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[radioheadrule83]

• Wideboy advance is the most comfortable. GBA SP and Nintendo DS feel uncomfortably angular by comparison. At this point I'd welcome a product like this for DS:

• GBA SP is the handheld with the best size / form factor until Gameboy Micro comes along.

• Between them, GBA / GBA SP probably have a lot more great software than Nintendo DS at the moment.

• Nintendo DS has the best feature-set. Backwards compatible with GBA, touch screen, built in Microphone, single/multi-card wireless multiplayer, online gaming. Great future software lineup.

Agree/disagree?
What I really want is some kind of cross breed between all three. The missing link. A DS SP. Of course it would have been nice if they'd got it right the first time.

God damn it I hope Meteos gets delivered tomorrow. *checks parcelforce tracking again*

edit: D'OH! My bad, can I get a move to the GF?

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

• Wideboy advance is the most comfortable. GBA SP and Nintendo DS feel uncomfortably angular by comparison.

Disagree. I find DS to be the most comfortable, though they all far short of any console controller with handles.

• GBA SP is the handheld with the best size / form factor until Gameboy Micro comes along.

But of course.

• Between them, GBA / GBA SP probably have a lot more great software than Nintendo DS at the moment.

Definitely! But that's also 4 years versus 8 months.

• Nintendo DS has the best feature-set. Backwards compatible with GBA, touch screen, built in Microphone, single/multi-card wireless multiplayer, online gaming. Great future software lineup.

Well, yeah. DS is like a GBA with a bunch of goods added on, and the link port ripped out.

What I really want is some kind of cross breed between all three. The missing link. A DS SP. Of course it would have been nice if they'd got it right the first time.

What would you have them do, though? With the screens, buttons, and various necessary ports of the DS, it's just never going to approach the SP in size unless they pull a Micro and tinify the screens and buttons.

 

[radioheadrule83]

I guess I was thinking... a more WideboyAdvance-esque shape, retaining the clamshell design, DS functionality. I just want something more comfortable to hold really and wondered if anyone else did.

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

Thinking about why we each prefer either GBA or DS since they're really pretty similar in size... I'm guessing it's the corners cut out of the GBA which decrease the length of the sides. With the GBA I felt like my index fingers were going too far to comfortably use the shoulder buttons, whereas with the DS it's a nicer fit.

 

[Chittagong]

I guess this will be moved eventually...

Actually, Wideboy is the name of the device Intelligent System provided developers with to view GB games on TV screen. That was, before Super Game Boy.

I've been waiting for a DS SP as well. My key needs are:

- Better screen quality. The current components are beyond shitty in contrast, brightness and sharpness.
- Smaller size. I mean, the thing is a huge brick. The two screens do limit the minimum size * a lot * actually.
- Cooler design from better materials. DS must be one of the most horrible looking systems in ages.

I've been waiting for a DS SP to be announced, but this week I finally gave up and started to furiously play all my DS games I've been sitting on - Meteos, Kirby, Yoshi, Electroplankton, Another Code. A fantastic amount of really, really good and fresh games. Not to mention the upcoming stuff!

Man, I must say that DS rocks so much more than PSP. I have everything that's worth to play on PSP, but there is nothing that gets me excited to pick up the device. With the DS it's quite the contrary - I really need to decide which of the (incredibly fun) games I'd want to play next.

In other words, I'm rather seen in public with PSP than DS, but I really prefer DS gameplay to PSP. I guess I can't have it all!

 

[The Main Event]

- Cooler design from better materials. DS must be one of the most horrible looking systems in ages.

I don't get all the hate with the DS material. The silver finish looks like it's the same one as my 4000$ Hitachi LCD and my 2000$ laptop. It's also definitely extremely durable. No scratch or marks whatsoever since I got it at launch. I still have to see the blue DS though.

I do agree with the quality of the screen tough. If only they could improve it so we can see it better from different angles. It sucks to not really be able to show a game to a friend since all he can see is a washed out screen.

 

[radioheadrule83]

The material is durable enough, for sure. I just think Sony's mix of shiny black perspex-like plastic, with metal finishings has really shown the DS design up before it was even finished.

Gameboy Micro is a vast improvement even if, by comparison, it looks a lot simpler.

