Tendo City

Shit I knew it! Pictures to come soon.

How "mini" are we talking? They are already pretty darn tiny.

Yeah...

It doesn't NEED to be smaller! How small CAN it get? I mean, the thing is already at minimum size before it eats into screen space? Are we talking thickness? Are they reducing it to credit card thickness? I do want the thing to be able to not crack in half when I sit down you know.

Smaller than an ipod mini.

Game Boy Micro:
4 inches wide, 2 inches tall and 0.7 inches deep
2-inch backlit screen
adjustable brightness
supports standard headphones



....


2 inch screen?


wtf

That isn't the same size as the GBA/SP screen?

I think that's life half the size of the GBA screen.

Interesting

My answer is no

I don't want this

The SP is small ENOUGH. Small is nice but there is a limit. This limit will be realized by the computer industry one day when a man sneezes and destroys the server network of his company.

I know, I really don't get why Nintendo is doing this. I mean I'm sure it'll sell well, but who cares? Really, who cares? I already have an SP, and a DS.

SUCH a dissapointing E3.

Heh... yeah... :) There is a limit to how small things should get.

2006: GBA micro-er! 6mm screen, comes with free magnifying lense!

Maybe...

Yeah, this is kind of stupid. A smaller screen? Bad move... look at this and then a PSP and it's such a huge comparison... and the GBA was already small enough in comparison. I know, it's a status symbol thing, etc... but I think they shouldn't have shrunk the screen.

At least it uses a standard headphone jack. And maybe the small screen isn't so bad since the image is a lot sharper and cleaner on this screen.

Well at least I was right about this. I expected the new GB to be a super-tiny version of the regular one.

Quote:SUCH a dissapointing E3.

They announce Smash Brothers Online and your dissapointed?!?!?!

AND access to every Nintendo game that's ever been made?!?!?!

They didn't fucking show SSB!! What's wrong with you??

We already knew that the Rev would go online, and if you didn't actually expect that one of their biggest franchises wouldn't take advantage of that then you're dumb. They didn't show anything!

One of Nintendo's worst press conferences, by far.

Another pic:

Now we know for sure! AND it's coming out at launch! That's something!

Besides, access to every Nintendo game with the Revolution is a cool concept no matter how you look at it.

Quote:Now we know for sure! AND it's coming out at launch! That's something!

Something, but not much. I already knew this stuff would happen.

Quote:Besides, access to every Nintendo game with the Revolution is a cool concept no matter how you look at it.

It is a great concept, but it in no way revolutionizes gameplay. Whatsoever. Right now Sony has shown more innovative stuff with their PS3. Did you see the amazing eyetoy demos?

Back on topic for a bit here: The GBA Mini looks kind of cool, but there's no way I'm going to buy it.

If it's really cheap and the screen is good enough I *might* buy one. If it's very cheap. Like $40 or something.

I know, I'm a Nintendo whore.

If it's it that cheap I MIGHT consider buying it. Maybe.

Look how tiny it is! Holy crap it's so cute.

That's really small.

I'm going to buy one as soon as I can and I will wear it on my keychain or perhaps a headband/bandana combination.

Haha, good idea.

I like the SP better... Is it just me or does that somehow look... retro?

A bit, yeah.

I just realized that the way I said it makes it sound like I don't like retro. No, I love retro. Those two sentences are totally unrelated thoughts.

It reminds me a bit of a Game & Watch... except smaller.

Hmm...

Quote:E3 2005: Hands on: Game Boy Micro
We spend some time with Nintendo's sleek, resized handheld.
by Craig Harris

May 17, 2005 - Nintendo Executive Vice-President of Sales and Marketing Reggie Fils-Aime surprised an engaged audience by slipping his hand into his jacket pocket and revealing...a tiny device he calls the Game Boy Micro. Though we've heard rumors that Nintendo was once again retooling the Game Boy Advance to be sleeker and brighter, what Reggie whipped out was the first revelation of the unit, and not exactly what we were expecting. But after seeing it in-hand, I want one.

After the press conference, I was given the opportunity to hold the unit in my own hand. The Game Boy Micro is indeed a tiny device. The dimensions are very wee -- four inches wide, two inches tall, and not even an inch thick. It abandons the cool and clever clamshell design of the Game Boy Advance SP in favor of a much more minimal gaming presentation. The unit's more like a cellphone in size and weight, and it just looks so damn cool.



The cartridges plug into the bottom of the unit, much like the GBA SP does. The cartridge port is slightly off-set to the left side of the unit, making room for the headphone port on the right. That's another big deal: instead of the proprietary headphone port of the GBA SP, the Game Boy Micro uses standard 1/8" headphones. On the top of the unit between the L and R buttons, the system has an EXT port that will be used for charging the internal battery as well as provide a plug-in for the link cable dongle that will be made for the unit. The EXT port is proprietary to the Game Boy Micro, looking similar to plug-in ports for a cellphone.

