The new SP is wonderful. It's so bright and crisp.

http://www.nintendo.co.jp/mario20th/...ial/index.html

Man there are some downright awesome faceplates available in Japan for the Micro. 162 in that list. Temptation to buy Micro really growing.

Those faceplates are sweet. Some appear to be giveaways and I wonder what other Nintendo themes will come out (Zelda, Metroid, Kirby). I just want to hold one and see how it feels. After picking up and messing around with an iPod Nano I was shocked. Micro may be the same way. Tempted to trade in my Xbox.

Do I ever agree. I decided to pick up the Graphite one tonight at Target and its amazing. Even pictures don't do the screen complete justice. I was thinking how great it looked and didn't even realize it was on the low brightness setting. I hit the button and damn instant flash light.

I just don't see myself using the older SP again when this one looks so much better so I will probably eBay the old NES one.

Still don't know about the Micro. Part of me wants one, but I think the SP having the new screen kills most of my interest. Maybe if NOA comes out with some cool faceplates (which I doubt will happen if it doesn't sell well) and a much needed price drop I will look at it again.

How does it look with older games (i.e., GB and GB Color games)?

Also, does anyone know where I can find a pic of an old cartridge hanging out of the SP? I can't find one anywhere I've looked (google).

I was at Wal-Mart tonight and the salesman was unlocking the case to get mine out. While he was doing that I noticed they had a SP on display to play with. So I figured I would put my hands on it once again just to see how it feels. Maybe I was quick to judge the SP being too small for my hands when it first came out. Nope. It just didn't feel comfortable playing. The L & R triggers are too damn small, imo. Personally I think it was a poor design. The original GBA design will always be my favorite. So, I told the salesman to put it back and I picked up a copy of Meteos for the DS instead.

They had the GB Micro for sale as well. I asked the salesman how many has he sold and he said none as of yet but they did get in 20 SP's with the new backlit screen and they've sold almost 1/2 of them. :lol:

Tried a little bit of Tetris Attack and Dragon Warrior III and it looks pretty good. The screen just brings out so much color I was missing with the old SP and looks even better than the GBA games on the DS IMO.

The old carts do stick out a bit, but I don't have a pic handy to show. The dark grey color is a really cool look for a GBA as well. Wish they would release a DS this color in the US.

Thanks for the info! Now, all I need to do is find enough cash to buy one...

none in stock around me yet :(

I hope you're joking.

= J

Still can't find a Micro in Cali...Love my new SP though.

I hope he's not. :lol:

I'm going to be pretty cynical here so any Nintendo lovers who are sensitive & think they can do no wrong should not read... You've been warned...

I guess I'm shocked at the tolerance level Nintendo fans have for their company. If MS did anything close to this, there would be hell to pay and people would be constantly bitching. Instead people here bend over and ask Nintendo for another and another updated version of the same damn thing.

Original GBA = Horrible Screen, Nintendo makes claims that says it's OK even though it's not, secretly develops the SP front lit version to cover the blunder that is the Original GBA. I remember the Castelvania game that came out for it and it only looked good out in the sunlight. How effed up is that?

GameBoy SP = Crappy Front Lit Screen, Nintendo sells a bunch of them. You need to buy (cha ching) a special jack to plug in headphones and it's no longer battery operated.

Nintendo DS = A nice innovative system that Nintendo won't claim is the next GBA. This is a face saving measure in case they have to launch a system to compete with the PSP shortly thereafter. It looks as though they are happy with the results though and that tactic has been averted. The game lineup is still pretty meager but by this xmas it should be pretty good. It plays GBA games, has a good screen, yet Nintendo still goes out and creates more "GBA" hardware.

GBA Mini: Nintendo secretly develops GBA Mini with a much better screen than GBA SP yet it's tiny. Basically made for the Japanese market, yet people who bought the 1st two versions of GBA are clamoring for it here because it'll come with cute faceplates. It isn't even a true GBA since it doesn't play GBC and GB games.

GBA SP Backlit Screen - This embarrassment wreaks of failure so much Nintendo doesn't even advertise it because the original SP was supposed to be the superior version. I guess not. People who bought the 1st two versions of the GBA still buy it because of the superior screen.

