Nintendo's line of Game Boy handhelds has seen nothing but success, but the Associated Press is not very confident in the Game Boy Micro, which launches in a little over two weeks. The review questions who Nintendo is trying to appeal to with the latest handheld and eventually labels the Micro a "giant missed opportunity."
Ever since the original Game Boy made its debut more than 15 years ago Nintendo has released numerous incarnations of the handheld and easily dominated the portable market. Even with the Sony PSP now challenging Nintendo's grip on handheld gaming, the GBA and Nintendo DS are still holding their own, as the success of games like
Pokemon Emerald (GBA) and
Nintendogs (DS) can attest to. So why, then, would Nintendo want to launch yet another version of the GBA less than a year after the successful introduction of the DS?
Another GBA?The Associated Press, in what appears to be the first mainstream
review of the Game Boy Micro, attempts to find an answer to that question. Following the GBA, and then the redesigned clamshell GBA SP, the Game Boy Micro will be the third version of GBA hardware when it hits stores on September 19th for the price of $99.
"... I'm still searching for a compelling reason to spend $99 on this machine, the smallest portable gaming system I've ever used, when Nintendo itself already offers better products for not much more money... The Nintendo faithful already have a pretty small system in the Game Boy Advance SP—and it costs $20 less. Likewise, for $50 more than a Micro, you can buy a snazzy DS and play new interactive games exclusively for that system, as well as Game Boy Advance games," writes AP author Matt Slagle.
| [ | "... the Micro is nothing more than a redesigned Game Boy Advance SP reduced to a palm-sized rectangle akin in dimensions to a candybar cell phone," Matt Slagle, AP reporter | ] |
Slagle wonders whom exactly Nintendo is trying to target with the diminutive Game Boy. "Is it for tech-savvy fashionistas who can't afford Sony Corp.'s sleek but pricey PlayStation Portable? Collectors who insist on owning every flavor of Game Boy ever made? Perhaps grown-ups who think they'll somehow look more professional playing
Astro Boy on a Micro?" he says.
If you ask Nintendo, it's probably a combination of the first two; that is, the fashion-conscious and the Game Boy collectors. "I think you kind of have to look at it as what we've done, whether it's different color casings, different designs for casings; it's almost like a fashion or image thing. It will probably attract a different gamer or person who just thinks it's very cool and likes the gadgety aspect to it," Beth Llewelyn, Senior Director, Public Relations, Nintendo of America, explained to
GameDAILY BIZ during E3.
A missed opportunity?But if Nintendo is going for the "gadgety aspect," Slagle argues that they should have integrated other features such as digital music capability, wireless gaming, or even cell phone functionality. "As it stands, the Micro is nothing more than a redesigned Game Boy Advance SP reduced to a palm-sized rectangle akin in dimensions to a candybar cell phone," he writes.
The AP review does praise the Micro's excellent battery life and its screen for being brighter and sharper, but at the same time Slagle complains about the screen's dimensions: "But at only 2 inches diagonal, the flat screen strained my eyes."
In the end, the reviewer admits that he prefers the Micro for portability to the SP "because its tiny size makes it incredibly easy to take with me," but he believes Nintendo could have done much more. "I can't get rid of the nagging feeling that the puny Micro is a giant missed opportunity," he concludes.
It'll be interesting to track the sales of Micro hardware during this fall and upcoming holiday season. NPD's Entertainment Industry Analyst, Anita Frazier, however, believes the Micro should do well. "The [GBA] platform continues to be incredibly popular and there is a trend, generally in the consumer products industry not just videogames, for personalization and customization. This is a trend we're seeing in many different industries... all those different faceplates, Nintendo is definitely responding to a trend there. I think the GBA [business] is very healthy," she told us in a prior interview.
