penny arcade pokes fun at Game Boy SP

[Raedon]

http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3

Yes.. you got fucked Billy.. LOL

[Sothy]

Kid and his dad come in the store today.


Kid all excited

Dad: Do you have th new Gameboy SPs?

Me: Not right now but they probably have some at WalMart or something

Dad: How much are they there?

Me: About 100$

Dad: Well I guees we will go there but do you have any games for it?

Me: Sure shows him big display of games from old B&W to advance games.

Dad: Here son see any in there you like

Kid: No. Lets go To Wal Mart they have the new games

Dad: but they are more expensie there.. Which ones do the SP play?

Me: Well all of them but the advance games will look the best.

Dad:...Ya but what about SP games?

ME: Well its still a Gameboy Advance plays the same games they just kinda changed it.

Dad: Changed it.. Like the graphics are better?

ME: no its the same. But it has a light so its easier to play..and kinda smaller but its the same otherwise.

DAD: So let me get this straight its the same as a Gameboy Advance but has a light and its smaller and costs 100 bux?

ME: And it doesnt have a headphone jack yeah.

DAD: Do you sell lights for game Boy Advance?

ME: yeah theyre 9.90

KID: Starts crying

[scooterb23]

LOL LOL LOL

That's classic...

[zmeston]

http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3

Yes.. you got fucked Billy.. LOL

Ehhh... couldn't you do the same cartoon about Sony stripping the A/V jacks out of later revs of the PlayStation hardware, forcing you to buy their proprietary A/V cable? Features are often dropped or consolidated to cut manufacturing costs. Yeah, the headphone jack is an important aspect of the GB experience, but Nintendo has to keep the MSRP under $100, and the SP has literally everything else going for it.

-- Z.

[Bratwurst]

Poor kid. But I remember pining for a Game Gear and having to make do with a scratched up Gameboy brick missing a vertical display line. SO TOUGH NOONIES

[NE146]

ehh.. i dunno. the lack of a headphone jack isn't a big deal for me.. I mean when I'm sitting at the some clothing section of a store waiting for the wife, I aint about to be wearing headphones.. and I actually usually play it w/ the sound off anyway. And the other place I play GBA the most.. i.e. the crapper.. Why the heck would I need headphones in there?! LOL


;)

[geelw]

http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3

Yes.. you got fucked Billy.. LOL

Ehhh... couldn't you do the same cartoon about Sony stripping the A/V jacks out of later revs of the PlayStation hardware, forcing you to buy their proprietary A/V cable? Features are often dropped or consolidated to cut manufacturing costs. Yeah, the headphone jack is an important aspect of the GB experience, but Nintendo has to keep the MSRP under $100, and the SP has literally everything else going for it.

-- Z.

actually, the av cable came packed in with the ps, which didn't change all that much cosmetically until the PS One redesign. the GBA SP is a complete redesign, so leaving out a feature that many people used on the "older" system is a bit of a WTF for those complaining about the $100 price tag. of course, that just means more crappy third party adaptors selling for a third or more of what nintendo will charge for theirs, lol...

[zmeston]

http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3

Yes.. you got fucked Billy.. LOL

Ehhh... couldn't you do the same cartoon about Sony stripping the A/V jacks out of later revs of the PlayStation hardware, forcing you to buy their proprietary A/V cable? Features are often dropped or consolidated to cut manufacturing costs. Yeah, the headphone jack is an important aspect of the GB experience, but Nintendo has to keep the MSRP under $100, and the SP has literally everything else going for it.

-- Z.

actually, the av cable came packed in with the ps, which didn't change all that much cosmetically until the PS One redesign. the GBA SP is a complete redesign, so leaving out a feature that many people used on the "older" system is a bit of a WTF for those complaining about the $100 price tag. of course, that just means more crappy third party adaptors selling for a third or more of what nintendo will charge for theirs, lol...

