Fishie
02-04-2003, 03:30 PM
http://www.the-nextlevel.com/features/hardware/gbasp/
pics(crappy ones) are up there.
Our European editor Ali returns with yet another interesting article. This time he has travelled to Nintendo Belgium in Antwerp for an exclusive hands-on impression of Nintendo’s yet to be released GBA SP. For those who haven’t had a chance to pick up a GBA yet, this article will tell you all that you need to know about Nintendo’s upcoming revision. For those who have a GBA already, you may want to read up on what changes Nintendo has made before you decide to trade in that GBA for an SP. For Nintendo fans? Get a box of tissues, please.
The good:
The design of the GBA SP is as stylish as it is practical from a hardware point of view. This machine is definitely aimed towards an older audience, one that does play games but would rather not be seen with something that is regarded as a toy and as such the SP looks almost like a fashion accessory. The flip top design prevents the screen from being scratched and manages to just look cool while closed. The GBA SP has better and more responsive shoulder buttons and once opened you are greeted with a screen that is improved considerably over the one found in the regular GBA and with a build in light to boot. Build in rechargeable battery with an impressive claimed 10(light on) to 15(light off) hours of life before needing a recharge. Recharging is fairly zippy and apparently takes 3 hours or less. Volume control by way of slider instead of a wheel makes sound adjustments very easy without having to adjust the hands. The GBA SP is an extremely small package that despite its size packs a better and apparently slightly bigger screen.
The Bad:
Style over substance, the styling is very nice and when not in use the screen is nicely tucked away and it looks like something you could flip open in a restaurant without being considered an anti-social geek. It is this style however that hampers the SP´s ergonomic quality´s compared to those of the original GBA. Edges are sharp compared to every GameBoy that came before it, and it lacks the ergonomic curves and length of the GBC wich allowed unused fingers to rest while playing, the buttons and directional controller are pretty deep inside the machine making it more dificult for people with small hands to play while at the same time forcing people with really large hands to play with bended fingers (thus hampering a clear view of the screen).
The unnatural hand placement (compared to cellphones, PDA´s and previous Gameboys models) lead me to believe that prolonged play sessions might yield the gamer with cramped hands. The frontlight as well let me down. I’m an avid PocketPC user and as any PPC (or indeed Palm) user might tell you backlight is the way to go. With a frontlight the screen gets lit from above and then has to reflect the light to the user resulting in a loss of clarity and less vibrant colours, with a backlight the light goes through the screen (transflective) so every single pixel seems to light up resulting in a clear screen with vivid colours and awesome definition. The GBA SP isn’t very heavy and the machine doesn’t follow up on its stylish looks with solidity and ends up feeling plasticy and cheap and somewhat fragile compared to previous GameBoys (which were build like bricks and could withstand heavy abuse). Finally, no headphone jack is a big no-no. In fact Nintendo has said in order the use a headphone the gamers will be required to buy a separate add on convertor.
The ugly:
This gadget is overpriced for what we are getting (especially in Europe where with current exchange rates the SP will cost around 150$ including tax). Nintendo´s handheld monopoly is paying them great dividends. By comparison Dell manages to sell the 300MHz Axim5 PPC for 199$ with a profit. The Axim uses the same type of processor as found in the GBA, only around 10 times faster, has a transreflective backlit screen, is produced in lower volumes then the GBA, has 32mb of ROM and 32mb of RAM onboard, an SD cart slot, a compact flash slot, full Windows O/S, has a larger user replaceable battery, a linkup with PC, infrared transmiter, headphones and includes a pouch with a full version of Outlook 2000 yet it doesn’t cost that much more then a GBA SP. Thanks to the lack of handheld gaming competition Nintendo is laughing all the way to the bank.
The verdict:
It’s cute, cuddly and stylish. It looks like a dashing young man dating a fresh young lady, but upon closer inspection the dashing young man is missing teeth and the fresh young lady has zits covering her face ready to explode. The GBA SP is old technology in new clothes, but sometimes new clothes are all we want. If you don’t have a GBA yet and were waiting on the sidelines by all means rush out and get it, the built-in frontlight (even if its weaker then the afterburner mod) combined with the better quality screen and build in rechargeable battery will cost you less then buying the regular GBA and modding it with an afterburner. The new GBA will also be cheaper in the long run as you won’t require aditional batteries or a battery pack. If you already have a GBA don’t get rid of it. If you crave the light get an Afterburner mod and enjoy a brighter display on a screen of slightly lesser quality and enjoy a machine that actually seems molded around your hands. The rest of you who are content without a light more power to ya!