 

[cvxfreak]

I also hope Nintendo releases a DS SP. Nintendo should make the form factor smaller by a considerable size, while keeping all the functions intact. A GBA link cable port should also be thrown in, and GB/GBC games playable, just so Nintendo has an "ultimate handheld" in place. Although with the Game Boy Micro around, I think Nintendo's saying goodbye to their pre-GBC handheld stuff. I wouldn't mind a slightly smaller top screen and the relocation of the speakers if it means a smaller space.

Oh, and a built in Play Yan. If Nintendo made something like this and sold it at a good price...

 

[JavyOO7]

I've been waiting for a DS SP to be announced, but this week I finally gave up and started to furiously play all my DS games I've been sitting on - Meteos, Kirby, Yoshi, Electroplankton, Another Code. A fantastic amount of really, really good and fresh games. Not to mention the upcoming stuff!

I want Electroplankton pretty badly, should I import or just wait for the domestic release? Though I might be laughed for this fact, but when I saw that Hollands dude or whatever playing Electroplankton I thought that was boss.

 

[Taichu]

Wait, Game Boy Micro won't play GB/GBC games? Can anyone confirm/deny this?

 

[KINGMOKU]

This is the one I got, and it's awesome for comfort, and the battery inside last a LONG time. It also double's as a bat-a-rang.

 

[ProgramFighter]

Yea, I find the OG GBA to be the most comfortable. I'd love to see a DS SP that was shaped more like the that one, keeping the clam shell design (All handhelds should have that, though my DS seems to get scratched pretty easily as do my friends'. It's better than getting the screen scratched, though.) with all the current DS features and adding play-yan built in along with gyro and rumble built in. I just hope that wouldn't hurt battery life too much if at all.

DS is already pretty kick ass so adding those things would pretty much make it the ultimate handheld for me. Would be nice if they could also improve the screens and make them a little bigger, preferably wide screen as well, but I don't see how that could be done without making the system bigger which would be a no no. If anything, it has to get smaller.

Also, anyone know if there is a cell phone style headset in the works for the DS for when it goes online? There seems to be a slot for a headset next to the headphone jack but I'm not sure.

 

[Acrylamid]

. Although with the Game Boy Micro around, I think Nintendo's saying goodbye to their pre-GBC handheld stuff.

Can't Nintendo release an adapter that plays GB(C) games via the GBA slot on the DS?

 

[Ranger X]

holy shit... Nintendo is releasing a portable machine for you every 2 minutes and you want more? damn.

 

[Dan]

I haven't touched a Nintendo DS, but I definitely prefer the GBA SP over the original. I found it nearly impossible to use the d-pad and left shoulder button at the same time with the original. It was way too painful to bend my index finger like that. The SP was bliss though, no problems.

 

[jarrod]

holy shit... Nintendo is releasing a portable machine for you every 2 minutes and you want more? damn.

I upgrade my cell every year or two... why not my Game Boy?

 

[Ranger X]

I upgrade my cell every year or two... why not my Game Boy?

I think the same thing about cellphones. It's over-consumption. Why do people need new cellphones each year? And many people are buying more than one during one year.
Nobody ever questionned if there was a need for that??

 

[hooo]

I think the same thing about cellphones. It's over-consumption. Why do people need new cellphones each year? And many people are buying more than one during one year.
Nobody ever questioned if there was a need for that??

I bet you also bitch about systems being released in new colors. As long as they don't switch platforms as often as they like to change models, I could care less and you should too. A DS SP wouldn't halt their software production, nor would any new hardware fail to work on older systems. If I can still use my launch system with the last system of the generation, I could care less about the number of models released in the interim.

Cellphones are the same thing to the consumer. All allow them to make phone calls to their friends. It's just that people choose to upgrade. That's how it should be.

 

[Ranger X]

I bet you also bitch about systems being released in new colors. As long as they don't switch platforms as often as they like to change models, I could care less and you should too. A DS SP wouldn't halt their software production, nor would any new hardware fail to work on older systems. If I can still use my launch system with the last system of the generation, I could care less about the number of models released in the interim.

Cellphones are the same thing to the consumer. All allow them to make phone calls to their friends. It's just that people choose to upgrade. That's how it should be.

