CAA: Christian Anime Alliance

I have one of the old GBAs and it's fine in good lighting, but some games on it are a bit dark (*cough* Castlevania Circle of the Moon *cough*), but still very playable in good lighting.

The GBA holds up fine battery wise, but the GBA SP has a rechargable battery back built in that lasts for a long time (though it lasts for a shorter time with the light on, the fact that it's rechargable makes up for this).

I played the SP on display and I felt that it was actually more confortable than the original GBA. The L and R buttons were more natural to push too.

IMO, the SP is probably worth getting over the older model becuase of comfort, portability (it folds down into a smaller size like a laptop computer, though the original GBA is nice and small too. The screen is the same size on both systems), the battery, and the backlight. The older model GBA is still cool, though.

As far as the backlight quality goes, the in store demo I played of Metroid Fusion had the backlight on and it made the game easier to see in poor lighting conditions with no glare. Very well designed light.

I don't know much about the SP, but I have an old one. Good ol' GBA.

Hah, that reminds me of this Penny Arcade comic I read...It was kinda dirty language-wise, but it was funny. This kid gets a GBA SP, but he says it doesn't have a headphone jack (Don't know if this is true, but it is just a joke) and the narrator goes, "Oh well Billy. Looks like you have to wait for the GBA SP EX. This little mess up is just a reminder that this was made by Nintendo."

Very funny. Oh wait, I'm supposed to talk about the thread...Personally, I would just get an old one, especially since they have platinum...::drool:: But that's me. The lighting is bad on GBA, but it's fine if you
A) just get a lamp and play there
or
B) Buy a detachable light. Yes, there are actually lights worth buying. Mine came with a link cable, ac adapter, etc. They called it a "Phat Pack"

Cheers.

Inkster, I'd definately go with the SP....the lighting, psh. Don't let October fool you...it's a major pain in the butt. Especially if you think ,oh hey, I'll be on a long road trip, I should bring my GBA! Ha! After half an hour of frustration, you'll find counting cows more fun than struggling with the light. And I think the controls are a little more comfortable on the SP anyway, but that's my humble opinion. Is the SP backwards compatible? If so, deeeefinately get it.

I heard that the same link and data cables that work with the GBA will work with the GBA SP. Even the e-reader, GB, and GBC games work with the GBA SP.

Well, I have and old gameboy advance and the lighting is horrible. It's ok if you buy one of those worm lights though. I like the way the old GBA fits in your hands though. But if this is your first GBA I'd definitely go with the SP. I think the backlit screen and the rechargeable battery are enough reason to get it, plus it doesn't hurt that it's cool looking and it really compact too. I'd definitely get one if I didn't already have my other one. I might get one one day anyway, but my trusty glacier one will suffice for now:P
Oh, and if you like rpgs and don't mind magic in games and such you might want to check out the Golden Sun games I have the Lost Age and the graphics are great considering it's a game boy game. I can't say alot about the story yet though since I haven't gotten really far into it.

IMO, the advantages of the SP more than make up for the lack of a headphone jack, tough it was kind of a dumb thing to omit. There is an adaptor for the headphones that you can buy seperately, though. I got the original GBA over a year ago, so I'm sticking to that one for now.

It may seem strange at first, but the SP is awesome! I think it is worth the money. My cousins and I all have one and we love them. The original GBA= so last year!

This is a really, really old thread...o.o

thers not much of a difrence. you do know a nentendo DS plays advanced games too?

LOL! Umm... when this thread was posted, the DS wasn't even out yet... That was like someone asking what type of ink they should use for writing their scroll and someone coming a long 2000 years later and saying, "theres not much difference. You do know you can just use a printer though."

Ya, that's old this thread is. In fact I had to blow dust off to properly read everyones post.

SUPER GRAVEDIIIIIG.

For our new members' notification, we here at CAA (and in the forum world in general) usually prefer that old threads are not "gravedug," or posted on again after they've been untouched for a year or more unless you have something really, really important to say. Since the advice being asked in this thread is so old, this is clearly a case where one should just let the thread die. I'll lock it since there's really no need to keep this one open.