GameBoy Micro

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Devin
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GameBoy Micro

Post by Devin » Fri Jan 12, 2007 11:26 pm

I got this for christmas because it's suddenly been reduced to a mere £30! In a word 'STUNNING', had no idea the graphics and screen of the GameBoy Micro was so good. One small problem is the speaker position which can be blocked [and thus muted] by your thumb!

So far I've bought Final Fight One and Street Fighter Alpha 3 which are really impressive conversions. Found some bargain basement bits in a game store including a silver plastic sheath for the Micro which works well as a grip and for protection.

Anyone else tried the Micro?

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Post by GAMGATOR2000 » Fri Jan 19, 2007 9:53 pm

Hello Uncle Devin! :twisted:

Damn straight! The GameBoy Micro rocks! :P

I'm here in Idaho this week and found a 3-pack of GameBoy Micro SOX! :shock: Along with a Car Power Adapter! Not sure why they made the power cord different for this GameBoy???

gamgator2000 waiting for his plane, out . . .

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Re: GameBoy Micro

Post by DefunctGamer » Tue Jan 23, 2007 6:16 pm

Devin wrote:Anyone else tried the Micro?
Simple question: did you own a GBA before the Micro?

I ask because the Micro is considered something of a joke in the circle I find myself in. I have often found myself curious who the target audience was. Don't get me wrong, I can totally see it if it's your first GBA ... but for anybody who owned the system before (and there were a lot of those people) it seemed like kind of a rip off.

I remember being at the Nintendo conference at E3 when they announced that and just being perplexed. I just didn't understand what they were thinking. I don't know, I still kind of prefer my GBA SP ... mostly because I can play my old Game Boy games on it (I play Tetris DX every single day still).
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Post by Devin » Tue Jan 23, 2007 11:12 pm

No, this is my first GBA compatible. I'm very happy with it as well. You have to understand £30 is the average price of a brand new PC game, so picking up a brand new Micro was hard to resist! Just in time as well because many stores are clearing out the old GBA/Micro stock it's easy to buy the little things like extra batteries, holders, cartridge cases all dirt cheap. Managed to score a Flash Cart as well so I can try out some of the homebrew stuff which looks kinda neat, especially Rainbow Islands!

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Post by DefunctGamer » Tue Jan 23, 2007 11:25 pm

Devin wrote:No, this is my first GBA compatible. I'm very happy with it as well. You have to understand £30 is the average price of a brand new PC game, so picking up a brand new Micro was hard to resist! Just in time as well because many stores are clearing out the old GBA/Micro stock it's easy to buy the little things like extra batteries, holders, cartridge cases all dirt cheap. Managed to score a Flash Cart as well so I can try out some of the homebrew stuff which looks kinda neat, especially Rainbow Islands!
That makes complete sense, and don't get me wrong, I wasn't trying to put down the Micro or your purchase. The problem was that when the Micro first came out it was $100, versus $80 for the GBA SP. For that reason (and the smaller size, lack of original GB function), it was considered something of a joke. However, now that stores are starting to get rid of them for rock bottom prices (as you noted) it makes perfect sense to buy one. Since I already own the original GBA and the GBA SP it would not make any sense for me to buy one, however, it does make sense for somebody who has yet to buy one of those systems.

Then again, at this point I'm kind of over the GBA. Like I said earlier, I play Tetris DX on it every single day, but I don't really play many new GBA games anymore. I guess I'm just more excited about the new PSP and DS games (especially Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops).
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Post by Devin » Tue Jan 23, 2007 11:30 pm

DefunctGamer wrote:Especially Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops
Probably the only reason I'd buy a PSP! Guess I'll have to wait until it comes down to £30! :D

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Post by DefunctGamer » Tue Jan 23, 2007 11:43 pm

Devin wrote:
DefunctGamer wrote:Especially Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops
Probably the only reason I'd buy a PSP! Guess I'll have to wait until it comes down to £30! :D
You've got to be kidding me! There are PLENTY of reasons to buy a PSP. In fact, I wouldn't even say Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops is the best PSP game out there. I know it's fun and easy to say that there are no good games for the PSP, but check out the reviews. Don't forget Killzone: Liberation, Lumines 1 and 2, Daxter, Syphon Filter: Dark Tomorrow, WipEout Pure, Burnout Legend, GTA: Vice City Stories/Liberty City Stories, Street Fighter Alpha 3 MAX, Exit, Pursuit Force, and many more I'm completely forgetting.

