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"Let's talk GBA SP"

You've all seen it by now. The 84.6mm x 82mm x 24.3mm mini-disc-esque GBA 1.5 that'll hit European shores on March 28 for around €129 that comes in black for current black GC owners, blue for current purple GC owners, and silver for just about everyone else. It has a back-lit screen. It has a rechargeable battery with a life-span of 10 hours with the light on (although you can turn it off for an almost doubled life of 18 hours). It folds up and fits in your pocket. It's about half the size of it's big brother, but with an identical screen (save the lighting). But what about the existing userbase?

When the GBA came out many went nuts over what is essentially SNES technology in a handheld. Many great games, conversions and upgrades have been released such as Doom, F-Zero X, Super Mario World and Metroid Fusion, with tonnes of great games on the horizon like Super Monkey Ball Jr, and the new wave of Pokemon. Several of my friends bought it, and seeing them playing Ecks vs Sever and F Zero X and Mario Kart on the bus made me quite envious. I took solace at the jokes made at the screen's expense, whilst giving longing looks to eBay's search results for 'GBA'. I considered buying it, but then I snapped out of whatever phase I was in, and went back to playing grown up games like The Getaway and Fifa like the mindless Sony idiot I am.

Then I hear of this, and I'm clutching my hundred or so pounds ready to pre-order. It wasn't a phase - the GBA is a great platform, and everbody knows it. It may have a monopoly, but contrary to the definition Nintendo are always pushing the handheld boundaries. Look at the games in development, like Diddy Kong Pilot and Kirby, both tilt sensitive. Hideo Kojima is making a vampire hunting game that uses a solar panel on the cartridge. Now I can have all this in the consumer friendly itsy bitsy tiny winy form of the GBA SP.

Nintendo are smart - it's tilted me over the edge in a way the existing console never would without a drastic price cut, and no doubt many other people will be in the same situation...but think about your friends who bought Indigo GBAs straight away. They still have to shovel AA batteries in, they still need to squint whilst holding the screen right up to their eyes in an open field at midday in the middle of summer (there I go again with the screen jokes), or send it off to some mail order company and hope they get back a GBA with a light soldered in.

When my friend who owns a GBA saw the article, his reply contained words unsuitable for a family forum such as this, but suffice to say he wants an SP, not an old, crusty obsolete package that won't even be reduced in price because of the new console. Nintendo said they would release a backlit console when battery life was no longer a problem, and they've stuck to their word...but I can't help feeling sorry for people already playing. Maybe Nintendo should set up an upgrade service like Carphone Warehouse, or even snap up the Afterburner rights and offer a £10 job.

So, mine's a silver. What are your thoughts?

-El Blokey

You do realise that we'll all rush out to get these, and then they'll announce the GBA 2 a few months after?

Syphonical wrote:
> Price: 129-139 (134, av)euros
>
> Price: 89.99 here!
> I worked it out and it was roughly 88 pounds, nintendo will round to
> 89.99 here, isn'yt that how much the gba was when it was first
> released??

Play.com - £79.99 delivered.

But I'll wait for the SR GBA SP Fire Pack thanks.

I think it's a good piece of kit. But there's no point buying it if you already have a GBA....apart from the back light that is.

Price: 129-139 (134, av)euros

Price: 89.99 here!
I worked it out and it was roughly 88 pounds, nintendo will round to 89.99 here, isn'yt that how much the gba was when it was first released??

Microchips wrote:
> Interesting thought- I'm going to import the silver one (in 80 days
> time) but will it remain region free then? It would be a bagger if it
> wasn't...

should be region free...but you might need a plug adapter so you can charge up the built-in battery...not sure.

It's just LTTP with a four player.
I admit it's good but it would be nice to have a new zelda game onthe GBA as well.

I'll be picking me up a silver one of those.

Never really wanted a GBA until I saw that little beauty, oh and Zelda is gonna be so damn good on it.

Any news on Mario RPG getting a GBA make over?

I think I'd prefer to get my hand cramp from writing essays too quickly, rather than from playing games on this monstrosity.

liksang.com are selling JAP imports for £80
its a very funky machine, you can see the latest pics and stuff at liksang too.
i'll get a black or silver one.

I think I'll wait until the price comes down a little before getting one. My GBA at the moment seems good enough for the while.