So we have 5 different systems that play the same platform and people are bending over for Nintendo and buying all of them and saying "thank you sir can I have another?".

I just don't get it. Nintendo lost me when they came out with the GBA SP. I bought the DS because it looked cool, but the way they continue to cater to the GBA market is pretty infuriating. Nintendo acts like a company with ADD, they truly lack focus in their handheld market. I wish the PSP would spur them to great things but it doesn't look like that's happening.

I think your criticism is definitely reasonable. Part of the problem is with cost and price point. To hit the target price point at the time of the original GBA release putting in a back light was not going to happen. The battery life would have been terrible as well.

They released the SP when putting in a li-ion battery and lighted screen was finally cost effective. However, at that time backlit screen technology was in its infancy so there was just no way we would get a backlit screen at the target price point. My Clie with a backlit screen around the same time was $500.

By the time of the DS, backlit was the norm and they could put that in at the target price point. Now that they are buying these backlit screens though why not put them in all the GBAs? I would have been more pissed if they had the option to improve the SPs and choose not to so we would be forced to get the DS or Micro for better screens.

One thing you need to consider is Nintendo is not forcing me to buy new hardware. The original GBA worked with all GB software and linked with the Cube. I made the decision that a better screen was worth buying another system when I bought a SP. I could have easily stuck with my old GBA and been fine.

Its not like Nintendo is releasing software that only works with GBA version 3.1 so I have to keep getting a new one. That would be a Microsoft thing to do.

As far as the Micro, they know the Japanese market and they knew older non gamers would eat this fashionable device up. It probably won't fair well here in the US, but again I'm not missing out on anything if I decide not to get one.

Despite people wanting to kill the GBA and replace it with the DS that is not Nintendo's intention. They said from the start the DS was separate and at least they gave us GBA ability in the DS if we wanted to only get one device. The GBA will live on for awhile longer and Nintendo would be foolish to kill it off when it is still selling so well especially in Japan. There will be a new Game Boy at some point. The DS will never be the full replacement for it.

I don't see why this angers you so much. How is it any different that Sony releasing the slim PS2? It's neat and you can buy it if you want, but you don't have to. The lack of backlighting was an issue with the original GBA, but it hardly made the system unplayable. I played all the way through Castlevania: Circle of the Moon, so I can vouch for that.

And as far as Nintendo still catering to the GBA market...have you seen the GBA sales? In the US it's still outselling the DS and the PSP by quite a bit. In Japan, the DS is the leading seller, but the GBA still makes up a sizable portion of the market. And if you look at the week Nintendo released the Gameboy Micro in Japan, it sold 150,000 units, but yet the DS still sold an number consistant with the amount it had been selling, meaning the the Micro sells had no adverse effect on DS sells. People all across the Internet scoffed at the very idea of the Gameboy Micro, but it's hard to argue with the numbers.

Nintendo is a consumer electronics and game maker. Look at cell-phones if you want examples of even more rapid product turnover cycles. This is the business today, and in this case, this is not something Nintendo pioneered, they are following market trends. If anyone believes the GB Micro to be innovative product they need to pull their head out of their arse.

Anyone who buys any product today should be aware that technology will march on and companies will capitalize on that to bring in new customers, excite existing ones and generate revenue.


If you really care about this situation, it really breaks down to how you want to view the situation:

1) Nintendo is screwing existing owner by re-releasing updated hardware for existing platforms.
or
2) Nintendo is updating hardware to make it better when it becomes cost effective to do so, making the current platform even better.\

I personally don't care beyond the point that I think choice is ultimately good for consumers. If Sony or MS want introduce multiple versions of their console or their controller to try and draw in more customers more power to them.


Its funny to me, what you perceive as lack of focus I see as complete focus. Nintendo knows its handheld monopoly is under attack. The DS, the Micro, the updated SP are all attempts to provide gamers reasons not to pick up a PSP. Nintendo is more focused on preserving this market dominance then they ever were in the console race IMO.

Another positive review for the backlit SP here. It totally blows the frontlit version away. Brighter and more colorful! TRU in my area (Douglaston) had plenty in stock, both colors. Also noticed that Amazon/TRU has them listed.

Also, is it me or has this turned into the backlit SP discussion thread?

Thanks for the good replies guys, you all make some good points.

