It's not the size that matters -
May 10, 2001 - Alex Annis
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed
within this column are those of the participants and the
moderator, and do not necessarily reflect those of the
GIA. There is coarse language and potentially offensive
material afoot.
There's nothing clever here, move along.
Don't say we didn't warn you.
I finally broke down and bought a Dreamcast yesterday afternoon, but didn't actually open it until sometime after 2 AM when I realized that sleep just wasn't a possibility. I popped Phantasy Star Online in, and it quickly rejected my serial number, which it continued to do until I gave up 20 minutes later and tossed it aside in favor of Jet Grind Radio. If any of you DC owners haven't picked it up yet, do so now. It looks amazing, is incredibly fun to play, and can be found for dirt-cheap.
Anyway, we're not here to discuss to Dreamcast. Let's move on, shall we?
| You must caress it |
| Being one of the lucky few who has a friend that went on vacation to Japan in the last few months, I now have in my possession a Milky Blue (or the upcoming U.S. variant name, Glacier) Gameboy Advance. I have just one word. Wow.
A system that not only is 100% backwards compatible with every Gameboy and Gameboy Color game ever released, but can also play these SNES-on-crack-sound-and-picture-quality sliver-sized carts as well is A-okay by me. Size? It's perfect, the screen is larger and the thing wastes no space at all with its button layout and still manages to be the same exact size as a gameboy color overall. It's infinitely more comfortable because I'm not constantly tilting my hands at an unnatural angle to get a good view of the screen while playing. It's also very light, which is a bonus. The thing is really sweet, I don't know how -anyone- could complain about it. I guess not having it backlit is still a big issue, but it saves batteries, and I usually only play when it's daylight anyways - night times are for ... other activities. Teehee!
Nightfox
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The Game Boy Advance's screen is easily my favorite part of its design. The larger size is quite nice, and it seems to have a nice step up in visual quality over the GBC. The buttons, on the other hand, were a little too small for my tastes. Nintendo probably could have fit X and Y buttons in with A and B without much of a cluster problem and Start and Select were both really tiny. The open space to the side of them makes me wish that Nintendo had made them slightly larger.
| Adaptation is key |
| Yo Alex,
I just went to some stores today but didn't see any GBA's around. However, I can remember the first time I used the original GB (the monstrous gray one), I was about 6 or 7. I could barely hold it or balance it due to my small hands. However, I eventually got used to it. When I first held the N64 controller, it made my hands hurt, just because it was so different than anything I had ever used before. While there is a thing as awful design, I think that no matter how the GBA is shaped, we'll all get used to it eventually. Even though no horizontal handheld has ever taken over the market, the GBA's good launch in Japan should be some indication of how well it will do over here.
--The Steve
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The clunky size of the original Game Boy has always puzzled me a bit, since I always saw kids with them and they never could hold them quite right. I think a lot of that also had to do with the screen it had, which constantly required you to tilt your head around like Nightfox mentioned so that you could get just the right view of the action.
I agree completely that people will get the hang of the GBA in time. After all, portable systems are like controllers with screens, aren't they? If people can adapt to the N64 controller, they can adapt to anything.
| A problem... |
| The size of the GBA was not a problem for me and the screen, resoltion and colors looked real good. The only thing I wonder about is how to use the buttons on the top of the unit. Its hard to judge how the unit will hold up for actual play because of the metal construct the display is in. I never hold my gameboy pointed down like that.
Silicon Jesus
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| ...And a solution. |
| I was actually out the other day and stopped by the local TRU to play the GBA. Aside from the display being too close to the ground (I had to kneel to actually be able to be close enough to see and hold the system), it was pretty nice. The security devices covered the whole back of the system, which made it a pain in the ass to play, but that's not the point. They had Mario Advance (aka Super Mario 2, aka Doki Doki Panic) and FZero Advance.
Mario Advance played almost exactly like the Mario All-Stars version of SMB2, with a little cleaning up, and few differences (I only played for a while, and guess there'd be more after the first stage opening). Color quality wass great, much better than the washed out colors of the GBA, and it actually had digitized voices that you could understand!
FZero Advance was basically FZero for SNES with new tracks and cars. It looked almost EXACTLY the same, with slight graphic updates (antiailising I think, but couldn't really tell).
All in all, I think that the first two games out for the system are worth buying.