Feedback, flames (oh boy, I’m really gonna get it now) as always are welcome at [email protected]
pics(crappy ones) are up there.
Our European editor Ali returns with yet another interesting article. This time he has travelled to Nintendo Belgium in Antwerp for an exclusive hands-on impression of Nintendo’s yet to be released GBA SP. For those who haven’t had a chance to pick up a GBA yet, this article will tell you all that you need to know about Nintendo’s upcoming revision. For those who have a GBA already, you may want to read up on what changes Nintendo has made before you decide to trade in that GBA for an SP. For Nintendo fans? Get a box of tissues, please.
The good:
The design of the GBA SP is as stylish as it is practical from a hardware point of view. This machine is definitely aimed towards an older audience, one that does play games but would rather not be seen with something that is regarded as a toy and as such the SP looks almost like a fashion accessory. The flip top design prevents the screen from being scratched and manages to just look cool while closed. The GBA SP has better and more responsive shoulder buttons and once opened you are greeted with a screen that is improved considerably over the one found in the regular GBA and with a build in light to boot. Build in rechargeable battery with an impressive claimed 10(light on) to 15(light off) hours of life before needing a recharge. Recharging is fairly zippy and apparently takes 3 hours or less. Volume control by way of slider instead of a wheel makes sound adjustments very easy without having to adjust the hands. The GBA SP is an extremely small package that despite its size packs a better and apparently slightly bigger screen.
The Bad:
Style over substance, the styling is very nice and when not in use the screen is nicely tucked away and it looks like something you could flip open in a restaurant without being considered an anti-social geek. It is this style however that hampers the SP´s ergonomic quality´s compared to those of the original GBA. Edges are sharp compared to every GameBoy that came before it, and it lacks the ergonomic curves and length of the GBC wich allowed unused fingers to rest while playing, the buttons and directional controller are pretty deep inside the machine making it more dificult for people with small hands to play while at the same time forcing people with really large hands to play with bended fingers (thus hampering a clear view of the screen).
The unnatural hand placement (compared to cellphones, PDA´s and previous Gameboys models) lead me to believe that prolonged play sessions might yield the gamer with cramped hands. The frontlight as well let me down. I’m an avid PocketPC user and as any PPC (or indeed Palm) user might tell you backlight is the way to go. With a frontlight the screen gets lit from above and then has to reflect the light to the user resulting in a loss of clarity and less vibrant colours, with a backlight the light goes through the screen (transflective) so every single pixel seems to light up resulting in a clear screen with vivid colours and awesome definition. The GBA SP isn’t very heavy and the machine doesn’t follow up on its stylish looks with solidity and ends up feeling plasticy and cheap and somewhat fragile compared to previous GameBoys (which were build like bricks and could withstand heavy abuse). Finally, no headphone jack is a big no-no. In fact Nintendo has said in order the use a headphone the gamers will be required to buy a separate add on convertor.
The ugly:
This gadget is overpriced for what we are getting (especially in Europe where with current exchange rates the SP will cost around 150$ including tax). Nintendo´s handheld monopoly is paying them great dividends. By comparison Dell manages to sell the 300MHz Axim5 PPC for 199$ with a profit. The Axim uses the same type of processor as found in the GBA, only around 10 times faster, has a transreflective backlit screen, is produced in lower volumes then the GBA, has 32mb of ROM and 32mb of RAM onboard, an SD cart slot, a compact flash slot, full Windows O/S, has a larger user replaceable battery, a linkup with PC, infrared transmiter, headphones and includes a pouch with a full version of Outlook 2000 yet it doesn’t cost that much more then a GBA SP. Thanks to the lack of handheld gaming competition Nintendo is laughing all the way to the bank.
The verdict:
It’s cute, cuddly and stylish. It looks like a dashing young man dating a fresh young lady, but upon closer inspection the dashing young man is missing teeth and the fresh young lady has zits covering her face ready to explode. The GBA SP is old technology in new clothes, but sometimes new clothes are all we want. If you don’t have a GBA yet and were waiting on the sidelines by all means rush out and get it, the built-in frontlight (even if its weaker then the afterburner mod) combined with the better quality screen and build in rechargeable battery will cost you less then buying the regular GBA and modding it with an afterburner. The new GBA will also be cheaper in the long run as you won’t require aditional batteries or a battery pack. If you already have a GBA don’t get rid of it. If you crave the light get an Afterburner mod and enjoy a brighter display on a screen of slightly lesser quality and enjoy a machine that actually seems molded around your hands. The rest of you who are content without a light more power to ya!
Feedback, flames (oh boy, I’m really gonna get it now) as always are welcome at [email protected]