A lot of people say there aren't good games for the system, but that's simply not true. In 2006 alone GameSpot gave 27 PSP games a score of 8.0 - 8.9. They also gave three games a score of 9.0 or better. That's compared to the DS's 6 games that scored 8.0 - 8.9 and 2 games that scored 9.0 or better. This is across the board. Go look at the reviews from IGN, GameRankings, 1up.com and almost every other magazine/website. The PSP had a fantastic year last year ... it just involves people actually playing the games before completely writing them off.

EDIT: Oops ... I misread. I thought you said "the only reason to buy a PSP", but instead you said "the only reason I'd buy a PSP." Either way, the system has a lot of great games for it, I will stand by that. I get a lot of games to review, so I have close to 60 PSP games, a good 20 of them I still play on a regular basis. The system is worth checking out, that is something I will defend until I'm blue in the face.
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Post by Devin » Tue Jan 23, 2007 11:58 pm

The problem for me is that the PSP simply isn't, as the last P suggests, portable. I don't feel comfortable carrying around an expensive piece of kit that's probably gonna last 5 hours of battery life and won't fit in any of my available pockets. Whilst on the other hand just the other day whilst waiting for my car service I [thankfully] chucked the Micro in my pocket before setting off. The time simply flew by!

I just can't see where the PSP fits to be honest. If I did get one it'd definately stay in the house which surely defeats the whole object of a portable platform? Just my opinion. Whilst I'm at home I'd much rather play something on the big screen. Don't get me wrong the PSP is a cool system but too big on the 'novelty' factor to be of any interest to me. Until they're reduced to £30 anyway! :wink:

How is UMD doing in the States? Seems to be bombing out here in the UK with loads of price reductions.

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Post by DefunctGamer » Wed Jan 24, 2007 12:11 am

Devin wrote:The problem for me is that the PSP simply isn't, as the last P suggests, portable. I don't feel comfortable carrying around an expensive piece of kit that's probably gonna last 5 hours of battery life and won't fit in any of my available pockets. Whilst on the other hand just the other day whilst waiting for my car service I [thankfully] chucked the Micro in my pocket before setting off. The time simply flew by!

I just can't see where the PSP fits to be honest. If I did get one it'd definately stay in the house which surely defeats the whole object of a portable platform? Just my opinion. Whilst I'm at home I'd much rather play something on the big screen. Don't get me wrong the PSP is a cool system but too big on the 'novelty' factor to be of any interest to me. Until they're reduced to £30 anyway! :wink:

How is UMD doing in the States? Seems to be bombing out here in the UK with loads of price reductions.
Hmm ... I haven't had too many problems packing the system around. I'm on the go quite a bit for work, and it's easy for me to pack it around and play it where ever. I'll admit, if I was only playing it for eight hours in a row then it wouldn't work as well (unless I bought a second battery, which is an option) ... but it seems pretty portable to me. Some of my best times have been when I've taken it with me and played against friends. My buddy and I almost missed out on the Microsoft conference at E3 last year because we were too busy trying to beat each other at WipEout.

The PSP also works well at home, because there actually are quite a few games on the system that you can't get elsewhere. In the case of Lumines you can now get it on the Xbox Live Arcade, but it's not as good and just feels wrong on the TV.

As for UMD, it's important to understand that the UMD only came about because Sony needed to promote the system as a movie player. In Japan Sony could get away with suggesting that people rip their movies to a memory stick, but since that's illegal in the states (copyright issues) they could not advertise that. UMD movies failed, as was to be expected. But it did the job of telling people that it will play movies. Sony's next plan appears to be a two-parter, both downloadable movies and the ability to legally compress Blu Ray films to work on portable devices. I am not sure how either of these solutions will play out, but that's the least of my worries at the moment. Just as long as they keep supporting the system with good games I'll be happy. And there's one game in particular that has yet to be announced but is going to knock your socks off. Mark my words on that. ;)

For what it's worth, almost a year ago I did a full story on the passing of the UMD (long before companies started to pull out of the UMD game). It's worth a read if you're curious how we got to this point.
http://www.defunctgames.com/shows.php?id=feuds-49
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