The start and select buttons are on the bottom edge of the unit, and they will light up a cool blue when powering on the system. The A and B action buttons, as well as the D-pad, are no longer the "clicky" style of the GBA SP, instead going back to a more softer feeling of standard D-pad and action button feedback.

Along with the small size comes a smaller screen than the Game Boy Advance and Game Boy Advance SP system. The LCD screen is far, far more bright and vibrant than the GBA SP system, more in line with the backlight technology of the Nintendo DS system. GBA games are definitely much more vivid in light and color on the device, and text is completely legible even at the slightly smaller size.

The system is surprisingly comfortable to hold, though it's made more for portability than it is for ergonomics. It goes back to the days of the original Game Boy Advance design that allows for players hands to spread out a little more than the GBA SP's more "cramped" configuration.

Nintendo did not reveal price or specific release date beyond the "Fall 2005" window, nor did it reveal possible features such as wireless or GameCube connectivity. We were expecting the possible announcement of the ability to play MP3 files, but this wasn't mentioned or commented on by Nintendo.

We'll have more on the Game Boy Micro as the show progresses.

Um, does this mean you need a new link cable and it's not compatible with the GC-GBA cable? How nice...

Wow, they certainly are selling out a bit, or, more likely, they just don't have a sense of... what is and is not a good idea...

The headphone jack exists, they applaude that. At the same time, they just glance over the fact that the link cable port, more important, will need an adapter. Gee, is that really objective? The Gameboy Pocket did that too and it took off, but still that's not a good idea.

They talk about the lack of an MP3 function (I have no idea how they got the impression it was even a possibility) as though it's just like Nintendo is keeping silent on that "capability".

Here's another thing. Can it even play GBC or GB games? My guess is no. My guess is that in order to shrink it down as much as possible, the GBC chip in there was removed outright.

I thought that the GBC chip in it was doing something important, so I don't see how they could remove it... but yes, this thing has downsides past the smaller screen size. Like, it doesn't look like it'll be GC compatible, unless they release a new GC-GBAmini cable... I know connectivity failed, but still, they shouldn't break compatibility with it with some versions of the console that it does need, for the sake of that group of games that actually benefits from connectivity...

The GBC chip was easily removed from the DS. That thing can't play GB and GBC games. The only reason that was in there was to be backwards compatible. They didn't pull a Sega or something and make the previous system's main chip the new system's sound chip or something.

But it isn't a GBA, it's a DS... it doesn't have to have a full GBA inside, just enough that they can create something to emulate the rest of the hardware... I guess they could do something like that for this GB Mini, but what would be the point? Wouldn't it be easier to just miniturize the hardware they already have for the GBA?

However, you're right that until they say 'this is fully backwards compatible' we shouldn't take it for granted. After all, it's already broken GC-GBA and link cable backwards compatibility...

Hmm, no port for the GC link? That's retarded.

Well you get an adapter to use those. Since the adapter will likely be a cord, I'm pretty sure the GCN cable will be usable, it just won't be snapped securely onto the thing.

Yes, it is stupid.

Nintendo's handheld hardware is like a small box, and whenever they try to fill that box with improvements it gets too full and other things fall out. It's ridiculous.

And the improvements here are not exactly that.

Oh, another thing about that article. These are the people who applauded Nintendo for the clicky SP (and DS) buttons. I like them too, because they are responsive and tell me one of two possible states and ONLY that. They seem to be saying this "going back" is actually an improvement.

But yeah, apparently it has a much sharper screen now. That's all well and good, but I'm fine with my SP.

Maybe they'll include an adaptor so you can use the link cable?

...

Nah.

Quote:Well you get an adapter to use those. Since the adapter will likely be a cord, I'm pretty sure the GCN cable will be usable, it just won't be snapped securely onto the thing.

And given that in some cases if that cable falls out the game can stop, and you could lose a bunch of progress... yeah, not good.

Quote:Nintendo's handheld hardware is like a small box, and whenever they try to fill that box with improvements it gets too full and other things fall out. It's ridiculous.

As in, small is nice but there is a limit? :) Yeah, I agree.

Muh? That's not what I meant...

I don't mind small, but if it means leaving out important features, it's annoying...

Okay what's the deal with OB1 using ABF's avatar?

I'm bored. :(

A little confusing, but kind of funny, if it doesn't last too long... :)

It would have been funnier if you two switched avatars AND signatures, to see how long it would take to get people to notice.

But it's too late now. YOU FUCKED IT UP!

...

Oh great, now that one...