DEBRO Posted January 7, 2003 Share Posted January 7, 2003 While driving into work today I heard that Nintendo is releasing another GBA this spring? Did anyone else hear this? Is there news about this on the web I can read? From what I heard it's suppose to be more compact but that's all I got as I was suprised to hear it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lost Monkey Posted January 7, 2003 Share Posted January 7, 2003 This is it.. the GBA SP. It folds into a 3" square. It is backlit with the ability to turn the light off... I like the layout of the original GBA better, with the d-pad and buttons on the left and right of the screen... News available at: www.planetgamecube.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DEBRO Posted January 7, 2003 Author Share Posted January 7, 2003 I like the orginal design better too. So I guess from the sales of the Afterburner, Big N realized they made a mistake by not giving us a back light? Thanks for the link. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy_Dude Posted January 7, 2003 Share Posted January 7, 2003 Yeah what bastards. The site Lost Monkey gave says that SP is front-lit like the Afterburner What??? After everyone saying it was back-lit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeybastard Posted January 7, 2003 Share Posted January 7, 2003 It figures. I just got one of the older designs and went out and bought a light. I purposely found one that would fold and cover the screen when not in use too. Looks like they cover all of that now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted January 7, 2003 Share Posted January 7, 2003 This new Gameboy Advance is *almost* exactly what I was hoping Nintendo would produce: a backlist GBA with a rechargeable battery. However, they opted to go with front-lighting instead, and the clamshell design is completely unexpected! I'm sure a real backlit LCD screen would look better than front-lighting, but even if it looks only as good as the Afterburner (and it probably will look better) than I'll buy one the moment they are available. You can find more information (including links to some good pictures of it) in this Slashdot article: Slashdot: New Gameboy Announced ..Al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NebraskaDragon Posted January 7, 2003 Share Posted January 7, 2003 This sounds great and all, but look where the buttons are? The D-pad and buttons are so close together they arent any wider than the game cart! You can tell because you can see the cart in the photo. Go grab one of your GBA games and pretend the buttons are on it. Thats stinkin tiny! Plus the shoulder buttons? I am undecided on this one. I might stick with my GBA with Afterburber. I wont know until I see the screen quality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lost Monkey Posted January 7, 2003 Share Posted January 7, 2003 This sounds great and all, but look where the buttons are? The D-pad and buttons are so close together they arent any wider than the game cart! You can tell because you can see the cart in the photo. Go grab one of your GBA games and pretend the buttons are on it. Thats stinkin tiny! Plus the shoulder buttons? I am undecided on this one. I might stick with my GBA with Afterburber. I wont know until I see the screen quality. This was the biggest problem I've had with every incarnation of the GameBoy... the d-pad / button placement.. and the reason why I never bought one until the GBA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DEBRO Posted January 7, 2003 Author Share Posted January 7, 2003 This sounds great and all, but look where the buttons are? The D-pad and buttons are so close together they arent any wider than the game cart! You can tell because you can see the cart in the photo. Go grab one of your GBA games and pretend the buttons are on it. Thats stinkin tiny! Plus the shoulder buttons? I am undecided on this one. I might stick with my GBA with Afterburber. I wont know until I see the screen quality. I look at the button placement as it relates to the screen. It doesn't seem too bad. I bought my GBA when they first came out and then added an Afterburner so I don't think I'll be investing any more money into another unit. I would like to see how it performs in the dark. Seeing as the Big N is going to put this light in before shipping it may be a better light source than the Afterburner. Hmm...I wonder if the Big N actually used Afterburners or reverse engineered them. I know they were interested in the project when it began. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacGurl Posted January 7, 2003 Share Posted January 7, 2003 I think it looks sweet! This sucker will be buying one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
z28in82 Posted January 7, 2003 Share Posted January 7, 2003 well this even bigger sucker will not be buying one, Sorry I have XL hands (actual glove size) and that thing is just to damn tiny. and I can't wait till someone opens it too hard and breaks the screen away. No thanks I'll keep my old GBA spank you very much :wink: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NE146 Posted January 7, 2003 Share Posted January 7, 2003 I like the orginal design better too. So I guess from the sales of the Afterburner, Big N realized they made a mistake by not giving us a back light? Thanks for the link. Nintendo didn't make a big mistake.. they knew all the time what they were doing. I mean is there any of us who didn't know that eventually they WOULD release a GBA w/ backlight? I've always told those who were complaining about the lack of GBA backlight: "don't worry.. once they sell enough GBA's and it slows down a bit THEN they'll release the backlight version" ... and sure enough here we are. I mean it's so obvious Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacGurl Posted January 7, 2003 Share Posted January 7, 2003 well this even bigger sucker will not be buying one, Sorry I have XL hands (actual glove size) and that thing is just to damn tiny. and I can't wait till someone opens it too hard and breaks the screen away. No thanks I'll keep my old GBA spank you very much :wink: I have extra small hands..so this is perfect for me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RangerG Posted January 7, 2003 Share Posted January 7, 2003 Oh man -- I just won first place in my fantasy football league so $200 is coming my way and this might be the thing to spend it on . I assume the e-card reader will work on it. I could thus have a nice little classic portable machine for airplane trips and long car drives. By the way, anyone have and play the e-card reader? How are the games and is it worth it? I know $5 a game is great and I love the classics, but wiping 5 different cards to load each game seems like it would be a major pain and cards seems so flimsy like they would wear out fast. Comments anyone? