30th September 2005, 11:28 PM
I got to test-play the new Game Boy Micro and the new version of the SP recently.
Micro first: I'm not really impressed. Yes, the image looks sharper than the SP, but this is done by making the screen smaller. Text is more difficult to read. It's cheating, frankly. And worse, it's nothing short of criminal to charge a hundred dollars for this thing. It should be no more than fifty.
It does have a headphone jack though, and the unit itself is rather neat-looking. That doesn't change the fact that it's a pointless machine.
The new SP, on the other hand, I rather liked.
It's coming in two new colors (granite and pearl blue, which I played). The significant change comes in the screen, which is now truly back-lit (the old SP's lights were from the sides). The improvement is extraordinary. I played the new Donkey Kong on this.
You remember the button on the SP which toggled the light. It no longer does this. Now, it changes the brightness. The lower setting is the one you're used to on your SP now, the side-light. The other setting is the actual backlight, and there's no comparison. When back-lit, the screen is more than twice as bright, but even more importantly, the colors are fantastically improved, and I cannot stress this enough. The old SP's colors look very drab and washed-out in comparison to the new screen. It's a huge improvement. Colors are far richer and deeper. I was absolutely amazed.
The New SP will retail for the same price as the old one, and is replacing them. The old colors are being phased out.
Also, there will be new bundles. The DS will bundle with Mario Kart DS, and the machine will be red with black racing stripes. There's another bundle with another game, but I don't remember what it is.
The Gamecube will bundle with SSBM (with a platinum machine, this bundle's already available), and another later on with the new Pokemon. Apparently, this cube is purple, and the black circle on the machine's top is replaced with a Pokemon head.
That's it. The moral is to buy the new SP if you need anything. Skip the Micro completely. The small improvement in sharpness doesn't make up for the pitiful screen size (smaller than the GBA cart).
Micro first: I'm not really impressed. Yes, the image looks sharper than the SP, but this is done by making the screen smaller. Text is more difficult to read. It's cheating, frankly. And worse, it's nothing short of criminal to charge a hundred dollars for this thing. It should be no more than fifty.
It does have a headphone jack though, and the unit itself is rather neat-looking. That doesn't change the fact that it's a pointless machine.
The new SP, on the other hand, I rather liked.
It's coming in two new colors (granite and pearl blue, which I played). The significant change comes in the screen, which is now truly back-lit (the old SP's lights were from the sides). The improvement is extraordinary. I played the new Donkey Kong on this.
You remember the button on the SP which toggled the light. It no longer does this. Now, it changes the brightness. The lower setting is the one you're used to on your SP now, the side-light. The other setting is the actual backlight, and there's no comparison. When back-lit, the screen is more than twice as bright, but even more importantly, the colors are fantastically improved, and I cannot stress this enough. The old SP's colors look very drab and washed-out in comparison to the new screen. It's a huge improvement. Colors are far richer and deeper. I was absolutely amazed.
The New SP will retail for the same price as the old one, and is replacing them. The old colors are being phased out.
Also, there will be new bundles. The DS will bundle with Mario Kart DS, and the machine will be red with black racing stripes. There's another bundle with another game, but I don't remember what it is.
The Gamecube will bundle with SSBM (with a platinum machine, this bundle's already available), and another later on with the new Pokemon. Apparently, this cube is purple, and the black circle on the machine's top is replaced with a Pokemon head.
That's it. The moral is to buy the new SP if you need anything. Skip the Micro completely. The small improvement in sharpness doesn't make up for the pitiful screen size (smaller than the GBA cart).
YOU CANNOT HIDE FOREVER
WE STAND AT THE DOOR
WE STAND AT THE DOOR