Megaton = Backlit GBA

[Guest Jobber of the Week]

You've probably seen the stories by now. A new flip-top GBA with a backlight was announced today and due soon in Japan.

 

Size comparison:

[Guest EQ]

Made by Nintendo?

 

It probably is, but you never know. I'm just going to wait for the thing that will let you play GBA games on the TV thru the Gamecube.

[Guest MarvinisaLunatic]

NEW YORK - The world's most popular video gaming gadget just got a tuneup. Nintendo (news - web sites) Co. unveiled the latest in its handheld GameBoy line on Tuesday, the GameBoy Advance SP, a slick-looking device aimed at adult gamers that's about as big as a wallet and weighs just five ounces.

 

"There's nothing kid about this system," said Nintendo spokesman Chris Campbell.

 

The GameBoy Advance SP (the SP stands for 'special') looks more like an executive plaything than a child's toy. But it handles all the roughly 1,000 games for the hit GameBoy, including the Advance model that went on sale in June 2001.

 

More than 150 million GameBoy systems have been sold since 1989 and it has no strong competitor in its size category, though users have long complained that its display was too dim and power drained too quickly. Sony's Playstation2 (news - web sites), the fastest-selling console today, has sold more than 41 million units since its March 2000 release.

 

The new Nintendo handheld has the same CPU as the current GameBoy Advance but opens and closes like a laptop and has a front-lit screen that allows it to be played in darkness or in bright sunlight. It also has a rechargeable lithium ion battery.

 

Nintendo plans to sell the GameBoy Advance SP for $99.95 in the United States. The GameBoy Advance retails for $69.99 but Nintendo believes adults won't mind the higher price.

 

"The $99 price point is really a magic number," said Michael Gartenberg, an analyst with Jupiter Research. "They've kept it in reach of the masses."

 

Analysts expect the GameBoy to compete with cell phones that run games and be popular among makers of aftermarket parts.

 

It can play video on its 2.9-inch screen and designers might develop hardware that enables it to could be used for phone calls, said Richard Doherty, research director of the Envisioneering Group.

 

Square in shape, the new unit is 3 1/2 inches long and an inch thick — perfect, Nintendo says, to be dropped in a purse or briefcase. The battery lasts for about 10 hours with the display illuminated or 18 hours with it off.

 

Ok, so they have fixed the backlight issue, made the GBA look a teeny bit more like the old Game Boy, and done one thing which I had always thought they should do but never heard anyone complain about (protect the screen with a flip cover)..

 

For the extra $30, theres no reason to buy a regular GBA (even though they've gone down in price to as low as $49), because the backlight makes the SP superior to the original (and while you could get the backlight mod for the GBA, I don't think you could get it cheap and it was also hard to install from what I hear..)

 

I might just get one..

[Guest Renegade]

e-gad that looks horrible!

[Guest RenegadeX28]

I know there will be a lot of angry ppl out there that got GBA this Xmas. They could have waited for it. Now, they are stuck with the regular GBA. Unless they sold it for credit toward GBA SP.

 

 

I hate the new look, it is too bulky.

 

 

Even worse, a magazine called V-Jump started the megaton news, and they revealed it..........as just a stupid comic. It wasn't a megaton for video gaming, it was just for the magazine.......

[Guest EQ]

I bought a GBA when they first came out for $100, so now that I have that, I doubt I'll get this one, unless I can trade it in or sell it for a good price. I'm kind of pissed that they did this, seeing as how I kind of got fucked, but oh well... happens all the time in the game world

[Guest CED Ordonez]

It's compact and finally backlit. I'm sold. But I'm really wondering if it's going to start hurting my hands after awhile, especially if the shoulder buttons are where I think they are (behind the flip-top screen)

[Guest razazteca]

the button configuration still looks like crap, seems like using the shoulder buttons will be hard to use + fighting games will still be hard to play.

 

But in March when Pokemon arrives it will make millions in sales........gotta buy them all!

[Guest Ram]

It's old school controls.

 

On ign, the things looks way small though.

 

*shrugs*

 

March 23rd is a long way away..

