I see a disturbing trend that many of the games for these are purchased for a 3 month subscription etc. That is serious suck, but I don't have one, nor would I. Do you think they will ever take business away from the GBA?

My fear is that Nintendo is slow to react to competition and may screw around and let something take a foothold. Fortunately the GBA has access to an incredible amount of great games that others would never have access to.

thats why we are seeing the new GBA SE? or was it sm? XM?

I didn't know these cell phone games had experation dates!

also a company is making a game to appeal to the cell phone gamers

Ultimate Brain Games
http://pocket.ign.com/articles/383/383287p1.html

Until cell phone games are of significantly higher quality and have better control I don't see them as a serious competitor to the majority of the GBA userbase.

I do think they can capture some of the adult market that Nintendo gave up on after the original GB and is just now trying to woo again.

Well, as long as a cell phone is primarily used as a phone, it'll probably never rival a GB in terms of form factor or controls. And there's definitely a memory limit in terms of what games you can have/download, as opposed to removable cartridges. I dunno, I'm not a big fan of games or other frills that cell phones offer. maybe someday, though.

Don't most people view the gameboy as a time killer, at least adults??? I know I couldn't see myseld devoting a lot of time to the GBA. In this case, a cell phone with games is a pretty good replacement.

These are pretty big in Japan and some European countries from what I've read. They may take hold. Competition is a good thing, and hopefully Nintendo will be proactive and that will only benefit the gamers.

I'd like to see more choices in handhelds, personally not less.

I'm an adult (well.. sort of) and I think the GBA is probably the best of all the current systems available. Of course I'm a sucker for good wholesome 2D games. And the fact that there's 2 (almost 3) Castlevania games and Metroid.. Zelda 4 Swords, and MR DRILLER.. I just love the GBA.

I work for Motorola and I can honestly say that within the next 5-10years cell phones/PDA's will give the GBA a run for it's money. I mean if you look at the jump in the quality of games available for phones it's remarkable. They went from number games (memory etc) to rudimentary graphics (the caterpillar game where your worm grows longer as you go... uh.. yeah) to full blown color java games by sega and acclaim.

Maybe not this generation, but the next gen of phones may even be geared towards networked gaming. Have half and hour to spare? Play something like Solitaire or even Doom against someone in another city. It's all a matter of time and $$. Just wait and see.....

cell phone games? why would i want to play a game on a teeny screen draining my cell phone batter life?

online gaming? no way is that going to work... i also thought the world wide web wasn't going to work b/c too much bandwidth needed. i'm not very good w/ this prognostication stuff.

http://xbox.ign.com/articles/381/381738p1.html

Funny you should mention this topic. Extened Play recently did a special on cell phone gaming this week, you can still catch it tomorrow or during the weekend (I think), it was pretty interesting. Cell-phone gaming is something that is pretty popular in Japan, at least thats what my sister tells me who spent a year there. But the thing is, unlike the US, Japan has an extensive network of cell phone towers about every 12 feet, and the rates and phones are cheap enough that everyone can have one, including little pre-school children. I also think it is contributing somewhat to the decline of the japanese console gaming market.

If memory serves, Nintendo actually did release a cell-phone adaptor for the Gameboy years ago in Japan only that allowed people to play against each other wirelessly anywhere, but it wasn't very popular and was discontinued, because having a cell-phone with a game was probably more easier to manage for the subway trip home.

Who knows if it'll take off in the US, the graphics of the games seem to be shaping up, but they're nowhere near something like Metroid Fusion or Harmony of Dissonence. Plus I wouldn't want to pay extra money or have the balance come out of my minutes to play, but then again i don't even have a cell phone . I think they'll start becoming more common as the prices come down.

Personally I would never play games on a cell phone. For me, the cell phone should be small for ease of travel and use. If I want a all encompassing web surfing, game playing, phone device, then quite frankly it's a very different product than the not user friendly gaming device called a cell phone. I suppose the question really is...do people play the GBA to kill time while they wait around? The games on the cell phone function well in that respect, but who plays those games at any other time if something else is available? Maybe it's just me. Maybe they will take over and we'll see an integration of these different devices. But with the focus of phones being small size, they really don't translate well into a gaming experience. I suppose my opinion isn't the best as even the GBA I don't like for the small size, but I wonder if people really would abandon a focused portable gaming system for something that CAN play games, but does so in a very clunky and hard to see manner.

I don't think so.

1. Cell phones are very ergonmoical for game playing. There just too small.

2. The GBA is a huge success because of kids. Most kids don't have cell phones. Sure lots of teens due, but by kids I mean 12 and under. I work in the kids department at Hechts, and I see kids every day walking around playing their gba while their parents are shopping.

3. The GBA will likely always have more, and better, games available.

4. The GBA, and any other portable console, will likely be more powerful than cell phones. They can stay ahead because cell phone makers have to also deal with making the technology fit in the phone.

There's also the fact that unless they ADD a joystick or control pad.. there is no SANE way to play any game with even small amounts of action in it. And at that point your adding clutter to the phone (which should, and always will be, it's first use).. I think there may be some cool advances such as online poker, etc.. but anything beyond simple games are not going to do well simply because of control issues. IMO that is a top priority. The GBA has wonderful controls (even if the d-pad is a little too small).. and with how small phones are getting.. I can't imagine anybody having fingers bigger than a 12 year olds being able to manipulate a game with those tiny number pads!!