I don't care for color. The blue DS isn't a new machine, it's the same. If there was a new PS every year (new hardware) i suppose you would buy? It's the same thing.
People doesn't need new cellphone every year. Why buy another cellphone with one little extra function that you'll never use or that isn't really important if you have a small and fully fonctional one already? As long as the PSP doesn't feel dated i don't want to buy another one. Portables can last 5 years just like consoles. Choice is ok but companies CREATE needs in people more often than the people having real needs. I'm simply against over-consumption and i don't like to support a new portable gaming machine each year and a half. It also cost more than cellphones. And you have to right to, in my way of speaking, to throw your money out the windows as you wish.

 

[cvxfreak]

Hey, it's really no different from variations such as the iPod shuffle, iPod mini, iPod and the now-dead iPod photo. There's variety for different people and different needs, and Nintendo wants to get new people to get the Micro. It just so happens that GAF is the kind of fanbase that swallows up every release.

 

[Ranger X]

Hey, it's really no different from variations such as the iPod shuffle, iPod mini, iPod and the now-dead iPod photo. There's variety for different people and different needs, and Nintendo wants to get new people to get the Micro. It just so happens that GAF is the kind of fanbase that swallows up every release.

Again, the gameboy micro is ok. There's nothing more than an SP in there. I miss nothing by having an SP.

 

[Jonnyboy117]

Actually, Wideboy is the name of the device Intelligent System provided developers with to view GB games on TV screen. That was, before Super Game Boy.

There may have been earlier versions, but the first Wideboy I ever saw was a model used to play Game Boy Color games on the N64. It was basically the GBC hardware (minus LCD) crammed into an N64 cartridge. Very expensive to make, thus no consumer model.

Then there was the Wideboy Advance, which played GBA software on the N64. They were very common at E3 until the Game Boy Player was released.

 

[cvxfreak]

Again, the gameboy micro is ok. There's nothing more than an SP in there. I miss nothing by having an SP.

Yep, exactly. The SP caters to your needs. In fact, you get more with your SP.

 

[Ranger X]

Yep, exactly. The SP caters to your needs. In fact, you get more with your SP.

What's not cool is that when you buy the gameboy advance (without noticing that there is obvious flaws in it's design) and then they go "Ok, now here's the SP, the way the GBA should have been since day one but we know we would catch you early adopters faggots".
I could bet my life the SP could have come out at first. This was a carefully planned rob by Nintendo. The micro is again a redesign but there's nothing new, nothing that oblige you to buy it, it's just your choice --- wich is a good thing.

 

[Tony HoTT]

What's not cool is that when you buy the gameboy advance (without noticing that there is obvious flaws in it's design) and then they go "Ok, now here's the SP, the way the GBA should have been since day one but we know we would catch you early adopters faggots".
I could bet my life the SP could have come out at first. This was a carefully planned rob by Nintendo. The micro is again a redesign but there's nothing new, nothing that oblige you to buy it, it's just your choice --- wich is a good thing.

I really doubt this.

While it sucked that it happened, I still think your stupid for assuming Nintendo orchestrated the whole thing just because a redesign worked in their favor. If they had just put in a front light similar to the Afterburner and using the same old GBA design than you might be on to something. As it stands they had an oppurtunity to save a product from its annoying design flaws and they did.

I admit they could of put a light in the original GBA design but it still wouldn't have been an SP.

 

[Ranger X]

I really doubt this.

While it sucked that it happened, I still think your stupid for assuming Nintendo orchestrated the whole thing just because a redesign worked in their favor. If they had just put in a front light similar to the Afterburner and using the same old GBA design than you might be on to something. As it stands they had an oppurtunity to save a product from its annoying design flaws and they did.

I admit they could of put a light in the original GBA design but it still wouldn't have been an SP.

I can agree it's borderline but i've seen to much things already in my young life. In business, there's a SHITLOAD more stuff that is orchestrated than MANY people think, believe me. Not to say that IT IS what Nintendo did, but to me it will always stay fishy i think.

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

What's not cool is that when you buy the gameboy advance (without noticing that there is obvious flaws in it's design) and then they go "Ok, now here's the SP, the way the GBA should have been since day one but we know we would catch you early adopters faggots".
I could bet my life the SP could have come out at first. This was a carefully planned rob by Nintendo.

Whenever I hear things like this brought up as a negative of Nintendo's handheld dominance, I must ask why noone else didn't do these better things if they were no-brainers. If some model of WonderSwan or Neo Geo Pocket had added in a frontlight and battery a few years before the GB line did it, it could've been a nice advantage.