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The Gameboy Micro Reviewed

Advtg writes "Ars Technica has a great review of the Gameboy Micro, which is now shipping in North America. The thing is amazingly small, but it looks as though worries about the screen being too small and too dim aren't true. But will it sell? From the review: 'You'd think at this point the portable market would just be saturated with Nintendo products, and the Micro carries a price tag of US$99.99. For just US$30 more you can get a DS, and for US$20 less you can get an SP with the newly brightened screen. It occupies somewhat of an awkward place in terms of price point and features.'"

9 of 266 comments (clear)

  1. You can overanalyze it from a feature/function by joeflies · · Score: 5, Insightful
    perspective, but as the iPod Mini made perfectly clear, people will pay for "small is cool". How many people on this very board says "but for only $100 you get 16G more storage". Yet it was the mini in different colors that sold.

    How many people bought a Nano even though they had a perfectly fine player at home anyways?

    People don't buy on need or feature/function alone.

  2. This thing is tiny by Brent+Spiner · · Score: 5, Funny

    This makes the original Gameboy seem HUGE.

    --
    Reality test... am I dreaming?
  3. IGN Gameboy's Review by dividedsky319 · · Score: 5, Informative

    gameboy.ign.com's review of the Micro is actually pretty positive

    Here's the ending summary of it: The GB Micro isn't exactly the ideal way to enjoy Game Boy Advance games, but don't misjudge it by its size. Given the choice between toting a GBA SP in our backpacks or a GB Micro in our pockets, we'll take the Micro. It's tiny, its screen is amazing, and it is surprisingly comfortable to hold.

  4. The Bad by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Your girlfriend will make it pink. Fair warning.

    Haha, he assumes too much.

  5. Re:Why? by TMonks · · Score: 5, Funny

    Yeah, and its also just like if Apple decided to release some sort of smaller iPod along with the regular iPod. It just doesn't make sense.

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    I, for one, welcome our new karma-whore sig writing overlords
  6. Re:Innovation! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "Neither the rain nor the wind nor consumer opinion will stop Nintendo(TM) from trying to sell us ANOTHER copy of an already existing product it seems..."

    Funny that you should mention consumer opinion. Consumers (more respectfully known as "customers," BTW) vote with their wallets. And they have voted for Nintendo's handhelds in their various forms time and time again.

    Hoover updates their vacuum cleaner lines every once in a while. Sometimes prices change. Sometimes form factors change. Sometimes features change. Go pick the nits out of their hair. Because, just like vacuum cleaners, just maybe it's only in your silly little dreamland where you think people are expected to own EVERY SINGLE KIND. Besides, some might, and if they do, who are you to care?

    After all, the PSP grew the market to include pseudo-hipsters. The GBM is targeted at that same market. And in the same way that PSP sales HAVE NOT dented the DS market (PSP sales are by all measures separate and/or complementary to DS and GB sales), the GBM is not intended to cannibalize DS and GBA SP sales. It is intended for those who, for whatever reason, have not purchased previous GameBoys. Nintendo has very explicitly pronounced as much in public. How much clearer do you need things to be amde for you?

  7. FYI... by jxyama · · Score: 5, Informative
    Some of the things I've found out since I've had it for a few days...
    • The "black" version comes with the silver faceplate and the "silver" version comes with the black faceplate. (It confused me for a while...)
    • Battery lasts about 10 hours. (This was hard to find surprisingly...)
    • The shoulder buttons are pushed down on the inner side, not at the corner.
    • It's easier to hold than SP since the direction pad and A/B buttons are further apart.
    • Screen's crisp and gorgeous - you can "read" pretty much all text. Not much ghosting.
    • The one speaker is a bit on the light side. (Yeah, what did I expect...)
    • Volume control does not get in the way.
    • Headphone jack is a standard one (unlike SP) and does not get in the way even when plugged in.
    • The battery can be replaced on our own.
  8. Here I am sitting on the crapper... by Darius+Jedburgh · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...discretely playing Golden Sun 2 on my GBA Micro wondering how anyone could have problems imagining why they'd be popular. Any time I want a break at work off I go without even the slightest telltale bulge in my pocket to give away what I'm doing. Unfortunately I think the person in the next stall might have just spotted the laptop that I'm using in here to post this comment...

  9. Re:The biggest selling point by cornface · · Score: 5, Funny

    If the GC looks childish because it's small and square, then I want a childish system. Because it's a lot easier to take over to a friends house than that massive XBox, with the original massive controllers. Even the XBox 360 is a huge, I thought they learned the first time that nobody wants a 7 pound console.

    Whoa! 7lbs! How can you even LIFT it? A forklift is the only way. Two forklifts, one lifting from each end. And an anti-gravity machine. Probably twelve brawny strongmen, just for good measure.

    Do you take your console over to your buddy's house on your tricycle? Does it overbalance you? Any console on the market will easily fit into a grocery sack or backpack. Do you carry your Gamecube by the handle? If so, how do you hold the games, power brick, and controllers? In a bag? Why not just stick everything in the same bag? It's a magic bag of holding!

    Yo are correct in thinking that looking childish does not make something bad. This has several obvious corollaries.

    - Looking childish does not make something good.
    - Not looking childish does not make something bad.
    - Not looking childish does not make something good.

    The lesson in all this?

    If you buy groceries, you can carry a game console. Even a big 7lb whopper! If you eat your Wheaties you MAY even show off and carry it one-handed.