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GPS for GBA
Grey Ninja writes "I just came across a preview for a new gadget that's going to be demoed at E3, which is a GPS and map attachment for your GBA. It should be mentioned that you can pre-order now and get $50 off. " I can't imagine very many useful applications for this, but it sure is nifty.
It's 11pm, do you know where your kids are?
Well... now you do!
The dangers of knowledge trigger emotional distress in human beings.
It's so you can track your kids! Or, umm, so your wife can track you?
I'll turn into a supernova and burn up everything. Well I'll turn into a black little hole and you'll turn into string.
Beings aspergers AND pulling chicks... I enjoy the challenge!
Just wait for Nintendo Club Airlines to start offering cheap flights to exotic places, to find your rare Pokémons at. =)
I know plenty of people that use a handheld and a GPS. Consolidating the number of devices I have to hold when geocaching would be a great thing... I currently have the GPS, a digital camera, and a Sidekick. I sometimes have to bring along other things like a headlamp, etc.
If I could have a reliable GPS unit that was attached to my PDA and it still functioned as well as a handheld one I would love it.
Nintendo really does have a monopoly on portable gaming. The GBA is 1/10 as powerful as most handheld PDAs, the screen is hard to see (even on the newer SP), and yet they come out with a GPS attachment for it that will only work for the GBA. Plus, I can't see entering address information with five buttons being very viable.
Though GPS on a GBA is somewhat nifty, I think that a normal compactflash (or other media style) of GPS unit for a PDA would be more useful.
Perhaps Nintendo can turn global navigation into a 2d mario-style game. Then, I could break the road blocks in my way by jumping up at them.
--- We need more Ron Paul!
To sum up a bunch of inevitable comments right now....
Why?
I'm sure this could be incorporated into the real-life pacman played on the streets of new york...
Yet another thing to lose when the tough guys come rolling...
Jay! Now i can know where i am without looking up from my games!
GAAH! MY PRINTER IS ON FIRE!!! PUT IT OUT! PUT IT OUT!
I can think of market that this might really appeal to... Backpackers and other travellers. Lots of gamers buy a GBA when travelling for a long time (something to do on the plane, etc). If they could use it when they get to their destination to help find their way around then I guess a fair number of nerdy backpackers would pay for one.
I know I would have killed for one of these when I was in London a little while ago. I kept getting lost at four in the morning in some maze of lanes near Soho, with my guidebook sitting on the couch where I was staying. A GBA is light and easy to carry/store, I'd rather haul that around than my Lonely Planet guide.
It seems like there's some sort of internal memory in the unit, in which case it should be able to simply download new maps (via USB maybe?). This would rock if you were travelling through Europe and staying in lots of large towns, for example. Just grab the next map at an internet café and you're set.
This is to say nothing of the possibilities with regards to GPS gaming. I can think of a bunch, especially if the games can be downloaded and localised. Among the more annoying/money making: Advertisers could have you unlock extra features of a game (secret Pokemon, etc) when you enter one of their stores...
The /. abstract suggested that there might not be many uses for GBA GPS, so I offered one; track your kids. If the satellite can find them and tell them where they are, it can sure as hell tell *you* where they are!
The dangers of knowledge trigger emotional distress in human beings.
Tarsnap: Online backups for the truly paranoid
It's about as useful as... any basic handheld GPS unit. I don't have much use for one myself, but a fair number of people seem to.
http://alternatives.rzero.com/
For years, I've driven with a triple-A card and a statewide mapbook on hand. I've seldom actually used either, but having them affords me a certain (justified or not) peace of mind in plunging into new automotive adventures.
GPS/maps increase that same sort of assurance, and this gizmo seems to significantly commoditize the technology. I suspect that lack of a specific application won't matter.
Seeing bad movies only encourages them. Watch responsibly
Thats why I brought my GameBoy wherever we went... on trips... to school... when we went camping... Because I KNEW there would be a practical purpose someday! (Aside from as a flashlight, if you've got the "I take 4 AA batteries yet my light only lasts a whole 2 hours" flashlight attachment.
-Imidazole2
...he asked where, not how. A better question would have been from whom. Anyway, we'd all appriciate the dope on the skinny. Errr, the skinny on the dope. Whatever.
Theres already alot of evidence that Pokemon regions are based on real places, with the wireless adapter you can goto see the 7th movie and it'll give you a special ticket toaccess the last pokemon in the pokedex not avaible any other way.
It wouldn't surprize me for them to use the GPS (if they also do it with the DS) so you can wander from tokyo and each area will have different pokemon. It could even make the area around you and turn it into a map (think diablo 2 style but with real stuff). Hell they could have it so as you move your character moves.
Very unlikely but it'd be a cool idea and might incourage a bit of tourism in Japan.
--- [Insert intresting Sig here]
Every body I know has been saying "Gameboys are great, but I'm not buying one until it has a GPS"
I think this internet thing sounds like a good idea
Maybe we'll have games that offer bonuses based on locations that you visit.
