AtmaWeapon
02-10-2007, 04:26 AM
So around Christmas the local Wal-Mart had a lot of these laying around for $49.99. Once I had the money to buy one, they were not there anymore, but today I saw 2 laying around and got one. It is, for those that haven't seen it (go look it up on google or something seriously I'm typing all these words you can do a little bit of the work :mad:) a Game Boy Micro that is styled after the Famicom. I charged it up and played it a bit, and here's my comments and scoring.
(I collect game boys and the micro made me angry because I figured it was a stupid gimmick until I saw this thing; I especially like special paint jobs and the limited NES GBA is part of the reason why I have 2 GBAs. Harvest Moon on GBA is the other reason: I would typically drain 2 charges per day when I was hardcore into it.)
Styling: 10/10
This thing is SHARP. I'm pretty sure the faceplate is aluminum rather than plastic. I love the styling and it is shiny and sexy and probably the prettiest Game Boy in my collection. This leads to one of the major problems with the unit: playing it left fingerprints and marks on it and honestly it looks more like something that should be on display than tainted with my hands. It came with a little pouch to store it in so that's nice but the "I don't want to tear it up" dilemma leaves me wanting to waste $50 on another so I have one to play and one to display.
Ergonomics: 8/10
The golden rule of Game Boy design is that it must be uncomfortable to hold. This unit is no real exception, but like all other Game Boy units once you are used to it it's fine. My test game was Tetris Attack/Dr. Mario, so the change in d-pad was kind of problematic for the first few minutes. The L and R buttons don't really work like they traditionally do; you push the part that is normally hinged but this is actually where your fingertips should rest so it doesn't pose a real problem. It's about as comfortable as a Game Boy gets.
Screen: 8/10
The screen is very sharp and high quality; this is one of the first things I noticed. The GBA SP screens look pretty fuzzy and low quality in comparison. However, the screen is much smaller than the GBA SP screens and this may account for the difference in clarity and nullify its utility on games where small details are important. I like it but kind of wish it could have been bigger.
Summary
This is probably one of the nicest Game Boys I have bought. It feels like a bit more effort went into its production than your average unit. If you find one for $45 like I did I say it's worth it. Now here's a quick pros and cons for those on the fence here:
Pros
The highest quality and nicest looking Game Boy I own. Screen is sharp and high quality Cheap
Cons
So pretty you kind of don't want to defile it by playing it Tough to hold if you have big hands Screen is small Uses a different charger than GBA SP :mad:
There's more cons than pros but honestly if you do a utilitarian analysis you will see the cons are minor, except for the charger issue which made me pretty mad when I noticed it. I carry a single charger for my SPs and DS and it is great.
My only real problem is like I said the thing is just so pretty I don't want to play it but I feel silly having a Game Boy and not playing it. What would you guys do?
(I collect game boys and the micro made me angry because I figured it was a stupid gimmick until I saw this thing; I especially like special paint jobs and the limited NES GBA is part of the reason why I have 2 GBAs. Harvest Moon on GBA is the other reason: I would typically drain 2 charges per day when I was hardcore into it.)
Styling: 10/10
This thing is SHARP. I'm pretty sure the faceplate is aluminum rather than plastic. I love the styling and it is shiny and sexy and probably the prettiest Game Boy in my collection. This leads to one of the major problems with the unit: playing it left fingerprints and marks on it and honestly it looks more like something that should be on display than tainted with my hands. It came with a little pouch to store it in so that's nice but the "I don't want to tear it up" dilemma leaves me wanting to waste $50 on another so I have one to play and one to display.
Ergonomics: 8/10
The golden rule of Game Boy design is that it must be uncomfortable to hold. This unit is no real exception, but like all other Game Boy units once you are used to it it's fine. My test game was Tetris Attack/Dr. Mario, so the change in d-pad was kind of problematic for the first few minutes. The L and R buttons don't really work like they traditionally do; you push the part that is normally hinged but this is actually where your fingertips should rest so it doesn't pose a real problem. It's about as comfortable as a Game Boy gets.
Screen: 8/10
The screen is very sharp and high quality; this is one of the first things I noticed. The GBA SP screens look pretty fuzzy and low quality in comparison. However, the screen is much smaller than the GBA SP screens and this may account for the difference in clarity and nullify its utility on games where small details are important. I like it but kind of wish it could have been bigger.
Summary
This is probably one of the nicest Game Boys I have bought. It feels like a bit more effort went into its production than your average unit. If you find one for $45 like I did I say it's worth it. Now here's a quick pros and cons for those on the fence here:
Pros
The highest quality and nicest looking Game Boy I own. Screen is sharp and high quality Cheap
Cons
So pretty you kind of don't want to defile it by playing it Tough to hold if you have big hands Screen is small Uses a different charger than GBA SP :mad:
There's more cons than pros but honestly if you do a utilitarian analysis you will see the cons are minor, except for the charger issue which made me pretty mad when I noticed it. I carry a single charger for my SPs and DS and it is great.
My only real problem is like I said the thing is just so pretty I don't want to play it but I feel silly having a Game Boy and not playing it. What would you guys do?