Extended Game Play for Kids and Extended Sanity for Parents!
Written: Mar 12 '05 (Updated Mar 12 '05)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Not limited strictly to Gameboy Advance game unit.
Cons: Ear bud with retractable cord is cumbersome for little ones.
The Bottom Line: The Madcatz accesories enhance game play at a reasonable price as well as offers something for both parents and children. (ie. earphones and multi-link cable). Offers more for less money.
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| paisleyplace's Full Review: Madcatz Starter Kit for Game Boy Advanced MCC2386 |
The MadCatz gaming kit for Gameboy Advance offers everything for the kid on the go and the parent who needs quiet during travel. If purchased separately, these little extras would cost a pretty penny. Madcatz offers everything you could think of needing in one box and at a much cheaper price than the Nintendo brand kit option.
Pricing:
Cost is always a deciding factor when it comes to these games, consoles, and accessories because let's face it, it is not cheap to game. The Madcatz kit was $19.99 when we bought ours and included a freebie carrying pouch. The Nintendo kit, minus the pouch and the ear buds was more than double that amount. This kit clearly wins the price war. Read on and you will learn how it wins the battle of the accessories too. Nintendo may have the market cornered in gaming hardware but Madcatz has them beat in accessories. The starter kit is but one of many products available.
What will kids like most in the kit?
The top item for kids would have to be the mult-link connector. Multi-link cables works well for the moms transporting kids to and from games, daycare, or other child events. Each child can pair up together in the family caravan to play head-to-head gaming until reaching the intended destination. It is great on vacation trips with siblings. On a personal note, my 17-year-old and 8-year-old play their Gameboy units together all the time. It keeps them from arguing and the teenager can keep her little sister occupied. The mult-link also allows data transfer.
The lighted magnifier is something my little one loves. It allows her to play her Gameboy at night. Her father likes this as well because it magnifies the screen enough for him to see it. The Gameboy unit screens are still rather small, even in the DS line, but the magnifier makes a huge difference. The light is an addition bonus.
What will parents like most in the kit?
Hands down, the best accessory in the kit from the view of this parent is the ear bud headphones. It allows kids to play without pressuring the parents to hear the game. I cannot tell you how often those little monotonous tones have drove me to the brink of insanity. The ear buds are wonderful little extras that keep the noise within the ear of the one that wants to hear it – the kids. The ear buds do have some drawbacks, however. The wires are contained within a plastic bubble-looking holder. To use them, you have to pull both the earphone section and the other section with the plug-in adapter outward to extend the wire. The wires are small and this action is similar to pulling a cord on a mini-blind. If you do not take care in extending the wires and distending them back into the plastic holder, they will tangle up. This can be horrifying to undo and takes plenty of patience. Patience, as any parent will tell you, is not in the vocabulary of a young child. The design should have been either with a large, wide cord or without the extension option at all.
The car adapter is a nice addition. It allows for extended play if batteries go out. The newer vehicles offer always-hot plugs for charging cell phones, running notebook computers, and charging portable gaming devices. The car adapter is worth its weight in gold when traveling with children that will be cooped up in a vehicle for some time.
Best for Both:
The best item in the kit for both parents and children is the game holders. The holders are nice. The kid has approximately 10 or 12 of these little rascals. The cases interlock to one another. The games for these portable gaming units are expensive. The cases not only save the games from loss but also save them from damage.
Extras, Information and Usage:
The Madcatz kit we purchased came with a carrying pouch to hold all the accessories and the portable unit. It was not large enough to hold two units though so our teen bought her own kit a month or so later. We bought her a pouch separately the day we got the kit. It was a good thing because the added pouch was discontinued when she went back to get her own kit for the Advance.
The multi-link cable also crosses over to work between the GBA and the Gamecube thus extending play. As I understand it, the multi-link cable allows access to hidden areas and extra characters during game play on certain games. For example, in Zelda the Windwaker, if you add the GBA via the multi-link, you can gain access to a fairy named Tingle. Tingle can only come into the game at certain places to provide help or information, however, without the multi-link, it would not be possible to find secret areas. This is true of many games.
The cases will carry over to the Gameboy DS. They are large enough to hold both Advance games and DS games.
The multi-link cable does not carry over in the DS line because GBDS has a wireless interface.
Overall:
The Madcatz kit is worth the money for two reasons. First, the cost alone makes it a great deal. Compared to Nintendo brand kits, this one is the way to go. The second reason the kit is worth it is the extensive number of accessories. Everything from the ear buds to the multi-link cable adds to game play. The best feature of all is that it is not strictly limited to the Gameboy Advance unit. It can cross over into the GameCube console and the DS unit. Ear buds, multi-link cable, and game cartridge are not limiting.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
paisleyplace
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Member: Samantha Thomas
Location: NC, US
Reviews written: 46
Trusted by: 7 members
About Me:
Mother of two, freelance writer who enjoys movies, computing, and spending time with good friends.
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