So far the majority of comments seem to be negative and describe the unit as junk, but despite my having no interest in owning any gameboy unit, this combo inrigues me - a hand-held GPS unit with (gasp!) a useful, legible map display - very nice, and a very smart way of accomplishing it. This is a product I'd consider.
Perhaps those commenters deriding the effort haven't bothered to read the site - that's just my speculation, but it wouldn't surprise me - oops, now I'm getting into flaimbait territory.
RTFM; please, I beg you.
$200? I can get a *VERY* nice GPS unit for a lot less.
It seems to me that add-on gadgets for PDA's or the GBA should be *CHEAPER* than stand alone versions. They don't have to include the screen, buttons or in some cases a CPU.
Why do add-ons cost *MORE*?
It would be especially good if all the products would be featured in separate stories!
Where are we Dad?
Dad, are we there yet?
Is it much farther, Dad?
Dad, how much farther is it?
Where are we Dad?
-1 Uncomfortable Truth
It's quite clear to me why there should be a GPS attachment here. How many times have you had your head down playing at your GBA, while walking to your destination, only to be completly dissoriented when you look up because you aren't in the place you thought you were.
Well now with the GPS attachment you can know where you are going and get there without ever missing a beat of high intensitty action.
lets see, its 100 for a gameboy advance sp and 200 for the gps unit, thats 300 dollars for a handheld gps with a 10 hour lion battery and a relatively large beatiful backlit color screen. it even weighs next to nothing and takes up very little space. assuming that they equip this thing with good color maps and offer a way to update them, tyhis would be an incredible deal.
Just go to Target and pick up a Garmin.
Less money and smaller total size.
And it works.
GBA SP is not backlit. It's frontlit with a uneven blue light. The display leaves much to be desired.
Complete your quest to save the world on your gameboy and in real life complete your GEOCACHING quest.
This company have are betting that people will pay roughly TWICE the price of a standard GPS unit purely for the novelty of being able to use their Gameboy.
Yet another company that just Doesn't Get It.
Seriously, someone should set up a forum where clueless, middle-aged marketing men can float their pricing strategies before shooting themselves in the foot like this.
Timmy in backseat: "Dad, are we there yet????" Are we there yet???"
Dad: "You tell me!"
I dont know if anyone has sugested this, but what better way to get johnny burn some calories then to have an over head game, simular to zelda, where the game movemeny comes from the NEMA data from the gps? This could give you direction, speed, and even jumping if it had enough resolution ( very very doubtfull, less little johnny can jump more then 2 meters). Just an idea I had.
-William
God is everything science has yet to explain.
I can't wait until I get my GPS merit badge...
I saw a poratable game in japan that had a light sensor and the gameplay was effected by how much light you were playing in(it was a vampire type game).
Imagine a game that was effected by where you were.
You could have kids exploring libraries and museums to find a rare item or a level boss. This could be very cool.
I have no
I can't imagine very many useful applications for this, but it sure is nifty.
Obviously, you've never been lost in the jungle with your Gameboy.
Cool idea, but unless they cut the price in half and start making cool games for it (and, I think GPS games will have their day in the sun soon...) this isn't going to fly.
Spell cheek you've failed me four the last thyme!
All they need is to add 802.11g in there and we'd have the ultimate incognito war-walking/driving/biking device!
A couple months ago I heard about a GPS system for the gameboy. It seemed more aimed at the Japanese market at the time. The one really cool idea I heard about the GPS was that Nintendo was going to be making games that relied on where you were in both time and space (the space they envisioned using was Tokyo). For instance, if the player is at the fish market at 4am instead of 7am with his gameboy, his character might be able to buy some really rare fish that he might not otherwise have been able to get. I know it's a strange example, but this of the wacky dynamics this could add to a game!! This would be similar to Majora's Mask, EXCEPT, it matters where the PLAYER is in time and space, not the character! I believe this was another attempt to by Nintendo to get gamers out of the house. Really, the idea is kind of a cross between Zelda: Marjora's Mask, the light sensing game (whatever it was called), and Animal Crossing. Not much good for us that don't live in Tokyo though. It'll be interesting to see what other more generic ideas they can come up with.
With wireless connectivity for GameBoys, I can imagine some pretty nifty peer-to-peer, realtime combat games....or some sort of detective-like game as a function of location (the mapping programs tell you where restaurants, motels, churches, schools, and other "points of interest" are and will give you directions for getting there, etc.) ...location-specific games, based on a generic game, informed by localized information. At minimum GPS+maps is a neat addon for a GBA, just like it is for a PDA.
Commander Taco says he cannot think of any uses for this gadget, which is a GPS unit. Ummm... here's a suggestion, maybe it would be useful for telling you where the hell you are? Or maybe it would be useful for telling you where you are going? Did you think about that?
not useful... mutter, mutter... idiot...
You can't imagine a useful application for a handheld GPS that provides real-time map and location information?
Got that imagination working overtime eh?