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NE146 Posted January 7, 2003 Share Posted January 7, 2003 Oh man -- I just won first place in my fantasy football league so $200 is coming my way and this might be the thing to spend it on . I assume the e-card reader will work on it. I could thus have a nice little classic portable machine for airplane trips and long car drives. By the way, anyone have and play the e-card reader? How are the games and is it worth it? I know $5 a game is great and I love the classics, but wiping 5 different cards to load each game seems like it would be a major pain and cards seems so flimsy like they would wear out fast. Comments anyone? I got it (and a bunch of classic cards) for christmas. It's pretty good. But don't forget it's the NES versions of those games. So Donkey Kong is the NES version.. and thus is missing all the same stuff from the arcade that the NES version did. Ditto for Donkey Kong Jr. The cards seem pretty sturdy. Mind you I don't really take them out too much (and a couple I haven't even opened yet). So I can't comment on the long term durability. But it's not such a hassle to swipe the cards as it goes by pretty quick. And afterwards, you can save the game on the e-reader so you don't have to redo it.. however if you constantly change games then yeah, I can see it being a hassle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MegaManFan Posted January 7, 2003 Share Posted January 7, 2003 It's cheaper than buying another GBA, an Afterburner kit, ruining both with my clumsy soldering and electronics skills and having to buy another of each; not to mention the saved labor time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cupcakus Posted January 7, 2003 Share Posted January 7, 2003 This is awesome!!!!! Why oh why did you have to show me that! :-) Now I wont sleep until I can buy one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starscream Posted January 7, 2003 Share Posted January 7, 2003 From what I saw on TV and read today, it sounds like it will be "edge lit". I guess the lighting goes all around the edges of the screen but only in so far. It also comes with a rechargeable battery pack so no need to replace batteries and it's battery life is 18 hours without the light and 10 with it. Plus, I guess it will play ALL Gameboy games. With that coming and the GB to GC adapter port thingy, I can be playing the GC forever Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NE146 Posted January 7, 2003 Share Posted January 7, 2003 Check out the resemblance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ze_ro Posted January 8, 2003 Share Posted January 8, 2003 I assume the e-card reader will work on it. I imagine it would... although you might want to keep in mind that since the cartridges plug in the bottom of this new unit, the e-Reader might be in an awkward position... I wonder if they'll redesign that too? It always seemed excessively large to me... (Which reminds me... old Gameboy games will also stick out the bottom... I wonder if that will be uncomfortable or not) (Anyone else think there might be problems with old hardware fitting onto this new device, like the GC link and such?) I think it's odd that they don't plan to include a headphone jack... anyone else catch that? Plus, this thing is almost microscopic... I like vertical handhelds more than horizontal... but my hands are way too big for something like this. It'll likely feel all clumsy (Hell, the normal GBA feels clumsy in my hands already, making it smaller sure won't help... good thing I still have a Lynx). I look forward to some comparisons between the various lighting solutions that will be available... I'm too chicken to open up my new GBA and tinker with it, so I'll probably just settle for a worm light of some kind (unfortunately, most of them are excessively lame, with "blob" shapes and bone shapes and such). Also, anyone else think it's weird that one of the main things they point out are the colors that will be available? Did I miss a meeting, or am I the only one who really doesn't give a crap about the case color as long as it's not plaid or something? --Zero Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Punisher5.0 Posted January 8, 2003 Share Posted January 8, 2003 That new GBA looks very cool. I like the notebook look. The only thing I wish Nintendo would do is add two more action buttons . Come on, thats all im asking for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Channel 2 Posted January 8, 2003 Share Posted January 8, 2003 Also, anyone else think it's weird that one of the main things they point out are the colors that will be available? Did I miss a meeting, or am I the only one who really doesn't give a crap about the case color as long as it's not plaid or something? I was puzzled too, when I started getting interested in the GBA. It's been a long time since I was interested in a current system, so I didn't know if it's just the way it's done now, or something new with the GBA, which seems to be the case. Anyway, the odd thing is the colors themselves. If they're going to make a big deal about it, you'd think they'd give you more options, or at least better looking ones. It looks like they're trying to make them 'cool' and dull at the same time. Maybe the idea is to emphasize case color to draw attention from the dark murky screen, without upstaging it with actual vivid colors. I really want an SP, just give me the silver one in the pictures. Or the black one, but black's way overdone. If they really want my attention, they should have a special Atari branded one, black with woodgrain and silver trim. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NE146 Posted January 8, 2003 Share Posted January 8, 2003 Also, anyone else think it's weird that one of the main things they point out are the colors that will be available? Did I miss a meeting, or am I the only one who really doesn't give a crap about the case color as long as it's not plaid or something? Nah they always emphasize that (at least as of late). Anyway.. it's a COLLECTOR'S thing Yeah we many not give a crap about it now (I sure as heck don't). But just think in 20-30 years from now. The collectors will just "gotta catch em all" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted January 8, 2003 Share Posted January 8, 2003 I don't really care about the colors, I'm more concerned with the ergonomics. This thing is pretty small, only 3" x 3" x 1". The controls are much closer together than they are on a GBA. However, they are probably pretty close to the original Gameboy, which I didn't have any problems holding. However, I bet this is more top-heavy than the GBA due to the screen being folded out. Guess we'll have to wait until they're released to find out. ..Al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
z28in82 Posted January 8, 2003 Share Posted January 8, 2003 What I can't wait to see is how sturdy the hinge is gonna be on this thing, I mean just how gentile do you think a teen is goona be with theis thing especially if (s)he throws ist in his bag for school or wherever else (s)he may go? And what is witht he trend of making every damn thing so much smaller and easier to lose? Seriously, what ever happened to "bigger is better?" It still works with cars at least why not games? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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