Nameles
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The metal protection device definitely cuts back on the playability of the GBAs since the attachment is nearly the same size as the actual system. As for the height of the display, since the system is going to be heavily marketed towards young children, it's best that they can actually reach it to try it out. The one store I visited that had a GBA set up at a decent height for older people was Electronics Boutique, which had it attached to the top of the sales counter.
| But I promise I'll eat all my vegetables! |
| Alex,
Mixed reactions? Sure I've seen mixed reactions! The kids say "I need it!" The parents say "No, you don't." The display has been at my (as in where I work) Wal-Mart for about 4 days now, and no parent/child pair has yet to break this pattern. But, you know, as soon as birthday or Christmas rolls around, who's gonna come into my store demanding a GBA? That's right. And I'll laugh, and they won't know why...
--Chris--
(Maybe I'll start laughing right now!)
|
When I posted the topic yesterday, I hadn't even thought about the fighting that's bound to occur between kids and their parents over whether or not they can get another Game Boy. My youngest sister got a Game Boy Color for Christmas, and when I was talking with her about the GBA over Spring Break I received a rather nasty glare from my mother for even mentioning the possibility of getting a new system when the other one was still fairly new. And you're absolutely right; no matter how many times a parent says "no" to something their child wants, they'll almost always purchase it for a special occasion like a birthday. If only they'd learn to hand their wallets over with less resistance, things would be much easier for everyone.
| At least his dog didn't eat his homework |
| Just to show how dumb my local stores are, I found a GBA in Wal-Mart, (Notorious for having a 5-year-old N64 controller connected to their game display. The thing is completely unresponsive. All of the fairy goo in the control stick's well is not a pretty sight, either.) and it cound not turn on. All that effort to intall the GBA in such a way that nobody can steal it, and thay either A) Forgot the batteries, or B) didn't flip on the magical power switch behind locked doors.
Whatever. I guess they don't want me to buy one from them, now do they?
dmarsee, who just *knows* there's an anti-Nintendo plot out there
|
The video game section at Walmart has never really impressed me that much due to the state of complete disorganization I usually find it in. I'm going to choose answer C, which goes something along the lines of Walmart finding vegetable throwing too mature for children, thus they had to turn it off to avoid creating future teenage psychopathes.
| She obviously shops at a different Walmart |
| The local Walmart has one of these nifty little (and I do mean LITTLE) systems on display and truthfully I was surprised and impressed at the same time.
The unit itself is very small, perfect for fitting into your pocket and comfortable to hold. And while this is not a problem for myself (being female with small hands), the buttons are extremely tiny, which I found to be perfect. Of course hamfisted guys were complaining about the unit being too light and way too small, but on the plus side, the system itself is high on the cuteness factor! the screen is larger than the game boy color, with sharp vibrant colours. In comparision with other handhelds, the Neo Geo Pocket Colour still beats it in quality though. The only game available for playtesting was Mario and I heard multiple cries of "this is only Mario 2 NES!", its easy to get into and makes a good launch (and on-the-go) title.
Cheers,
Rainstar
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I'm not sure that the cuteness factor will really help sell systems to the ham fisted gamers of the world, but it might not hurt. While I have some issues with the button sizes, the lightweight of the GBA is really quite nice. It seemed to me to be a little thinner than the GBC, which should make it more comfortable in a pocket since it won't bulge out quite so much.
| I don't know what I was thinking |
| "Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to venture out to one of these stores and test the system for yourselves..."
whoa, whoah, whoah, wait a minute. you actually want us to go outside? outside, where the sun, fresh air and, sweet christ, people are? are you friggin' serious? good lord man, Chris has never asked so much of us. even that twisted bastard Drew knows where to draw the line. just who the hell do you think you are?
Charon, who managed to take the lord's name in vain not only once in this email, but twice. Boo-Yah!
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I'm sorry, I should have realized that I was asking way too much when I told you to go outside and interact with the masses. I should have started with baby steps, like having everyone open the curtains in their bedrooms. I'll be sure to make tonight's assignment easier.
Closing Comments:
For tomorrow, I want you all to eat a stick of butter. Heck, if you're feeling ambitious, eat two. It'll plump you up faster. In light of the fact that this hasn't been going quite as well as I hoped, tomorrow will be a Free Topic Friday, and the more random your letters are, the happier we'll all be.
Alex Annis, resorting to randomness to save his butt
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