Game Boy Micro Announced

The Nintendo press conference this afternoon revealed the new Game Boy Advanced format: the Game boy Micro. The new handheld will play all GBA titles, and is only slightly larger than an iPod. From the article: "The sporty, silver metal Game Boy Micro measures a mere 4 inches wide, 2 inches tall and 0.7 inches deep, allowing it to sit comfortably alongside today's hippest technological gadgets. It weighs an astonishing 2.8 ounces, or about the weight of 80 paper clips. Yet Game Boy Micro has the same processing power and plays the same games as Game Boy Advance SP models, complete with standard face controls and gleaming shoulder and Start/Select buttons that literally shine." Photo available from the AP.

Comments

Tiny goodness

[M.C. Hampster]

Very nice. Although, that screen is obviously tiny. It's about 2/3rds the width of the cartriadge. They did say it was the best screen they've put on a handheld though.

If it's cheap enough, I'll probably pick one up.

Re:Tiny goodness

[vistic]

Well they can't put a huge screen on a tiny device.

I think it certainly does look pretty cool though. It really is a radical new look for anything Nintendo... I don't think they've ever made anything metal before. Usually it was all plastic. This looks more like an accessory people carry around at all times, rather than just another kid's toy.

good job Nintendo.

Re:Tiny goodness

[Reignking]

The price is going to be very important in determining if this will be successful or not. Very interesting to see Nintendo offering multiple levels of portable gaming: Micro, Gameboy, and DS.

Re:Tiny goodness

[rsmith-mac]

2" diagonal to be precise, so it's very small.

Re:Tiny goodness

[Yorrike]

Sorry, but you're wrong on the screen size. Currently, a GBA cartridge can fit comfortably inside the dimensions of a GBA or GBA SP screen. If you take a look at the micro pics, you'll see the screen is smaller than the width of the cartridge, and therefore, smaller than the current GBA's screen.

And the GBA SP has a rechargable battery, so that's nothing new.

Going Out on a Limb Here...

[GTRacer]

The people who think an SP is just too bulky and clamor for the Micro probably live in a standard Xbox controller, right?

Seriously, for me, the SP is about as small as I can stand handgrip-wise. I know this Micro returns to the GBA formfactor, but why? The SP seems to be the right balance of size, heft, and comfort. And screen visibility/legibility.

GTRacer
- What's in your wallet?

Re:Going Out on a Limb Here...

[IpalindromeI]

At first I also thought the wrist position you needed to maintain for a good viewing angle on the SP was awkward. But then I realized that if you tilt the screen a bit more, it snaps softly into a position that transforms it from an acute angle into a slightly obtuse angle. This actually makes it easier to hold than the GBA, in my opinion, because you can position your wrists almost naturally.

In case my explanation is failing, here's an attempt at ASCII art to display the idea:

Crappy Good
\ <- screen \ <- screen
\_____ \
|
|

Re:Going Out on a Limb Here...

[FriedTurkey]

Plus the SP covers the screen when you carry it around so it doesn't get scratched up.

Re:Best gameboy

[Dwedit]

Doom is available, not quake. A set of emulated Atari 2600 games are also available.
You can buy a Majesco Wireless Link cable for GBA, it's not Wi-fi though.

Micro announced???

[xerxesVII]

Who cares?
Electroplankton is being released stateside!

Too Tiny!

[ArielMT]

This reminds me of the Sony Watchman and all the other micro TV sets when they hit the market en force. (I remember an episode of Home Improvement, I think it was, where something happened to the great room TV, and everyone tried watching football on a screen this small... With a magnifying glass, no less.)

If you don't need glasses yet, I'd wager that the eye strain from trying to play this thing will make you need a pair right quick.

Nice

[rAiNsT0rm]

Now if it is priced low enough and the release a NES controller faceplate it's mine. Very nice design and idea, I just wish they could get the technology down to $49.99 because too many bought a GBA, then a GBA SP, now this. Or even a trade in system as before would be nice.

iPod Mini

[Ionizer7]

The submitter said it is slightly larger than an iPod, I believe it should say "slightly larger than the iPod Mini"

Just in case there was any question...

[Txiasaeia]

...from the press release: "Game Boy Micro represents the latest evolution in the image of the Game Boy Advance line, but it is not a successor to any current system."

All I have to say is THANK GOODNESS. I love my SP, and have no problems if other people want to buy this Micro, but I'm extremely glad that this isn't the GBA's successor. The entire reason I love my GBA SP is because of the clamshell design - my GB, GBC, and GBA all had their screens scratched to hell because of the open design.

Having said that, now that they're milking the GBA design for all it's worth & expanding the line with GBA v3, it's going to be a very long time before we get the GBA's successor, innit?

why?

[solidsnake5014]

Why is nintendo re-re-releasing the GBA? They have a brand new hand held out now and should be concentrating on it. Not bashing the GBA though its great, but seriously how stupid does Nintendo think the public is?

Re:why?

[elhedran]

Its called accessing new parts of the market.

For instance, if I have a portable games machine, I want it to be portable. Frankly the DS is too big to fulfill this requirement. So was the first GBA.

This though, this would take up less room than a wallet or a set of keys. This you could pick up and take with you without feeling like you should be packing a backpack or something.

Hence, they are really going after the people who look at the other systems and say 'they are too big'. Its much the same as when Apple released the iPod mini. Didn't do anything the existing iPods didn't do, but was smaller.

Comparisons

[pat_trick]

The GBA Mirco is to the GBA / SP as the Gameboy Pocket is to the original Gameboy.

People will purchase the new one in spite of the original working just as well.

Re:It's not really new, is it?

[barawn]

but my hands get cramped enough on the SP that I can't imagine anything smaller or thinner than that.

GB Micro: 4" wide, 0.7" thick
GBA SP: 3.2" wide, ~0.9" thick

It's not smaller, as far as your hands are concerned. It's wider. A little thinner, but really not much (maybe not even, I'm not sure those numbers are the 'unfolded' numbers). Smaller than the original GBA's 5.7", but still wider than the GBA SP.

Units!

[Ibiwan]

When will they get this right? 80 paperclips? What is that in Library of Congress Index Cards?

Re:Best gameboy

[rebe01]

The largest official collection of Atari2600 games can be found in the Aspyr Activision Anthology. It contains about 52 Atari 2600 games, some of which are prototypes that were never released. The cartridge also contains the box art and manual for every single game, and many of them are multiplayer. There is also a score board, which keeps track of all of your high scores, and you can also earn patches (like you used to be able to in real life) for getting certain high scores in the games. I own this collection, and i've spent more time with it than with any other GBA title out there.

It's not small.

[bynary]

Here's a size comparison photo of the GB Micro: GB Micro. It looks to be about the size of a NES controller, something I would hardly call uncomfortably small.