Today Modojo gives the Game Boy Advance a final final send off, proper like:
The Game Boy Advance is now busy getting itself comfortable in its coffin. A look at the forthcoming release schedule isn’t a pretty sight. There are a couple of movie tie-ins and a quiz show, with very little on the horizon. There have been some excellent releases in the last year in Japan, with Mother 3 and Rhythm Tengoku being notably awesome. It’s a shame we’ll never see them over here but we’ve only ourselves to blame for taking up the DS so voraciously.
I’m not so sure the Game Boy brand is dead. In the illogical, delusional world that is my mind, I see a Game Boy resurgence in a year or so when Nintendo “re-introduces” a Game Boy that melds the DS with the Game Boy along with a slew of new features we can only speculate about at this time. They could even call it Game Boy and play to people’s nostalgia, all the while introducing features like wireless, a flash drive, online downloads, and the DS functionality right under everyone’s noses. Or they could just call it the DS 2.0. Zzz…
I realy hope there will be a place for a new game boy named hadheld console in the near future. Whether it's a DS2 or a GB Evolution (but who believes the "third pillar" thing anymore?) it would be nice to not let the historical Game Boy name die.
Playing the VC games you bought on your Wii is probably one of the features, multimedia stuff is likely. To me the GBA isn't dead, there are still plenty of games I haven't played, and they play easier on a SP or Micro than a DS.
ARGH. Why is so one so excited for the current DS to be put to rest? The DS is probably my favorite system of all time. It didn't have any great games the fir 18 months it was around, but then, after the developers learned the system, there was so many great games that we couldn't see straight. And they're still coming! Do we really want to kill the momentum the DS has earned by having yet another gap in games while developers learn a new system?
The DS has at least two more good years left. Let's not rush it into the ground just because we want something shiny and new.
Also, I am against the "Game Boy" name for the time being. Nintendo already has an established concept for what the Game Boy brand is, and they've been moving away from that direction.
There's been a bunch of SNES games that I would have loved to see ported to the Game Boy Advance.
…it would have been nice to see an all new Mario platformer on the GBA.
…and sports games sucked bad on the GBA. You would have thought publishers would have known what "worked" on the SNES (Griffey Jr MLB, NBA Live, NBA Jam, Tecmo Super Bowl, etc), and would have reproduced that formula for the portable small screen.
This is, what? the 3rd year and the 12th article that has declared the GameBoy "dead"? It seems like every time a great game comes out for it (Final Fantasy VI being the latest, and it came out this year!) it is declared to be the GameBoy's "swan song"…
But I'm willing to give this article some credibility: I've seen many traditional GBA game developers starting to flock towards the DS this year (e.g., Atlus, my personal favorite), with very enhanced results.
But as long as the DS carries a GBA catridge slot, you can hardly call this platform dead, I say! It will continue living in the "used" section of all our GameStops and GameCrazys and on eBay for many years to come…
P.S.- I absolutely LOVE my micro! …but now I'm using my DS more… I guess I needed an original Pokémon game on DS to make me finally switch!
The Game Boy should go away for a while. Remember Sony's attempt to revitalize the Walkman brand a few years ago? People flocked to the iPod, nostalgia be damned.
Granted Nintendo is in a better position because they own the brand (DS) that's outshined the Game Boy, but I think they're more likely to offer Game Boy downloads via some kind of Virtual Console flash cartridge for the DS than they are to come out with an upgraded Game Boy at this point.
I think, DrewMG, that should be –
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Will columnists never cease to bang the same fucking drum?!!
Yes, there should be a GB down the line BUT, stone me, the DS is just now getting into it's stride with the best (such as Phantom Hourglass) yet to come.
The DS has only been out 2.5 years – how on earth do people expect it to meet and surpass PS2 sales (115 million) if, after a few years, they start clamouring for a new format? Towering artistic and technical achievements like G.o.W 2 on PS2 only come after a platform has matured and benefitted from an extended lifecycle. In the case of the PS2 that's a good 6.5 years. The original GB lasted an amazing 9 years.
Why dilute developmental and financial resources into yet another h/held at a time when Nintendo can barely get their Wii big hitters out in time?
The GameBoy brand has had an extremely good run for a handheld gaming system beating out every competitor that has come against it. But I think it's time for the DS to take over as the next-gen handheld system from Nintendo. It's not like you're losing the ability to play GameBoy games on the DS. Hopefully, the next iteration of the DS (DS2) years later will have a mini virtual console built into it to download and play ALL GameBoy titles.
The GBA is still awsome, I only just picked up a copy of pokemon emerald for it. The gameboy should certainly not die, it has been too successful for nintendo to kill it now, even with the DS out, 3 pillars worked great around the DS's release, it made sure the nintendo name was in every single shop, it puts nintendo with larger shelf space, they draw attention to each other.
if they continue in the direction of the wii and ds the gb doesn't fit that scheme. sorry – it is a system based on upgrading only and not true innovation.