Jeff: I think they should focus all their attention on the DS and make that their baby. It's a great system, tons of innovation, creativity, and potential. When the new Revolution comes out, they won't be putting out new better versions of the Cube right? In fact they won't be making any games for the Cube at all. When the GBA came out, I don't remember them putting any effort into keeping the GBC alive.

Joe: To me the slim PS2 and the original PS2 versus the different SPs are apples and oranges. The slim version of the PS2 doesn't enhance gameplay and functionality.

Doesn't the very fact they are putting out the new SP under the radar show you that they are trying to be sneaky about it so as it not to piss off current SP owners? In fact, why the hell would anyone even buy the new SP when the DS is the same thing except it also plays DS games? (yeah I know the GBC and original versions, but if you already own a GBA of some type, is that really enough?)

And this micro? I guess it's their new version of the GB Pocket, but I don't think the Pocket came out after the GBC came out.

Anyway, I just wish Nintendo would go full bore on the DS like they will go full bore on the Revolution and stop dwelling on the GBA.

Honestly, I think Nintendo staying quiet about the new SP screen has more to do with the fact they think the Micro is doomed in the US. NOA is already doing a lot of extra things in the US to help the Micro sell (lower price than Japan, two extra face plates in the package the Japanese did not get and the face plate widget included) but it does not look to be the success it was in Japan. I think they felt the new SPs were probably going to hurt the Micro sales.

I think Nintendo is mostly focused on the DS. If you look at the upcoming first party software for the portables 90% of it is DS focused. Most of the SP stuff is ports or simple games like DK King of Swing. I think they are definitely putting most of their effort into the DS especially when the Wi-Fi network is launched. They are not going to give up completely on the GBA though. That software and hardware still sells too well.

After the release of the GBA Nintendo did actually have several GBC games released, such as the Zelda games developed by Capcom. There are others.

Regarding the Cube, no they likely won't revise it. However, that situation is completely different in that the cube is not the dominate player right now. If it were then they just might, just as Sony has released multiple versions of their consoles.

Successful hardware always seems to get revisions to stimulate sales when they start to level out. I'm sure some of it is to get us to rebuy the hardware again and I usually do fall for it even on less successful systems. I bought the PSone, PStwo, SP, sports Dreamcast, Halo Xbox, and probably a few others I don't remember even though I already owned the regular version. I'm the biggest sucker for this stuff, but I really have no regrets. I like the redesigns and limited edition hardware.

I'd say that they are going "full bore" with the DS, the DS has THE BEST Fall game lineup of any console this year, including the home ones. Releasing new gba's hasn't affected that at all.

To me the SP is the pinnacle of handheld consoles (unless something else with the same functionality and portableness comes out). It's small enough to take just about anywhere, the fold design protects the screen nicely, yet its got a big enough screen to do some decent gaming on, with games that aren't overly graphic intensive or have any loading times. Easy pick up and play games, and a back library of over 1000, and now it has a backlit screen. It's a refinement of just about how perfect you can get. Though I probably won't be getting one since I have my SP, it's really tempting, it's not hard to see why they did it.

I bought the original GBA upon it's launch. I imported an SP before they were released stateside. When the retro NES GBA:SP came out last year, I bought one of those, too. I liked each one of them better than the last.

However, I wasn't at all interested in the DS (nor the PSP), and, like others, I was kind of interested in the Micro up until I found out that it was gonna be a hundred bucks.

But when I found out about the new screen on the old GBA:SP this week, via this thread, I was excited enough about it to do what I did when word of the first SP leaked way back when and scoured the 'net for any info I could find about it. I even boxed up my old GBAs today, so I could go trade them in for a new SP next week. And I never get rid of my old systems, but there's no reason to keep the old SPs around since I'll never go back to them after I get the new one.

It's hard to explain. The DS seems like a good system, especially after the price drop, but for some reason, I just can't get interested in it. There hasn't been a killer app that I just "have" to play. And the whole dual screen thing, along with the stylus, seems overly-complicated to me. I like the looks and the compactness of the SP.

Maybe one of these days, a killer app for the DS will come out, or the price will drop so low that I'll just have to buy one. But until then, the "new" SP will do just fine for me.

Nintendo knows how to milk money, that's for sure. :lol:

Double post