the GBASP a little less portable than the previous incarnation.
I think it would be intresting to see how many of those purchases where new or old gameboy users simply upgrading.
My only real problem with it is that the hinge doesn't act as a switch. That seemed like a no-brainer to me. Close the GBA, it turns off. Instead we get a goofy little switch on the side.
Oh, and the headphone adapter. What the hell is up with that?
--
the strongest word is still the word "free"
Anyone got ideas for what to do with an old GBA?
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
Jesus was a liberal
I got mine back in March, shortly before I came to Japan.
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...
With Nintendo pushing connectivity with the GameCube, I have commited the life of my original GBA as a controller for the GC. My SP is a little small to use for a controller for a console, and this way I don't have to hook/unhook the GBA every time I want to leave the house. I don't play the GameCube in the dark, so the lack of lighting is not a problem.
I bought a pair of hand-grips that mount to the thing and make it roughly the same width as a PSX controller. It seems to help out quite a bit, at least for me (and I bought the old larger XBox controller because the S controller that came with my XBox just isn't comfortable to me).
-PainKilleR-[CE]
How many hours of gameplay do you get out of a set of batteries ?
http://www.intellipool.se/ - Intellipool Network Monitor
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)
Ñ'
Really? Not to sound like a fanboy, but I've had an original GBA and recently upgraded to the SP. All the cramping I eventually would get from the original GBA has gone, and I put in hours at a time. It certainly looks like the new unit's ergonomics would be worse, but that's not been my experience.
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.
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).
Funny how the basics of what someone would like in a mobile device really help sell it. Maybe some of these pda companies should take note.
-Eod
Also, I've used the Afterburner with the original GBA, and it really doesn't compare to the SP lighting. The AB light had several dim spots and washed the colors out somewhat, and I don't notice much of that at all on the SP.
You've got it all wrong!
:)
:)
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
In never fails to impress me with how excited people get over these "innovations" in portable gaming. Those familiar with the turbo express have been enjoying a complete backlit screen with 16 bit (heh....here we go) graphics in slick black package for years. The turbo express also boasted a tv tuner and the ablility to share games with the standard console, a feat so impressive you actually have to see the Hu Cards to believe.
My beloved street fighter 2 even looked better on the turbo express than it did on the genesis (64 colors on screen at once, yuk)...if only you could get used to hitting select to alternate between punches and kicks.
You can usually spot one on ebay for around 100 bucks, a few games included...
Hard disk - already been done.
GBA IDE adaptor
=)
http://www.ncsx.com/ncs0420/goldgb.htm
Nintendo released the GameBoy Light in Japan. It featured an Indiglo-style backlight.
Needless to say, it tanked.
The Human Cow - bringing you scrumtrelescence since 1995
Keep it, damned! In a few years it will be worth more than the new one. It's how these things go: the original Jaguar E-type is the most coveted one, the original "breadbox" Commodore 64 is the one that has some value, unlike the newer Commodore 64-II (flat box), The Apple 1 motherboard is much more valuable than any Apple II, and the original Apple II is more valuable than the IIc or IIgs, and finally, the Sinclair Zx-80 is MUCH more valuable than the newer ZX-81. Etc etc etc....
Newer and improved technical goods almost always have less value as collectible items, than the models that entered the market.
Sigged!