[Guest The Notorious CRD]

I'm diggin' the new GBA SP myself. I don't understand the decision not to release it in Indigo (yes, I actually like the Indigo colored one) over here in the States, but whatever. I like the snazzy Platinum one too.

[Guest EQ]

It's compact and finally backlit. I'm sold. But I'm really wondering if it's going to start hurting my hands after awhile, especially if the shoulder buttons are where I think they are (behind the flip-top screen)

Good point... where are those damn shoulder buttons?

[Guest ElectricRaccoon]

My concern is how quickly the hinges are going to go for shit on the flip-up screen. Nintendo doesn't have the best record for actual hardware engineering (the loading mechanism on the NES and the E-Z-Fuct thumbstick, which never felt true again after about a month of use, on the N64 controller come to mind immediately).

[Guest Ram]

It's compact and finally backlit. I'm sold. But I'm really wondering if it's going to start hurting my hands after awhile, especially if the shoulder buttons are where I think they are (behind the flip-top screen)

Good point... where are those damn shoulder buttons?

http://mediaviewer.ign.com/ignMediaPage.js...6type%3Dpartner

[Guest Karnage]

My concern is how quickly the hinges are going to go for shit on the flip-up screen. Nintendo doesn't have the best record for actual hardware engineering (the loading mechanism on the NES and the E-Z-Fuct thumbstick, which never felt true again after about a month of use, on the N64 controller come to mind immediately).

Don't forget the damage to people's necks and stuff that the Virtual Boy did.

[Guest Razor Roman]

I've had a GBA for over a year now, so I don't feel ripped off, but I'm also not running out to buy a new one either, but I have a ? for all of you...

 

Do you think that doing stuff like this will hurt sales of hardware in the future? Like, will people not buy a system, thinking that a "better" version will be out next year? It's not the same thing as putting out a system, and then putting out a cool peripherial and selling it with the system as a new bundle, because at least then you can "upgrade".

[Guest ElectricRaccoon]

Don't forget the damage to people's necks and stuff that the Virtual Boy did.

And that was only ONE of its problems. Migraines, alleged seizures, heavy eye strain - that thing was death on a stick. Also, all the games were terrible, and the whole unit broke really damn easily. Store demos are always broken, but all the Virtual Boys were demoed in like two weeks.

[Guest Downhome]

I love this idea, and look, and setup. This thing is going to be MUCH more convienent than the GBA. Not only does the flip screen, protect the screen, but it will make it more compact as well, not to mention the entire back-lit thing. I'll get one, this finally convinced me to get a new handheld.

[Guest Downhome]

By the way, this is great in my opinion...

 

 

...if anyone thinks this is "bulky", you are insane, lol.

[Guest razazteca]

I've had a GBA for over a year now, so I don't feel ripped off, but I'm also not running out to buy a new one either, but I have a ? for all of you...

 

Do you think that doing stuff like this will hurt sales of hardware in the future? Like, will people not buy a system, thinking that a "better" version will be out next year? It's not the same thing as putting out a system, and then putting out a cool peripherial and selling it with the system as a new bundle, because at least then you can "upgrade".

I have to agree with you on this, it took Nintendo forever to come up with the 2nd model of the Game Boy, but when the Gameboy Pocket came out it seemed like after every 9 months a new version came out, the life span of the GBC did not last long. If this GBA SP last longer than 18 monthes then I will be surprised. I bet a N64 hand unit is in the works.

[Guest CED Ordonez]

By the way, this is great in my opinion...

 

 

...if anyone thinks this is "bulky", you are insane, lol.

Holy CRAP~! Is that thing ever so tiny! *prepares to buy his first handheld system in ages*

[Guest Renegade]

My concern is how quickly the hinges are going to go for shit on the flip-up screen. Nintendo doesn't have the best record for actual hardware engineering (the loading mechanism on the NES and the E-Z-Fuct thumbstick, which never felt true again after about a month of use, on the N64 controller come to mind immediately).

I was also thinking about that, I dont wont the flip screen to go loose on me in the first 3 months or something.

 

Plus why are shoulder buttons even needed? I mean wouldnt it be easier to have four bottons on the main surface? The shoulder buttons have been nothing but a pain for the GBA.

[Guest razazteca]

shoulder buttons work great on Mario Kart, other than that they are useless.