I have a good friend that only plays the Gameboy Advance, and he’s always playing it. That’s easy to do with the handheld’s huge library of games but it’s interesting because that’s the only system he’ll play. No DS. No GameCube. No nothing. He grew up on the NES and SNES but lost interest in gaming when it started to creep into the 3D world. Rather than a Nintendo fan, he is an avid Gameboy enthusiast, and he swears by the thing.
Any Infendo readers out there in the same boat? Do you know anyone that is part of this Gameboy Only Society? And lastly, could this benefit Nintendo?
KJA
To come to think of it… I did have a NES to start with. But then all the other systems I did have were GB Color up to a GBASP. No other consoles up to that. I find some games on the Gameboy relatively somewhat better that what you would find on a GC.
??
I remember back in the day when I begged my parents to get me video-games and stuff but they wouldn’t budge on getting me one because they thought it would destroy my ability to learn etc. The first time they budged was when game boy started to grow in popularity- they realized I’d probably mainly play it on trips and stuff so they got me one. Because of that you’d think I’d be more Game-Boy loyal, but I actually played it SO MUCH that the gaming style got sort of stale for me- and even though I bought a GBA I didn’t play it too much because none of the games had any advantage over any older console games for me (other than their portability, etc).
Rollin
I think it benefits Nintendo because it benefits 2D gaming. Nintendo is the main spokescompany for the 2 dimensions. That is to say, 2D games mainly reside on Nintendo hardware, therefore Nin benefits.
Casey
For the most part I would place myself in the same boat. The SNES is by far my favoriate console. Although I did buy a Playstation I never really played it as much as I did my SNES or NES. I mainly played at my friend’s though on their PSXs and N64s. A couple of years ago I bought a GBA SP and I was thrilled. I love the same sprite based graphics and gameplay it harkened back to. Although now I’m really enthusastic about the NDS and I’m working on getting one soon!
Frisby
My wife fits into that catagory. The only time she plays DS is for the cool minigames. She is not all about the 3-D. I offered to get her a DS also, but she said all the action is on GBA SP, and NES.
The only 3-D game she has ever played was Donkey Kong 64, and she hates the 3-D part of it.
Side scroller platformers are by far the best, but being a CG artist, I love 3-D.
morningstarrising
I’m pretty much in the same boat, I haven’t really liek anything in 3D outside of Mario 64. And I have more fun playing the Game Boy games. Tho I like the DS for all it’s unique games, 3D and 2D.
This begs the question: Can Nintendo lurer these people to the Revolution?
Virtual System of classic NES/SNES games
Simple game with the new freehand controller.
Low low price
These are the people Nintendo are after next generation. Will it work? We shall see next year.
Rollin
I can empathize with them, cause i have a strong fondness of 2D. It was done wrong when PlayStation pretty much tried to kill it; 2d wasn’t ready to die off, and it hasn’t. Of the two, 2D probably has the most room for improvement, in my eyes. I believe that once 3D becomes so close to realism that it can’t get much better, there’ll be a 2D rennaisance. There is a much more artistic freedom in 2D (at this time). 2D has barely come close to what it can be and that’s what i love about the DS and GBA. Games like Metroid ZM/Fusion and Dawn of Sorrow advance 2D in this 3D crazed world and i love em for it. The best thing? When the 2 come together. 3D models in a 2D game for example, like in Sonic Rush.
Power to the Game Boy Only Society.
WuTangTurtle
If i could only pick one system i would probably go with a DS, i can play all the gba games and DS games. The library of games is pretty expasnive too. Personally I think i play on my handhelds more than my consoles, for example Advance Wars DS has taken up 80hrs (All During some mind boggling Semesters in College).
As for 2D, i agree 2D art is just beautiful and im sure Nintendo would love to start a 2D renaissance, i would say Zelda Wind Waker was a start.
Oh and just to note we shouldn’t forget about Golden Sun, and Viewitful Joe. Golden Sun for its graphical achievements and Viewitful Joe for a 2D/3D platformer done in perfection.
ThePrawn
During the N64 generation, I was Game Boy Only — Color Gameboy, GameBoy Color. This was more utility than aversion to the larger gaming systems, however–I was in the Navy and, obviously, portable is more practical. 64 was the only Nintendo console I had very, very little hands-on time with — as a matter of fact, I hadn’t even experienced OoT until a few years ago on my cube.
That said, I’m not GameBoy or bust by any stretch, anymore. The GBA is a great, proven platform with a lot of great content, but the DS has been receiving the majority of my finger time since release. Now, if they’d just offer a DS PDA app, I’d be one happy man.
KDawg
I play the GBA more than any other. My favorite console was the SNES. All the SNES golden oldies have been ported to the GBA plus all of the arcade classics from Atari, Midway, Namco, etc. The Micro makes it that much easier to take them anywhere. I love this little guy. I’d love a DS Micro.
Rollin
Hey now, not all the golden oldies. Where’s my portable Chrono Trig?
Anonymous
If Nintendo continues to support the GBA, then CT can’t be far behind. And of course Super Metroid (one of the top 3 games of all time) hasn’t been ported, just sequeled.
If there’s one console I simply could not live without the past few years, it’s the GBA. The library is the best and broadest of any system in history (new ideas and advances in addition to a compilation of so many of the greatest games in history, even freaking GUNSTAR HEROES.) GBA has been pure bliss for all the people out there who simply enjoy games. The ONLY thing it’s missing is a Nintendo-developed Tetris port on the order of Tetris DX (possibly the finest video game ever developed), and I’d proudly declare myself a member of the portable generation and all it’s retromod goodness. Vive la Gameboy!