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30 Mar 2001
Gameboy Advance Review
by theVooner
The wait is over. Gameboy Advance is finally here!
 Though
I couldn’t find the golf game (it’s supposed to be out already!) I
decided to buy one anyway. As I originally wrote at the end of last year, I
was considering getting the Bandai Color Wonderswan because of the golf game
that I saw. Unfortunately, the rest of the games were pretty weak so I gave
up that idea pretty quickly. I decided to wait for the much anticipated Gameboy
Advance. Actually, I had even forgotten that the Gameboy Advance was supposed
to be coming out this month. I was walking around in the mall when I saw one
on display in the Seibu department store. It was grossly overpriced so I immediately
got in a cab and went over to the “game” mall.
For something that was released just a week ago, there were surprisingly a
lot of units offered. Unlike the PS2, which was completely sold out within the
first hour of it being released, the Gameboy Advance seemed readily available.
I guess Nintendo learned from the Sony fiasco and made enough machines. Plus,
there were at least 15 different games to choose from! Each unit cost about
HK$850 (US$110), a 40% markup from the 9,800 yen (US$80) retail price in Japan.
I’m sure the price will continue to fall in the coming weeks. The games
ranged from HK$290 (US$37) for the original
4 games to HK$390 (US$50) for some of the newer ones.
 I
scanned all of the games and eventually, I settled on just buying one first.
It’s a really amazing car racing game called Advance
GTA. I’ll buy more games later, but I just wanted to try out the machine
first. The only other notable games are a cool Mario Kart-like game, Super Mario
Brothers, and this cool RPG game called Silent Hill. The Gameboy Advance is
also supposed to be backward compatible with all previous Gameboy games. I haven’t
had a chance to try this out but I would assume it would work.
When I bought the machine, there were at least 5 or six other people asking
about the Gameboy Advance. By the time I had tried a few games, chosen the one
I wanted, and paid, two other people had also bought a Gameboy Advance machine.
I think the Gameboy Advance is going to do really well, especially if they can
release more games ASAP.
Form
 The
machine itself is available in 3 different colors (Blue, White, and translucent).
It has a more horizontal shape, as opposed to the vertical Gameboy with the
buttons and joypad at either side of the screen. The on/off button is at the
bottom while there are right/left buttons at the top of the machine, just like
on a joypad. The orientation of the buttons and screen is actually quite good
- it’s just like holding a standard joystick on the PS, for example.
 I
chose the translucent because the blue machine looks more like a very dull purple
that wasn’t very attractive. I don’t know if they are supposed to
be more expensive, but I had to pay a premium (an extra US$5) to get it (versus
the blue/white machines). The unit is very light and sits well in your hands.
The buttons are standard size so it’s pretty much just like any old Gameboy.
It’s interesting to note though that the Gameboy Advance Cartridges are
nearly half the size of regular Gameboy games.
Function
 The
Gameboy Advance rules! The games are a quantum leap from the old Gameboy games.
The graphics on the small screen is pretty amazing. The game play is really
good as well, especially considering that it’s a portable machine. The
racing game I bought is more akin to something you’d play on a SNES/PS
as opposed to the old Gameboy which had games you’d likely play on a NES/Atari.
This is a significant improvement in portable gaming. I can’t wait to see
what other games there will be out there. Probably the best improvement has
to be the sound. It is loud and very good. No more of those lame Gameboy sounds,
now you get true “game” sounds.
 The
only minor complaint I have is that the screen again is like the old Gameboy,
just a bit dim. But hey, it makes sense. If you get an active screen like my
PDA, you’ll be burning through batteries faster than you’ll be able
to finish the first stage of any game. Still, I can dream.
I haven’t had a chance to test out the battery life completely. It runs
on two AA batteries and so far its lasted through an hour of game playing. I
suspect though that you’ll be burning through batteries reasonably quick.
Rechargeables or the optional battery pack is probably an option worth considering.
Factor
 Is
there any other portable game device out there that compares? NO! Buy the Gameboy
Advance, enough said. Even for someone like me, that hardly ever plays video
games, and I usually stink at the ones I do play, this is a fantastic buy and
an ESSENTIAL gadget you need to have. Don’t
even think that the GB emulator on a Palm or the Games on an iPaq can compare.
I could have used this on my last flight out to LA. It will get even better
when I find that golf game and there are many other games on the way.
theVooner can be reached at theVooner@yahoo.com
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