Thanks for the reminder on the cable pack-in. I shoulda remembered that. My point still stands, though -- hardware features are frequently removed or consolidated to cut costs. From Nintendo's corporate perspective, better to leave headphones as an option for those gamers williing to pay the extra $10-$20, and keep the price point under the $100 mark.

-- Z.

[Anonymous]

I may be biased, but two other points to consider are that a) consolidating the contact points for the Headphone and AC adapter into one port saves money for the vast majority of people who don't use headphones (like NE146), and b) The original GBA isn't going anywhere, so its not like your choices have dried up. personally I would have preferred separate ports, however. If there is any time I'll be using the headphones, it'll be at home.

[bargora]

I ride the train to work. I play video-games on my game-boy advance. I like to use head-phones.

But I probably will not get the game-boy-advance SP immediately unless I destroy my regular game-boy-advance installing an after-burner.

How much will the head-phone adapter cost?

[zmeston]

I ride the train to work. I play video-games on my game-boy advance. I like to use head-phones.

But I probably will not get the game-boy-advance SP immediately unless I destroy my regular game-boy-advance installing an after-burner.

How much will the head-phone adapter cost?

If you're installing an Afterburner, you WILL destroy your GBA, or at least leave large, annoying specks of dust inside the screen. There's another thread here (I forget which -- sorry!) that talks about the many dangers and drawbacks of Afterburner installation, and I would STRONGLY advise you to save your fundage and pick up an SP instead. I have an Afterburnered GBA and an SP, and the latter is exponentially better.

-- Z.

[Chunky]

I ride the train to work. I play video-games on my game-boy advance. I like to use head-phones.

But I probably will not get the game-boy-advance SP immediately unless I destroy my regular game-boy-advance installing an after-burner.

How much will the head-phone adapter cost?

I bought an SP. I think all the SP has done is encurage me to buy an afterburner kit for my GBA. If i break the damn thing, big deal, I still got an SP.

[bargora]

Well, crap. I've got the afterburner kit and dimmer circuit already, and I was just waiting on the replacement case to arrive. Do you think things would turn out better if I just put everything in a box and sent it off to a professional installer like http://yourhappyplace.com ?

[zmeston]

Well, crap. I've got the afterburner kit and dimmer circuit already, and I was just waiting on the replacement case to arrive. Do you think things would turn out better if I just put everything in a box and sent it off to a professional installer like http://yourhappyplace.com ?

If you're adept with soldering irons and hardware hackery, which I am most certainly not, you're probably better off doing it yourself, so you only have yourself to blame for the results. Heh.

I'm unfamiliar with yourhappyplace.com, but even if they manage the miracle of a dust-free installation, you'll still suffer from at least one of the following: "the trapezoid effect" (discussed on the Triton Labs forums), washed-out colors, and quick-death batteries.

There are some Afterburner users who are very happy with the hardware, but I wasn't one of 'em. There's something appealing about the anarchy of sticking a garage-kit doohickey into your GBA, but the reality is that the SP just looks and plays a LOT better.

-- Z.

[Bratwurst]

Dust is going to get in there 99% of the time, Bargora. Doesn't matter who does it.

[Sylentwulf]

<shrug> I love my Gameboy SP. I like the size of it, the look of it, the way the buttons feel when you push them, I like the R and L buttons better, I like the adjustable screen, I like the pads to cushion it when I close it, I like not having my screen scratched, I like how VERY VERY SUBSTANTIAL it feels (I swear I could throw this thing against a wall and not worry about it) And I love NOT spending ANOTHER $30 on rechargeable batteries. (OK, it's included in the price, but still...

[bargora]

[Note to the reader: Please visit gamefaqs.com and select a random rant by an embittered and jealous standard GBA owner who can't afford an SP. The gist of the rant should be that the SP represents no major advance over the standard GBA, but it is more important that the rant have poor grammar, logic, and word choice. Insert said rant HERE.]

SO THERE, SYLENTWULF!!1!