Nintendo set to win next generation handheld contest. (Nintendo Game Boy Advance)

Member Name: RussellC

Product:	Nintendo Game Boy Advance
Date:	04/09/00 (664 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: The only handheld manufacturer still in the western market, superb games and capabilities.

Disadvantages: Small screen, but then it's a handheld

Getting hold of a press pass for ECTS this year gave me the opportunity to play with the Nintendo's Gameboy Advanced, probably the most interesting item on display on their stand (they chose to show off the Gamecube behind closed doors the day before). The first thing that struck me about the unit was how much it reminded me of the Neo Geo Pocket Colour which was available in this country for the last year. Unfortunately SNK choose to withdraw the Neo Geo from the Western market and it leaves a clear path for Nintendo to continue its domination of handhelds.

Nintendo have opted for a silver colour for the body, rather than the usual bright plastic toy colours it has been using on the Colour unit for the past year. Like the Neo Geo the machine is now horizontal with a 'widescreen' TFT LCD panel providing a very crisp display in the middle of the unit. Buttons haven't changed much sine the original Gameboy: below the screen there's the start and select button, to the left hand side is the 8 direction joypad (as with the Gameboy this just isn't responsive or subtle enough), to the right are the A and B buttons and two new additions are here in the form of a left and right shoulder button.

ECTS had 4 games on show, but due to the popularity of the stand I didn't get much chance to play them. The game I did have a go at was a fun puzzler currently going by the name of Kuru Kuru Kururin. The object is to guide a rotating bar around a narrow maze, never allowing it to touch the edges. The game is suprisingly tough, requiring accurate timing and skilled control to keep your bar safe. It's also highly addictive and will be a title sure to appeal to any fans of games like Bust-a-move. The most popular game on show had to be Mario Kart Advanced, which was so crowded that I never got a chance to play. It was set up to show the 4 player capabilities of the unit, when connected using it's link cable. Graphically the games imp
ressive, graphics are smooth sharp and detailed and it really shows the potential in the system. If its popularity was anything to go by it's sure to be a success.

Though not shown here there's future promise for internet connectivity though how that will work out for the UK will remain to be seen (Bandai were showing off their Wonderswan with internet connectivity, but when I asked admited that there was no plans of a UK release for the machine). It'll be cpable of hooking up with the gamecube, much as the Neo Geo Pocket can connect to the DC allowing trading between King of Fighter's data on the two platforms. Battery life is a respectable 15 hours, which isn't bad for a handheld and there's the handy option of a rechargable battery unit to save on cost. Powered by a 32bit RISC CPU the machine stocks a lot more power than it's predecessor and any other handheld currently available. There's speculation that it may have some rudimentary 3D capabilities, perhaps at the level of Starfox on the SNES.

With no challenging handheld device in the Western market now the Gameboy Advanced seems sure to win. I'm guessing the pricing point will be around £90 as the dollar price is expected to be at that price. Nintendo's main challenge will be pursuading gamers to upgrade, but games like Mario Kart Advanced seem a sure fire way of achieving this. Screenshots from games in development at the moment all look colourful and imaginative so the unit has much promise. I think there's a lot to be said for describing this as the SNES of the handheld world.

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