Hands on with Game Boy Advance SP - Wider implications of Nintendo new machine
Full, undiluted detail: Must read!
We have spent the morning in joyous union with Nintendo’s Game Boy Advance SP, the grown up version of its massive Game Boy Advance. Making the leap from toy to consumer electronics product, the SP is massively important in many ways.
First off, and you won’t read this anywhere else, the SP stands for Special Project. This was the name the device carried throughout its three-year development cycle and it just kind of stuck. Nintendo will now just shrug when this is asked, which is a little odd.
To play, the SP is wonderful. This is not reactionary gush but simple fact. It features a front-lit screen, which can be turned on or off. This allows up to 10 hours of lit play and 18 unlit. The battery is of the high-end lithium ion type and will take three hours to charge. At this point we should explain a little more. It is encased, Mini Disc-like, on the back of the body of the unit and secured with tiny screw. We were informed that the battery, after many hundreds of charges, will still perform at at least 70% its optimum. Details on additional battery availability and pricing will be released later this year.
The SP shines in actual use. The D-pad is better than the original, flatter and more responsive. The shoulder buttons are easier to use, although you might not think it to look at the layout. The left shoulder button especially is easier to use, as it’s nearer the knuckle, meaning the hands and fingers are closer together. This pleasantly avoids the “crab-hand” syndrome of the initial GBA release, which in fairness has poor shoulder inputs.
The screen is exactly the same size, though due to optical illusion, looks smaller. With the light off, it still operates better than its predecessor as it doesn’t sit as deep within the console. When the light, which shines down the side much like the Afterburner device, is on, it is as the machine always should've been. Indeed when David Gosen, the somewhat robotic managing director of Nintendo Europe, was asked whether the GBA should have always been like this, he looked a little flustered.
Reminiscent of Nintendo’s hugely popular Game and Watch series of the eighties, the flip action of the GBA SP is a joy. It has an expensive feel and snaps shut pleasingly. Indeed, the SP looks better in some ways closed, than it does when in use. The silver model especially shares a certain allure with the Panasonic GameCube Q. Like gaming grown up. It looks like a Mini Disc player, or a digital camera. The reasoning behind this is simple, but more about that later.
Gosen told us that the SP is aimed at an older audience, perhaps those who haven’t played portable games ever, or for years. The aesthetic of the machine screams tech-chic. It’s the GBA that won’t put girls off talking to you. It’s the GBA that you can play on the train and still feel like a grown up. It is new Nintendo.
The Game Boy Advance is a toy, and the Game Boy Advance SP is a gadget, and this point is very important, as it is the first sign of the new Nintendo, now that Hiroshi Yamauchi has departed. His replacement, Satoru Iwata, is from the new age of Japanese technology companies. He is a modern and astute businessman. It is worth bearing in mind that Yamauchi was inherently a toy-maker, overseeing Nintendo's transition from maker of plastic guns to maker of the GameCube. This being said, the GameCube is likely to be the last Nintendo machine that looks like it was co-designed by Fisher Price. In this sense, the GBA SP represents a tremendously important milestone in the evolution of the gaming market. It is Nintendo growing up. Understand that Iwata knows which people have the money to spend on such devices and to alienate them for the want of a visual and slight functionality change is madness.
Now, back to the SP resembling a camera, or a Mini Disc player. The machine looks like Sony made it. A lot. If it weren’t for the Nintendo logo on the front, you would guess that SP stood for Sony Player.
Talking to a high-level Nintendo executive today, the reason for this is simple. The SP represents a pre-emptive strike against the Sony portable games device that is in the works at the PlayStation creator’s head office. One high-ranking Nintendo official told us, “Of course Sony will be releasing a machine, and the fact they haven’t done it yet is somewhat surprising. I have friends at Sony who tell me that there is something going on, and they’re all like, 'Where is it, man?'.”
Interestingly, Nintendo still refuses to lower its royalty charge for the production of GBA cartridges, something for which it has come in for great criticism. Talking to David Gosen, his line was simple, if bland. “We have no plans to revise our royalty strategy at this stage.”
However, talking to Jim Merrick, newly appointed director for marketing and network was a little more interesting. We proposed that only the very top level of the publishing system can afford to create games for GBA. He disagreed. “No, if you look, companies like Sega, EA and THQ all feature heavily on the release schedule.” Enough said!
