Gaming GameboyAdanceSP?

[The Getaway Man]

What is the deal with the GameboyadvanceSP? I mean first is was the gameboy, then the gameboy pocket, then color, the Gameboyadvance and now the SP. It has the same graphics as the advance the only diferences is the size, shape, and the light that wastes your batteries faster so whats so great about it? Please post your opinions.

[Shinmaru]

You wanna know what's so great about it? Well, here goes:

1) The light. Sure, you think it wastes batteries, but the light is probably the most important addition to the GBA SP. The biggest problem with the GBA was that the screen was way too dark and it was nearly impossible to play certain games (Castlevania: Circle of the Moon is brought up a lot) unless you're in direct sunlight. The light enables you to actually see what you are doing, which is pretty good, one would think.

2) The rechargable batteries. This has been a long time coming. If you're like me, you do not like buying a new pack of batteries for your GBA every couple of months. The rechargable batteries deal with that problem quite nicely. For a few hours recharge, you can play your GBA SP for 13 hours with the backlight and for 18 hours without it. I'd say that's a pretty good deal.

3) The size. You mentioned the size, and I happen to like the smaller size. The smaller size makes the GBA SP that much more portable (although, for people like me, it also makes it that much easier to lose lol) and easier to hold in your hands. Thankfully, Nintendo made a decent button layout to go along with the size change.

Hope that answers your question.

[Desbreko]

[color=indigo]mirai_torankusu said pretty much everything I would have said, heh. The only fault I can find with the GBA SP is the lack of a headphone jack. And I don't even really care about that, since I barely ever use headphones.

Oh, one thing you didn't mention, though, is the flip-top screen. I'm absolutely loving it; there's not a single scratch on the screen because of it, and I've had mine since the SP was released. And the thing is, I've taken my SP more places than I ever took my original GBA, so that's really saying something. (Especially since I've had my original GBA since it was released). It's so easy to stick the SP in a pocket to take with you, and you never have to worry about the screen getting scratched.[/color]

[Guest Majin Buu]

SP is the greatest.. I love the built it light and the adapter its my life support lol. I like to stay up late after my mom tells me to go to bed and turn off the lights, I take out my SP and I can play in the DARK! I love it

[Shinmaru]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Desbreko [/i]
[B][color=indigo]Oh, one thing you didn't mention, though, is the flip-top screen. [/color] [/B][/QUOTE]

Man, I forgot about the flip-top screen! I don't actually have a GBA SP myself (costs too much for me right now because I have limited funds) so it was kinda easy for me to forget about that. But I have played it at Best Buy and that screen was pretty cool. Knowing me, I'd abuse it like nobodies business and flip it open non-stop to show how cool it is.

[James]

[color=#707875]The flip-top screen is the number one reason for me to like the SP. My single biggest frustration with the Game Boy has always been its easy-damaged screen. I take ridiculously good care of my regular GBA (to the point where I don't even let any dust touch the screen), but an SP would really let me relax a bit. lol

And I'd be less restrictive about [i]where[/i] I take it. So for me, that's the big plus.

I don't think Nintendo was ever pretending that the SP was some next generation handheld or something..."SP" stands for "Special Project". It's obviously designed as a modified GBA unit. I don't see anything negative about that. Nintendo has a virtual monopoly in the handheld market...they could simply say "No, we're not changing it because we don't have to". But they saw a way of improving it and they did so willingly. I see that as a good thing.[/color]

[The Getaway Man]

Well like mirai_torankusu said its alot easier to lose well, i wouldn't want to spend $100-200 on something that I might lose! And the battery problem, so what if the battery is rechargable! My friend has a SP and you can recharge the battery like 30 times, and with the light you can just spend an extra 10 bucks and buy a great light, I did and its a sweet floresent light that uses its own batteries, doesn't cause glare on the screen, and when your done using it, it folds down and acts as a screen protector. So see?

[James]

[color=#707875]Well, obviously you're not necessarily going to buy the SP if you already own a GBA.

But if you don't own a GBA, what are you going to do? Buy a GBA and then the perhipherals, or buy a GBA SP?

