Nintendo Finally Escapes The Dark Ages

For the past 14 years, Nintendo’s Game Boy has been the absolute dominant leader in handheld gaming (some would say a monopoly, but nobody at Nintendo looks like the Monopoly guy anymore). Despite being technically inferior to most of the competition (the Atari Lynx and Sega Game Gear were both more advanced, color handheld consoles), the Game Boy and the numerous variations in the past 14 years have held their grounds with huge titles and that nice and cozy Nintendo name on the hardware. While their console exploits have been anything but easy in the wake of the PlayStation, the portable market has been a virtual monopoly, with the only serious competitor since the Lynx and Game Gear days being a console that never saw a release in America, and recently was discontinued in Japan; that being the Bandai Wonderswan. Admittedly, this has caused Nintendo to be a bit frustrating to deal with thanks to the virtual monopoly, as they’re, as usual, a bit arrogant about their place and tend to gradually improve things instead of just doing it all at once, as seen with the Game Boy, Game Boy Pocket, Game Boy Color fiasco.

Finally though, after 14 years of constant tweaking of the Game Boy hardware, along with the Game Boy Advance’s release in summer 2001, Nintendo has, for the most part, unleashed what could be called the ultimate piece of portable gaming hardware – the sleek, sexy, and sharp Game Boy Advance SP (the SP meaning Special, somehow). Thanks to the inclusion of additions that have been begged for by Game Boy fans for years, the GBA SP is a dream piece of hardware, albeit one that should have come out 2 years ago when the GBA first saw release. Despite poor planning of the hardware’s unveiling, there’s not much argument that the GBA SP is the best Game Boy Nintendo has released – until, of course, they come up with some other crazy innovation to get another $100 out of their loyal fanbase of suckers…err…I mean fans. At $100 it’s a bit steep for a portable given a GameCube console is $50 more, but given the features upgrade over the traditional $70 GBA, it’s well worth it.

The New Stuff

The GBA SP has been radically redesigned to actually closely resemble the original Game Boy. When it’s opened up, that is – the SP is very stylish in that it appears to look more like a piece of electronic gadget instead of a portable game console, that is oft-passed off as a kids toy. The unit is closed by default to protect the screen, and when you open it up, it can be adjusted to different positions to fit the need – though it does seem to have a special place that is the “sweet spot” of where it’s most useful for the user (actually, you can see this in the picture on Epinions’ product description). This compact design is perfect for portability, without fearing of the screen getting scratched or smeared due to abuse. The look is also quite sharp, as mentioned – the platinum colored version (the color I decided on, you can also choose from a very nice cobalt color – a black version is out in Japan, and you can import it, but it’s not known whether or not it will see a US release, though I assume it will eventually given Nintendo’s love of making different colored hardware) looks like something you could play at work and not get a funny look (not that I’m advocating playing it at work, or anything. What’s that? Me playing it at work? Naaah… ::whistles innocently::). The button placement is somewhat similar to the standard GBA, but more akin to the original GB, with a different D-Pad and the Start/Select buttons in the middle, instead of on the left side of the GBA. The R&L buttons, although intimidating at first look, actually are well-placed and comfortable to use, though very small compared to the GBA’s R & L triggers.

However, the biggest improvement to the GBA SP is the small little thing that Nintendo fans have whined and nagged about for what seems like forever – a lit screen. Sure, you could use all the cheesy 3rd party lights that are incredibly useless and full of glare, or go ahead and get the Afterburner kit (which is a tricky little thing to work with) but given that almost all the other portable consoles used a backlit screen (such as the Lynx and Game Gear, portables that are over 10 freaking years old), Nintendo has their back to the wall here. The main concern has always been battery life (which makes sense since the Game Gear sucked more life out of batteries than a Vivid girl sucked…well we won’t go there), but apparently Nintendo feels now is the time to fix that and go ahead with a light. More on the battery life in just a minute though. The light actually isn’t backlit, it’s an embedded frontlight, which reduces the glare of fake frontlight (such as the Flood Light or Trap Light accessories). The light makes a world of difference, as you can see the game on the screen perfectly, even in a pitch-black room. While the screen shows off a slight blue tint that stands out at first, it doesn’t take long before your eyes adjust and it’s not a big deal. Finally, you can play Castlevania: Circle of the Moon and actually see what’s going on!

