Remember about 10 years ago when the Game Boy was barely portable, a hulking behemoth with a black and green monochromatic screen? The thing was a pain to look at, mainly because there was no color, and no light. As the years have gone by, Nintendo has slowly (but surely) introduced very important additions to the Game Boy line, from smaller sizes to color screens and increased graphical capabilities. On March 23rd, Nintendo released the Game Boy Advance SP, and in one fell swoop, fixed everything weâve ever had to gripe about. The SP is sleek, small and very cool to look at. More importantly, the SP has an internal backlight to make the GBAâs pain-in-the-butt screen completely visible in any light. All in all, the SP is the Game Boy weâve all been waiting for.
The Game Boy Advance SP features a compact design that allows the screen to be folded down like a cell phone when the system is not in use. This is a great touch, because it not only shrinks the systemâs size to about an inch by three inches when closed, but also protects the screen from being scratched. The most important addition to the GBA SP has to be the light. While the light isnât quite a backlight (More like a frontlight) it provides enough even lighting distribution to be called one. The light is a godsend, making the once too-dark screen visible in any lighting. Plus, there is a button underneath the screen that allows you to turn the light on or off, making it possible to conserve battery life.
Another great touch is the internal rechargeable battery in the system. The SP runs on a lithium ion battery, providing up to 10 hours of gameplay with the light on and 18 hours with the light off. The battery can be charged with the AC adapter that is shipped with the system, and takes about 3 hours to charge. The SP has two external input jacks. The first one is used for Game Link cables and GameCube link cables, basically the same applications as the external jack on the other Game Boy Advance. The second external jack is reserved for the AC Adapter or the headphone jack adapter. Thatâs right, the system doesnât have a plug-in for headphones. Some may see this as a huge problem, but the headphone jack can be purchased at stores for a measly five bucks and it is quite small and easily transported. I donât like this decision by Nintendo, and I think that the constant flaws in their products are purposeful, so you come and buy the next model.
The buttons are nicely placed. The D-pad has a much tighter feel than the loose D-pad on the old GBA model, and both the pad and the face buttons have a very responsive clicky feel to them. The shoulder buttons are now much smaller and are placed at the edge of the unit and feel pretty natural overall. As I stated earlier, the SP looks very cool. The compact design makes it very easy to carry around and the light is a great addition that was a long time coming. However, the changes are primarily aesthetic. The internal hardware of the SP is the same as the normal GBA. This and the SPâs hundred-dollar price tag make it hard to recommend it to anyone who has recently laid down 70 bucks for the old model. However, those who are uninitiated to the GBA (probably holding out for the now-available backlight) should jump on this chance to own the best handheld system ever made. I hope that the next-generation of GB hardware doesnât have ANY problems, but if it didnât, Nintendo wouldnât make it.
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