I don't see the point in comparing GBA and GBA SP in that sense. GBA SP is obviously superior, for the reasons mentioned above. If you've got a GBA and a light attachment, you simply wouldn't buy a GBA SP. It would be a waste of time.

So I see that as being a non-issue.[/color]

[Desbreko]

[color=indigo]Okay, if you're going to be able to lose a GBA SP, you're also going to be able to lose a normal GBA. It's not [i]that[/i] tiny. And besides, how could you lose it? Just keep it in your pocket when you're not playing it. That's what I do. And unless you have a hole in your pocket, in which case you shouldn't be carrying it in that pocket in the first place, it's kind of hard to lose something out of a pocket. So yeah, no offense, but if you lose something, it's your own fault. You can't really blame it on the SP being too small; you'd still be the one that didn't keep track of where it was, and ended up losing it.

And about only being able to recharge the battery 30 times, I really doubt that. The instruction manual says that, "After 500 charges, battery life may become only 70% of the battery life when new." That's [i]500[/i] charges before it starts to even take less of a charge, and I have no reason to doubt that, since they've always been pretty accurate with their claims about battery life. (It's been accurate with the GBC, GBA, and WaveBird GCN controller). If your friend was only able to recharge the battery about 30 times, he's probably just got a defective one.

So yeah, I still hold to my opinion that the GBA SP's only fault is the lack of a headphone jack. (You can buy a $5 adapter for it so that you can use headphones, though). Yes, if you already have an original GBA, there's not a whole lot of reason to get an SP since you can go out and buy a light/screen protector. If you don't have an original GBA, however, and you're looking into getting one, most people will agree that the SP is a better choice. Like James said, the SP is obviously superior.[/color]

[Semjaza]

I had an original GBA, and I still bought a SP. I'll try and explain my reasoning... But I will tell you that it COMPLETELY revitalized my interest in the system to the point that I [I]still[/I] play it on a rather consistent basis. I'll do this on a point by point basis.

1.) Looks. This might not matter much to many people... I think it does matter to far more people than would admit it though. The SP is just far more slicker and looks a lot more designer and professional than a standard GBA, which looks far more like a toy.

2.) Ergonomics. It doesn't look it, and you probably cannot tell at stores since they build the units into the shelf... but the SP is just far more comfortable. I find the layout of the GBA to be rather awkward... and while I never really liked the feel of the Gameboy Pocket (which is basically the same size as the SP), I don't have a problem at all. The button layout is nice (other than Select and Start, which are a bit low), and L and R are vastly improved in placement.

3.) Buttons. They're just better. Instead of having a lot of give like on the GBA, they have a more clicky feel. They feel so much more precise compared to the original GBA... especially the d-pad.

4.) Screen... I don't even think I need to explain this. With the light on, the SP KILLS the GBA. Even compared to any Afterburner installations I've seen, the SP wins out.

You could say... buy a Worm Light or a Flood Light... but I'm sorry, they don't even compare. I [I]know[/I] this too, as I've bought all those stupid accessories.

No more straining my eyes or my neck to make out graphics. It seriously is so much better, I can't even say enough.

5.) Flip top. The paint on the SP is rather thin, and it gets scratched easily. This is annoying sure, but it covers the thing that matters: the screen. I'm very happy about that. After time, dust can get under the screen cover, but it's easily removed or replaced (screen covers are only like $3 at Nintendo.com).

6.) Battery. At first I was like, "I don't want to recharge this constantly... It's like my cell phone, which dies all the time and I forget about it."

The truth is, it's nothing like that. It lasts a good 10 hours, which is quite a long time. Whenever I get home or am not using it, I plug it in.

The thing can stand several hundred full recharges before it gets weaker... Plus, Nintendo has plans to sell better batteries in the future with better life. Hell, 3rd parties already have longer lasting batteries at the store. It's not an issue.

7.) Sound. This is mixed. On one hand, it really seems like the SP's speaker sounds better than the GBA's. It's not as tinny and seems a bit more clear... not that either are great.

On the other hand, there is no headphone jack on the SP. You can buy adapters for rather cheap, but I must admit it's an annoyance. Once I got an adapter, I had no problems though.

-----------

So there you go, if you still don't want an SP or think it's a waste... You either don't have enough money or are in denial. It just is better than the standard GBA in any possible sense.