The Game Boy Advance SP will hit UK retail on March 28 of this year and will be available in silver, black and blue. It will cost around £80 to £90.
First off, and you won’t read this anywhere else, the SP stands for Special Project. This was the name the device carried throughout its three-year development cycle and it just kind of stuck. Nintendo will now just shrug when this is asked, which is a little odd.
To play, the SP is wonderful. This is not reactionary gush but simple fact. It features a front-lit screen, which can be turned on or off. This allows up to 10 hours of lit play and 18 unlit. The battery is of the high-end lithium ion type and will take three hours to charge. At this point we should explain a little more. It is encased, Mini Disc-like, on the back of the body of the unit and secured with tiny screw. We were informed that the battery, after many hundreds of charges, will still perform at at least 70% its optimum. Details on additional battery availability and pricing will be released later this year.
The SP shines in actual use. The D-pad is better than the original, flatter and more responsive. The shoulder buttons are easier to use, although you might not think it to look at the layout. The left shoulder button especially is easier to use, as it’s nearer the knuckle, meaning the hands and fingers are closer together. This pleasantly avoids the “crab-hand” syndrome of the initial GBA release, which in fairness has poor shoulder inputs.
The screen is exactly the same size, though due to optical illusion, looks smaller. With the light off, it still operates better than its predecessor as it doesn’t sit as deep within the console. When the light, which shines down the side much like the Afterburner device, is on, it is as the machine always should've been. Indeed when David Gosen, the somewhat robotic managing director of Nintendo Europe, was asked whether the GBA should have always been like this, he looked a little flustered.
Reminiscent of Nintendo’s hugely popular Game and Watch series of the eighties, the flip action of the GBA SP is a joy. It has an expensive feel and snaps shut pleasingly. Indeed, the SP looks better in some ways closed, than it does when in use. The silver model especially shares a certain allure with the Panasonic GameCube Q. Like gaming grown up. It looks like a Mini Disc player, or a digital camera. The reasoning behind this is simple, but more about that later.
Gosen told us that the SP is aimed at an older audience, perhaps those who haven’t played portable games ever, or for years. The aesthetic of the machine screams tech-chic. It’s the GBA that won’t put girls off talking to you. It’s the GBA that you can play on the train and still feel like a grown up. It is new Nintendo.
The Game Boy Advance is a toy, and the Game Boy Advance SP is a gadget, and this point is very important, as it is the first sign of the new Nintendo, now that Hiroshi Yamauchi has departed. His replacement, Satoru Iwata, is from the new age of Japanese technology companies. He is a modern and astute businessman. It is worth bearing in mind that Yamauchi was inherently a toy-maker, overseeing Nintendo's transition from maker of plastic guns to maker of the GameCube. This being said, the GameCube is likely to be the last Nintendo machine that looks like it was co-designed by Fisher Price. In this sense, the GBA SP represents a tremendously important milestone in the evolution of the gaming market. It is Nintendo growing up. Understand that Iwata knows which people have the money to spend on such devices and to alienate them for the want of a visual and slight functionality change is madness.
Now, back to the SP resembling a camera, or a Mini Disc player. The machine looks like Sony made it. A lot. If it weren’t for the Nintendo logo on the front, you would guess that SP stood for Sony Player.
Talking to a high-level Nintendo executive today, the reason for this is simple. The SP represents a pre-emptive strike against the Sony portable games device that is in the works at the PlayStation creator’s head office. One high-ranking Nintendo official told us, “Of course Sony will be releasing a machine, and the fact they haven’t done it yet is somewhat surprising. I have friends at Sony who tell me that there is something going on, and they’re all like, 'Where is it, man?'.”
Interestingly, Nintendo still refuses to lower its royalty charge for the production of GBA cartridges, something for which it has come in for great criticism. Talking to David Gosen, his line was simple, if bland. “We have no plans to revise our royalty strategy at this stage.”
However, talking to Jim Merrick, newly appointed director for marketing and network was a little more interesting. We proposed that only the very top level of the publishing system can afford to create games for GBA. He disagreed. “No, if you look, companies like Sega, EA and THQ all feature heavily on the release schedule.” Enough said!
The Game Boy Advance SP will hit UK retail on March 28 of this year and will be available in silver, black and blue. It will cost around £80 to £90.
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