I believe that today I'd enjoy rambling about my love for the Gameboy Advance. Truth to tell I recently found one lying around the house where I'm currently living and I was hit with a ton of fond memories soon after. It seems like it's been so long since this particular device was introduced, and I guess really it has been long enough to feel some nostalgia for it. Regardless though, this particular piece of technology is by far one of my favorite channels for recreation.
It's not hard to appreciate this device after thoroughly enjoying it's predecessor the 'Gameboy Color'. The production and release of the GBA was probably the first impression for me that a hand-held system could really compete against consoles. I will admit though, I wasn't terribly impressed with some of the early releases, especially launch titles. However, it didn't take long for some great titles to come along. At the time of the release, Nintendo was still running strong with great releases for not just the GBA, but their consoles as well. Developers had less limitations to deal with since the cartridges capacity had a significant increase, and the processing of the device was far superior to any handheld except perhaps the NeoGeo, which most people don't remember anyways. Naturally though, it did have some bad qualities that weren't remedied immediately.
Several of the initial problems were probably already being solved during the release, but due to deadlines was setback for the first batch of models. Yes, of course I'm talking about two primary problems that were solved by the Gameboy Advance SP. The first problem was batteries. Batteries! Batteries!! Batteries!!! Sure, we came a long way from the original Gameboy Classic, which required a whopping 4 AA's for maybe 3 hours of life if you were lucky. However, the Gameboy Advance was still using 2 AA's for ~4 - 6 hours of lifetime. If hand-held gaming was ever going to become a replacement of console gaming, it would need a self-sufficient rechargeable power source. Nintendo recognized this, and implemented a long-life rechargeable battery which opened the door to another solution. With a stronger, more reliable battery on board, Nintendo realized they could also include a back-light so gaming would be more comfortable and cause less fatigue on your eyes. This was probably one of the best marketing decisions Nintendo has ever made, in my opinion at least. I spent countless hours of the night playing games which prior to the SP would have costed me tens of dollars in AA batteries and my parents an increased electrical bill from the lights.
Of course, it was all about the games. You couldn't have a successful piece of hardware without a decent selection of games to go with it. Two of my favorites, 'Advance Wars' & 'Fire Emblem' as seen above, were arguably some of the more popular ones. Of course, they were both designed by the same person, using extremely similar game-play mechanics. Not to mention the ever popular Pokemon series, which I sadly still play from time to time... despite the fact that I'm nearly 20 years old. The fact of the matter is though, the GBA sold well, and it had at least 20 unforgettable titles by the end of it's lifetime. That's far more than I can count for any console I've ever played.
To this day it still holds it's own as a legitimate gaming system, with a bunch of great games.
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