[Shinmaru]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by The Getaway Man [/i]
[B]Well, like mirai_torankusu said its a lot easier to lose well, I wouldn't want to spend $100-200 on something that I might lose![/B][/QUOTE]

Hey, I just put that in there as a joke. You know, a little self-depricating humor that makes light of the fact that I'm not the most responsible person in the world. The statement I made should in no way be used to deter people from buying a GBA SP if they want to. Besides, not everyone loses small things like me anyways lol.

[Charles]

I purchased both the GBA and the GBA SP upon launch. Well, technically, the GBA was a graduation present--so [i]I[/i] didn't actually buy it.

I rarely played my GBA once the initial excitement faded. I couldn't carry it in my pocket because the screen would get pocket lint on it, and it was a hassle cramming the light peripheral, system, and games into my pocket. Thus, because I was deterred from actually taking it anywhere with me, it defeated the purpose of owning a portable system.

I [i]did[/i] play it at home on occasion, but I was far from comfortable with it. My light was blue, so the picture not only suffered from glare, but was tinted in a perpetual blue haze as well. If I wanted to avoid that, I would either have to go outside, or try to catch the light indoors the best I could and hold that position.

Suffice to say, my GBA found a permanent position on the shelf and did a dandy job collecting dust too.

Purchasing the GBA on the other hand, was probably one of the best decisions I've made. It's become my favorite system--period. Especially during semester. I'm not [i]quite[/i] as embarrassed to play it in front of people, the screen doesn't constantly become smudged or scratched, and I can [i]see[/i] my games. The flip up screen that everyone is talking about definitely lives up to the hype. Most of my games look ten times better because of the flip up/backlight combination. It's far easier to enjoy titles when you aren't straining to see 'em. Plus, the flip up makes it more

I also save a lot of money on batteries with the SP. So, if you think about it, it's well worth the price in the long run.

My only problem with the system is that Nintendo still only put one speaker on the thing. It's not such a big deal, but it would have been appreciated.

[Hybrid Theory]

Well, I do not own a gba sp, but the sp is really good because of the screen not being so easy to damage because I am often playing a game boy and the screen takes up 3 quaters of the play time, you know cleaning and wiping, so you end up playing for like 10 minutes and give up!

I really want the GBA SP, but I have other things in mind at the moment so I will have to wait...

[The Getaway Man]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Hybrid Theory [/i]
[B]Well, I do not own a gba sp, but the sp is really good because of the screen not being so easy to damage because I am often playing a game boy and the screen takes up 3 quaters of the play time, you know cleaning and wiping, so you end up playing for like 10 minutes and give up![/B][/QUOTE]

Man you must have a really dirty house if you have to clean the screen every 10 minutes!

[Spikey]

[COLOR=darkblue]I don't own a GBA SP, though when I find something I can do to make money I will save up. Today I'm going to the mall to buy a Japanese Dictionary. Though that's way of topic. lol

I want an SP because I don't have a GBA yet, and I'd rather have an SP besides a GBA. I've tested a SP at the store, I must say it feels really cool. I wasted out the battery light. heh. I loved the SP, the screen was not to small or not to big. The rechargebal battery made me want to buy it. Because I play my gameboy to darn much and the batteries run out.. Heh. Anywho I plan on buying one soon.[/color]

[Guest Mystik]

The only problem i find with my current gba is the lighting issue, it requires a LOT of light to be able to see games. (Metroid Fusion in particular) Other than that it is a good system, you just need a lot of light. i spend much of my time outside in natural sunlight playing it, creates less of a glare than flourescent lights.

and, now that i have a gba I dont really see the point in buying another $90 handheld that is almost the same, with almost the exact same features. But yeah, if I had a choice when I bought mine, I would have gone for the SP

[James]

[color=#707875]I'll eventually buy the SP, mainly because I want more GBAs (for multiplayer GBA/GCN link games). Plus, I'd probably buy one anyway if I had the money to spend on it -- the extra features are worthwhile to me.

Of course, at the moment I'm spending most of my money on school. Visual Design is [i]very[/i] expensive, thanks to the tools you have to buy frequently. o_O But yeah, it's worthwhile. Hopefully I can pick up an SP before long.[/color]