...at the local Babbage's. As someone who has had one pre-ordered thru Babbage's for a few months now, I was very glad to see one of these out on display.

After spending several minutes with it (playing Mario Advance), the immediate pro I have is that the graphics are better than I thought they would be. Looks very, very close to the original Mario game (2, I believe).

Now the cons...first of all, the GBA is just too small. Does anyone know if the U.S. GBA is going to be any larger than the Japanese GBA? Maybe the unit in Babbage's *was* a U.S. model, I should have asked. For little kids, it's probably fine. For an older game like me, it felt way too small. And that resulted in some discomfort trying to hold it and play the game comfortably.

Second, and worst of all, the screen is WORSE than the one on the GB Color. I turned the GBA every which way I could, trying to get the screen to appear brighter, but nothing helped. The screen was just too dark, even under the bright overhead lights in Babbage's. I looked for a brightness adjust dial, but unless it was found under the clip-thing securing the GBA to the store, I couldn't find one. It's too bad, because the graphics that I could see were excellent.

In the end, I was extremely disappointed with the GBA, and I promptly got a refund on my deposit. As much as I've enjoyed my GBC, I think I'm going to have to take a wait-and-see approach to this.

Anyone else tried out the GBA at a local store yet? Your thoughts?

I played GBA about 1 month ago at an
import shop. I played the super
mario bros game.
I thought it was awesome.
The graphics were very good way better
then i ever thought. The sound was clear
and not as fuzzy like GB. The screen looks
alot larger then GB and it was easy to see
when I played it.
The only thing i didnt like was it
is a tiny bit small but oh well it is
still awesome

I played it yesterday too, in an EB. I was impressed with the graphics, and the screen was fine for me. I had no problems seeing it. I'm still not planing on picking one up though. I'm a little short on cash, and don't have a whole lot of need for a handheld as I would just be playing it around the house and playing a handheld at home is pretty silly when you have consoles. I'll pick one up after the first price drop, when there are more games available. Castlevania and F-Zero are the only 2 that I really want. Mario and Rayman will be great, but they are just rereleases rather than new games. For now I'll save up for an engagement ring for my g/f and then a Gamecube.

I was pretty shocked at how small it was, even though I read it would be small, though after seeing nothing but pictures and then the real thing, I don't really have any complaints. The graphics look like something out of the SNES--amazing for such a small system. The only reaon i can think of for a dark screen would be bad batteries. The screen for me looked great and the gameplay was pretty good. I'm just shcoked at the GameBoy Color like size--I think they reduced the button size too, but I'm not sure.

I had given up on Nintendo until I started to hear of GBA. Figured it would be worth the $$ to have a portable system again.

But this thing is way to tiny and/or poorly designed. I had a heack of a time trying to hold it and move my hands. Maybe I'd a freak or something but this this is more uncomfortable than that freaky N64 controller. I'm not biased against Nintendo....just wish they made stuff for genetic mutations like myself.

I tried it at TRU (I played F-Zero) and I wasn't terribly impressed. I am surprised that when Nintendo finally puts this out it is all people can talk about, but it isn't any better than the Sega one that has been out and gone for years is it? Was that 8 or 16 bit? I can't believe that Nintendo still makes any money with how far behind the times they are.

-CM-

I dont' know what you guys are talking about. Maybe the GBAs you all are playing are attached to something? But my GBA( I imported) fits nicely in my hands. And I have big ass monster hands. :/

What is an "ass monster," and how did you get his hands?

Sorry, couldn't resist.

C-Mart: If you're talking about the Sega Nomad, do you forget how bad the screen was? Do you forget how big the system was? Do you forget how there was no internal battery compartment and had to be added on to make it even more bulky? Do you also forget that even then it was still just a Genesis which didn't look graphically as good as the SNES and now with the GBA it's even better than a SNES? If you mean Game Gear, then you're smoking something. =)

Let's give the GBA a little credit here. It's a small portable system that is actually portable and is more powerful than any other portable system out there. Not only that but we're getting all new games with a system that has a lengthy battery life. I'm not sure what you were expecting, but nobody ever claimed it to be more than a bit more powerful than the SNES.

Darknight: To be honest I didn't expect anything from GBA. I was just pointing out that Sega had not one, but two color portable systems while GB was still in B&W. I realize that both of those systems are inferior to GBA now, but back then Sega was at the top of the game. I have never owned, nor do I ever plan on owning, a portable game system. My calculator has tetris, monopoly, and solitare; what more could I want? What I was wondering is why Nintendo stayed so popular in the hand-held market when they were so far behind the times? I guess 'cause they were cheaper than any other system. I dunno.

-CM-

How does the GBA compare to the Neogeo pocket in terms of screen size, visibility, and comfort? I'm just curious. My NGPC runs over 20 hours average per 2 batteries, and the joystick just rocks. Is the d-pad on the gba as painful for games (especially fighting games) as the SNES one?

thanks,
Tuan Jim

Screen Size
GBA - 40.8mm x 61.2mm
NGP - 45mm x 48mm

Resolution
GBA - 240x160 pixels
NGP - 160x152 pixels

Display Ability
GBA - 32,000 colors
NGP - 146 out of 4096 colors

CPU
GBA - 32bit RISC-CPU + 8bit CISC-CPU
NGP - Toshiba TLCS900H 16bit CPU

Link Play
GBA - 4 players
NGP - 2 players
source - pocket.ign.com

Having played my GBA in a variety of environments, I don't see what the complaints about the screen are about. You do have to tilt it sometimes, but not more than the GBC. Just an opinion from someone whos played it quite a bit this past week .