The other major addition is the most welcome; a cell-phone style, internal battery. Given that these things don’t run forever on 2 AA batteries (all the processing power kinda wears things out), Nintendo’s graciousness in including this battery style is most welcome. The GBA SP comes with the recharge kit as well (naturally), which only takes a few hours to totally recharge the battery. Nintendo also was kind enough to make sure the battery was charged right away, so when you first use the SP, it doesn’t need charging. It isn’t a long life with the first charge, as I got about 5-6 hours out of it before the light changed to red indicating it needed to be charged (it’s charging up as I’m writing this). On full life, Nintendo promises 10 hours of battery life with the light on, and 18 with the light turned off (as simple as pressing a button on the system). Given that Nintendo promised 20 hours or so with the original GBA, and was basically correct (depending on the batteries used, and this is moot with the SP), I’d say they won’t be inaccurate here. The only downside with this battery choice is when it completely dies; the only way to replace it is to go through Nintendo to get a replacement battery. At least that’s better than the original plan where you had to physically send your SP to the big N and have them fix it themselves. Which is always fun, given it’s Nintendo we’re talking about.

Unfortunately, with these 3 steps forward, there’s one small step backwards. See, given the compact design of the hardware, something had to give, and that winds up being a headphone jack. Nintendo has removed this, and instead offers a $5 headphone jack adapter that plugs into the same slot that the recharge pack does (they don’t piggyback, one has to go at a time, like a threesome where they take turns). Honestly, I don’t think it’s a big deal since it’s only $5 bucks, but leave it to Nintendo to completely ruin that. The problem is, the headphone adapter is only available at Nintendo’s online store, which means you have to pay 6 dollars for ground shipping just to get one (just like how you can’t get GCN component cables outside of their website, sheesh). That’s right, the shipping costs more than the friggin’ adapter. Since the plug isn’t available at any stores, it means it’s really $10 for the adapter. Annoying, I tells ya! It’s also a slight inconvenience, as many times, other folks don’t want to hear your gaming going on (like an airplane or while someone is watching TV). It’s a necessary evil, and Nintendo, as shrewd as always, makes sure you pay dearly.

The Standbys

As with the Game Boy Advance classic, the GBA SP plays almost all (there are some very small exceptions that are more about unique cartridge design) Game Boy cartridges, from the original black and white GB games (many of which are colorized), to the Game Boy Color titles. That equals about 1,000 different games to choose from, many of them very cheap in the used game market. Naturally, the backwards compatibility is great for those who don’t want to break out an old system to play the classics (see the PlayStation/PlayStation 2 compatibility). The old Game Boy cartridges do stick out of the cart slot, but the slot is placed in a position where it doesn’t get in the way, so no big deal there.

Also, all the different Nintendo devices that plug into the GBA, like the link cable for head to head games, the GameCube/GBA cable for connectivity between the 2 consoles, and of course the eReader. The eReader is a tad weird looking sticking out of the bottom of the SP, but it looked odd on the GBA classic as well. Basically, most of the old GBA accessories work here, even if many aren’t needed – you can burn that Worm Light in the fireplace now.

The GBA hardware itself is not changed on the SP. This means you’re basically getting a portable Super Nintendo, which on the list of good things about gaming, ranks very high. The GBA is without a doubt a 2D gamers heaven, with so many great old Nintendo classics released in handheld form, though admittedly there is a load of licensed dung as well. While Nintendo only has a few truly original titles on the GBA (most notably, Advance Wars, Golden Sun, and the insta-classic Metroid Fusion, and also now, the 2 new Pokemon games), the games they have released from the old 2D eras of the NES and SNES are great for younger gamers who weren’t around in Nintendo’s glory days (I cannot say I’m that, as I’m an old fart gamer who remembers those 2 consoles very well). There is some good 3rd party software out there, but no question that Nintendo software is the star of the GBA show, just like they’re the star of the GameCube show. At the worst though, the vast library of old GB and GBC games should do well if you missed a few…hundred or so. I’m going out on a limb and saying that now that the GBA is in the present time, more developers will jump on the bandwagon and release something other than licensed shovelware. All I need though, is for Nintendo to make Super Metroid Advance, and I’ll either cry like a baby in joy, or maybe buy one of their blasted headphone adapters.

The Bottom Line

It goes a little like this – if you haven’t bought a GBA yet, you really have no reason to not get a Game Boy Advance SP if you’re interested, unless the headphone adapter thing is enough of an annoyance. Anyone with a GBA classic will probably want the SP as well, and since the EB’s and GameStop’s of the world do a “trade in a GBA get a GBA SP for $60” deal right now, it’s a good chance to upgrade to what is pretty much the ultimate Game Boy system. On the whole, despite the small issue with the headphone adapter, the SP is the hardware Nintendo should have made a few years ago when the GBA first saw the “light” of day. The SP just might make portable gaming cool again, and not just a kids toy. And that, for what it’s worth, is one of the best directions the oft-criticized Nintendo has ever gone.