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Portable Round-Up... of one!May 18 '01 Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line A much shorter epinion on portable gaming systems.
Portable gaming, it keeps getting better! Ok, I admit, it's just starting to grab my attention; the Gameboy was cool but the screen was pretty bad, Gameboy Pocket's screen was better but still B&W, Gameboy Color was colorful but other 16-bit color portables were better. Granted Nintendo has held the portable game hardware crown since the Gameboy was released in 1989, mostly due to a wide variety of game developers and awesome games, but the design has always been too bulky for me! Buttons on the bottom, screen on the top, vertical design. I've played every Gameboy incarnation and the same thing bothers me - it's top-heavy! I came close to buying Sega's Gamegear simply because of its horizontal design, it was much easier to play during long car trips. I ended up passing on the Gamegear due to lack of funds (my cheapo parents wouldn't foot the bill!) and a short battery life (I spent $10 on batteries during a trip to the Windy City!) but it hooked me on color and horizontal portable gaming! Enter the Gameboy Advance... This epinion is sort of an extension of yesterday's epinion on "How To Choose a Video Game Console", which is why the format is the same. Actually, I originally intended to include the GBA, but Epinions.com wouldn't take an epinion that long! I never thought I'd find the maximum epinion size! Anyway, I cut out my blurb on GBA and decided to give it its own epinion :) Don't worry, it's more than deserving! For those who didn't read my epinion from yesterday, do so! http://www.epinions.com/content_1515364484 Nintendo's Gameboy Advance Main CPU: 32-bit ARM 16MHz(?) Graphics GPU: embedded with Main CPU RAM: 384KB or 3/8 MB Maximum Resolution: 240 x 160, 2.9" active TFT matrix display, NOT back-lit :( Game Medium: 32MB GBA cartridge, backwards compatible with GBC & GB cartridges Release Date: June 11, 2001 The Gameboy Advance, or GBA to most, is exactly what I was hoping Nintendo would do! Not only did they give me my horizontal design, but they beefed this hunk of silicon up to SNES capabilities! Everything in the GBA just puts the Gameboy Color (or GBC) to shame! A 32-bit processor, several times the RAM, 50% larger screen with 70% more pixels, larger game cartridge capacity, more on-screen colors, 50% more battery life, L and R shoulder buttons, and full backwards game-playing compatability! And guess what? It will only be $30 more expensive when it releases at $100! Ok, enough excitement, is there anything bad about Nintendo's new portable game system? Well, yeah, for starters the TFT LCD screen is not backlit so you still can't play games in the dark, but this is meant to increase battery life. There still isn't a way to save game data off-cartridge so you can't make copies of save files, but Nintendo probably didn't want to deal with this. I know saving game files a la "memory card" is more of a home console thing, but Gameboy has made Nintendo more money than N64, during the same time period! You'd think the least they could do was make their next Gameboy have transfer ability! Yeah, they could add this by way of a pass-through memory card cartridge, but they probably won't and this is a drawback to SNES style RPG's, which are rumored to make a GBA comeback. Nintendo gets a slap from me on this matter. Other bad things? Well, the only other downside that I can think of for Nintendo's new portable powerhouse is that Pokemon games will likely take over. For serious gamers such as myself who painstakingly trekked through RPG's such as FFII/III, Crono Trigger, Secret of Mana, etc on the SNES, the idea of mostly cutsie Pikachus filling our GBA screens makes me sick! The SNES was primarily an RPGers' console, while racing, sports, and fighting games were more suited to the faster Sega Genesis. It was the Playstation of its time and the GBA, being SNES capable, shouldn't suffer the Pokemon-only fate. I don't believe it will, at least not entirely, but the potential to have 2 Pokemon games for every serious/'alternative' RPG is frightening. The Pokemon franchise has made Nintendo a lot of money and isn't slowing down yet, and that's fine with me, but if Nintendo can't get Square (or another talented RPG developer) onboard for the GBA, former SNES users like myself may just pass on Nintendo's portable system yet again. Other games? YES! The GBA has them in spades! The original Mario games are making a comeback, as are classic reincarnations such as Castlevania, F-Zero (ok, not a classic, but hey), Rayman, Pitfall, Earthworm Jim, and more! The speedy GBA will be able to handle just about any high-speed racing, sports, or fighting game that's thrown onto that little 2.9" LCD screen! Many have said (perhaps correctly) that the GBA isn't as powerful as the SNES, but they fail to realize that while the SNES had a maximum resolution of 512 x 448, the GBA is limited to 240 x 160, just 1/6 the size! As you can see, the GBA needs only be 1/6 as powerful as the SNES to pull off the same tricks and I believe it's much more than that! Even with a smaller screen, the enhanced graphics effects that Nintendo claims to have put in the GBA should make for some cool games, probably even 3D! Not bad for a $100 portable! The other GBA draw is the fact that it will double as a Nintendo Gamecube controller. I left the exclamation point off because this is a mixed bag. While the GBA's screen is much better than the Dreamcast's VMU, the GBA itself only has 6 buttons and a directional pad (no analog)! Not a very good back-up controller if you ask me. However, the idea of 4-way multiplayer (supported by GBA's link cables) on a TV sure sounds nice! My point? The Gamecube/GBA combo is more likely to provide an enhanced Gameboy Advance experience, not the other way around. And paying $300 for a console just to have enhanced GBA multiplayer sounds expensive. Still, Nintendo's idea is probably "you're gonna buy both anyway because they're the best - why not use that?" Haha, well Nintendo's home console offering is tempting, but not quite the shoe-in that the GBA is to the portable market. Competitors? What about Sega's Gamegear that I ranted about? Yes, there certainly are competitors blocking Nintendo's total dominance in the portable arena, but not on this side of the Pacific! Sega itself is getting out of hardware and Atari's Lynx and Neo Geo's Pocket Color have long since vanished from store shelves. But only in the US! In Japan, Gameboy Colors are less popular and Neo Geo is more of a household name. If you are going to visit Japan sometime soon, or better yet if you can read Japanese, get another portable. It may cost more to import games, not to mention the AC conversion adapter for US outlets, but Japan has the best gadgets! If I could speak and read Japanese, I wouldn't be here! I'd be on a Japanese subway train, playing one of my many portable game systems :), and hitting my head on low doorways. Until I take Japanese, though, I'm sticking with Nintendo for portable game systems. Considering that there's no other choice in the US (or Europe), it's amazing that Nintendo manages to play competitively with low prices and awesome systems!  |
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by krial
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