Gameboy DSlite Screen VS. GBA SP for GBA Gaming

[Rick Dangerous]

Okay, have been getting back into the handhelds recently and basically i'm looking for the best possible screen to play GBA games on. When I started playing GBA games on my DS lite recently I noticed that the screen is cropped and looks a little small. Supposedly that's because the resolution is different than the GBA, and supposedly better?

 

Also, i've learned recently that if you want to game on a GBA SP, the model to get is the GBA SP+ (model #, AGS 101) which is back lit rather thank front lit and looks much better.

 

So my questions are:

 

-Can anyone confirm that the DS lite GBA game display is in fact smaller in size that the GBA Sp Screen?

 

-Do people prefer to game on their Lite (with the superior resoloution) or their GBA SP+ (with a slightly bigger screen)?

 

Thanks, and looking forward to hearing peoples perspective on this!

[Jess Ragan]

I don't think the higher resolution of the DS would matter that much, since GBA games would display in their native resolutions. You might be able to stretch them out to the full size of the DS screen, but I wouldn't recommend that.

 

Anyway, one thing I noticed about GBA games on the DS Lite is that the color saturation is out of control. Oranges in particular are bright enough to singe off your eyebrows.

[Skippy B. Coyote]

-Can anyone confirm that the DS lite GBA game display is in fact smaller in size that the GBA Sp Screen?

 

-Do people prefer to game on their Lite (with the superior resoloution) or their GBA SP+ (with a slightly bigger screen)?

 

 

The DS Lite does shrink down the screen size on GBA games to keep them in the proper aspect ratio and resolution. The pixels on the DS Lite screen are smaller than those on the GBA SP, so in order to keep the games displayed in their native resolution the screen size gets shrunken down a bit. I still find GBA games comfortable to view and on the DS Lite screen, and the backlight brightness can be turned up even brighter than on the AGS-101 model GBA SP, but ultimately I do prefer the larger screen size (and more balanced color saturation, as Jess mentioned) of the GBA SP. I also find the backlight brightness on the AGS-101 model GBA SP to be more than sufficient; so that's what I use to play all my GBA games. The DS Lite is a fine system if you play a lot of DS games as well as GBA games and is quite capable of displaying GBA games in a comfortable viewing size, but if you're just going to be playing GBA games I do think the larger screen of the backlit AGS-101 model SP is the best way to enjoy them.

[Rick Dangerous]

Thanks guys. I bought my Lite specifically to play GBA games (no loss its a cool Gold Triforce edition) but found the GBA screen to be just a bit small and "off" looking.

 

Looks like I need to track down a GBA SP AGS-101!

[Mord]

You know, I never even realized there was a front and back lit model for the SP... I figured they were all the same, which I guess shows how little I play them.

 

I looked over mine and I have one AGS-101, and two AGS-001. I'd definitely say get a 101. I turned on all 3 of mine and put them next to each other, and the 101, with it's backlighting OFF was slightly brighter than the 001's with their frontlighting on.

[roland p]

To me the screens are not that different from each other, but I prefer my original GBA modded with AGS-101 due to ergonomics.

Also, the ability to run original gb/gbc games is a big plus, although you can run emulators (I'm playing tg-16 boxyboy through nitrografx right now since my gp2x is defective...) on the ds...

Edited July 7, 2015 by roland p

[Jess Ragan]

Now's a good time to show off my custom orange Game Boy Advance SP for no reason!

 

I purchased a raggedy old GBA SP from someone on CheapAssGamer, and replaced its scratched up case with an orange one I found on eBay. Then I designed a stencil of my character Byron and asked another AtariAge member, IceManXP300, to print off a few vinyl decals of it. A few applications of spraypaint later, I had this! Not perfect, but pretty slick regardless.

 

By the way, if you're in the market for vinyl decals, look IceManXP300 up. Dude knows his stuff. Good prices, too! I got twice the product for half the price Car Stickers.com charged me.

[Rick Dangerous]

Now's a good time to show off my custom orange Game Boy Advance SP for no reason!

 

I purchased a raggedy old GBA SP from someone on CheapAssGamer, and replaced its scratched up case with an orange one I found on eBay. Then I designed a stencil of my character Byron and asked another AtariAge member, IceManXP300, to print off a few vinyl decals of it. A few applications of spraypaint later, I had this! Not perfect, but pretty slick regardless.

 

By the way, if you're in the market for vinyl decals, look IceManXP300 up. Dude knows his stuff. Good prices, too! I got twice the product for half the price Car Stickers.com charged me.

Cool SP!! So why spray paint? Couldn't you have just slapped the vinyl on there?

[Skippy B. Coyote]

Now's a good time to show off my custom orange Game Boy Advance SP for no reason!

 

I purchased a raggedy old GBA SP from someone on CheapAssGamer, and replaced its scratched up case with an orange one I found on eBay. Then I designed a stencil of my character Byron and asked another AtariAge member, IceManXP300, to print off a few vinyl decals of it. A few applications of spraypaint later, I had this! Not perfect, but pretty slick regardless.

 

By the way, if you're in the market for vinyl decals, look IceManXP300 up. Dude knows his stuff. Good prices, too! I got twice the product for half the price Car Stickers.com charged me.

 

 

Oh that is just 10 different kinds of awesome! Great character design, and very unique color choice for the SP. I wanted a something a little different for my SP too and ended up replacing the case with an aftermarket purple one. The quality feels just as good as the original Nintendo casing, but in a custom color that the SP was never originally produced in.

 

I'd definitely recommend picking up a used AGS-101 GBA SP with a scratched up case and replacing the casing the yourself to anyone in the market for a shiny new SP. Replacing the casing is really easy to do and should only take half an hour or so, even if you haven no previous modding experience. Just make sure that the SP you buy has a clean and scratch-free screen protector, because those things on the other hand are a bit of a nightmare to replace on the SP. The casing is really is easy to swap though.

[Jess Ragan]

Cool SP!! So why spray paint? Couldn't you have just slapped the vinyl on there?

Not with that design, no. He made an inverse image so I could put the vinyl on, apply the spray paint, and remove the sticker. You'll have to ask him for the specifics; I designed the graphic but was a little confused about how to actually get it on the system.

[Atariboy]

I've used both extensively and found their screen quality quite comparable.

 

Seen someone claim that the refresh rate is better on the Lite, but I've seen no evidence of it. They both have a little bit of blurring in motion, such as watching the credits scrolling at the end of a game where the sharpness of the lettering gets slightly less defined (It's very minor, but easily seen). I don't notice a difference.

 

What makes the difference for me is that I find the SP more comfortable to hold than a Lite, I prefer its buttons over those of the Lite, the GB/GBC compatibility, and the superior button configuration for two button Nintendo gaming.

 

And I hate that GBA games stick out of the DS Lite. I'd much prefer if I could just transplant the Lite's screens to my original DS, since I otherwise prefer that one for DS games. It's nice to keep a classic compilation in there like Sega Arcade Gallery or Activision Anthology, for something convenient to play in-between DS games. But when it doesn't fit flush, I don't like doing that.

 

I never realized that my SP provided a larger picture for GBA games though. It can't be much of a difference in size?

 

I turned on all 3 of mine and put them next to each other, and the 101, with it's backlighting OFF was slightly brighter than the 001's with their frontlighting on.

 

It's barely even worth mentioning, but I don't believe that you can turn the backlighting off (Unlike the frontlighting on the 001). It's just two different brightness settings.

 

Mine has issues and hasn't been used recently, but as I recall, it actually defaults to the dimmer setting. They'd of never done that if the backlighting was turned off in that mode.

Edited July 9, 2015 by Atariboy

[Flojomojo]

I just rediscovered my GBA SP, the light blue 101 model. It had been sitting for at least 5 years, but powered right up as if I had just charged it. It's only slightly scratched -- but due to the clamshell design, only on the outside. My only grief about this great little thing is that I wish I could give up the port for multiplayer link cables and use a standard headphone jack instead. I love this little handheld, it's great.

 

If the yet-to-be-announced NX console turned out to be nothing more than an updated GBA SP (at the original $100 price), and a way to download games via an account so I wouldn't worry about losing it, that would be the best video game handheld ever, at least for me.

[TPA5]

In my time I've put hundreds of hours into the GBA SP and the DSLite, and I found I prefer the Lite for GBA games mostly because it fits my hands better. I have a GBA SP and it's great, but with how narrow it is my hands can get cramped over extended play sessions. I also like the brightness of the Lite's screen, it's easier on my eyes than the SP's I find.

 

That being said if you're in the USA you should be able to find a GBA SP AGS-101 for peanuts, so it's worth grabbing one anyway. I had a sweet Onyx one that I sold to a member here, leaving myself the AGS-001. Even though I play GBA games on my DS, I still kind of kick myself for selling that one.

 

 

EDIT: Dammit, I didn't notice this thread was a year old. I thought some of the responses here sounded vaguely familiar.

Edited July 7, 2016 by TPA5

[omegadot]

The Wii zone is a necromancer dream.