Product Description

The new Game Boy Advance SP works essentially the same way previous Game Boy Advance models have, but adds a number of thoughtful features to the design. The most obvious difference you'll see is the lighting feature built into the screen so you can play in low-light situations without bulky external game lights that too often leave a hot spot on the screen or fail to reach the corners. You can shut off this internal light to squeeze more playing time out of the power source if you're in a situation with enough light to see the SP's reflective screen.

Speaking of power sources, the SP comes with a rechargeable lithium-ion battery that provides between 10 and 18 hours of gameplay from a three-hour charge. Also, the new clam-shell design will offer protection for the screen from scratches when it's all closed up. As well as playing all your Game Boy Advance games, the system is backward-compatible with almost all Game Boy/Game Boy Color titles.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4222 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Nintendo
• Model: VHNIN 045496713867
• Released on: 2004-09-24
• Platform: Game Boy Advance
• Subtitled in: German
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: 1.25" h x 5.25" w x 6.50" l, .31 pounds

Amazon.co.uk Review
At first look, you might think the Game Boy Advance SP is a sleek travel alarm clock; when closed, it's just as tall and deep as the original GBA, but only half as wide. Its clamshell design protects the screen from everyday scratches. Open it up and the hinge will seek out a preferred, pre-set angle (about 150 degrees), though you can open it a bit wider or narrower for your own comfort. The hinge stands up well to lateral pressure.

Many decried the original GBA's reflective LCD screen and its reliance on external light sources. The Game Boy Advance SP's main feature--optional built-in lighting--fixes this complaint nicely. The quality of the backlighting is very good; it's bright and clear when looking directly at the screen, though less so from other angles.

The SP comes with a power adapter that recharges a built-in lithium battery; our informal tests found that it takes about four hours to fully charge (you can play it while it's plugged in and charging), and the battery lasts about 11 hours with the backlighting constantly on. Using the backlighting less often will conserve battery power.

Size, power, and affordability don't come without trade offs, though. There's no headphone jack here--you'll need a separately sold adapter--and the system isn't very loud at its highest volume. The L and R shoulder buttons are a fraction of the size they were on the GBA, and thus are harder to hit, and the reduced size of the SP is slightly less comfortable for adult hands than the GBA. The cartridge port placement on the lower part of the console is fine for GBA games, since they are flush with the console body, but older Game Boy Color carts will stick out in a way that takes some getting used to.

Overall, the SP is a significant improvement on, and seems just as rugged as, its predecessor--which has proven to be very rugged indeed. --Porter B Hall

Manufacturer's Description
The world's most popular video game system continues to evolve to bring you the ultimate in portable fun with Game Boy Advance SP!For gaming on the go, nothing beats Game Boy Advance. Optimized for gaming, Game Boy Advance provides powerful performance, responsive play and a beautiful display. Plus it fits in your hip pocket. Go Game Boy!Both flavors of Game Boy Advance get you in on the portable fun revolution. The classic Game Boy Advance offers gaming on the go at a bargain price, while the sleek Game Boy Advance SP adds a beautiful front light screen and rechargeable batteries.

Customer Reviews

Gameboy Advance SP (stands for Super Pretty)
This is, without question, the greatest gameboy ever released. The Gameboy Advance had serious issues with getting light onto the screen so you could see, and with the shape (it's pretty much the same shape as the old Sega GameGear - which flopped).

However, this gameboy fixes any previous problems with the console. The new flip screen design is absolutely beautiful, positioning the buttons in the best places, and relieving gamers who are sick of the clumsy L and R buttons on the old Advance. The console is remarkably compact, and will happily fit, along with its charger (because it doesn't take batteries, instead using a lithium battery similar to those in mobile phones), into the case of an original gameboy (yes, the yellow brick ones).

Those are but minor advantages compared to the greatest solution to the greatest problem Advance gamers had: the question of light. Gamers would lean their gameboy from side to side continuosly, searching for the right spot so they could see the screen, but to no avail. So Nintendo's answer was to put in a light. This iluminates everything perfectly, and I have no qualms with it. You can also turn the light off, enabling the battery to last much longer (it goes for 10 hours with the light on, and 18 with it off).

On the whole, this isn't just the greatest Gameboy ever made, but its the greatest handheld console ever. Not worth buying really, though, if you already own a Gameboy Advance.

Very nearly essential
All games systems should be judged not just on the technical specifications of the console itself but also by the quality of the games available for it. In both areas the Game Boy Advance SP (which stands for Special Project apparently) is excellent.

It's a very nice looking unit and the flip top lid is both stylish and functional - protecting the all important screen from dust and scratches while closed, and making the whole thing truly pocket sized. It feels great too; the button layout is fine, with the standard A/B/Start/Select buttons along with two shoulder buttons all feeling nice in the hand. The screen is the same as a standard GBA screen, but with one important addition...

A backlight, turned on or off via a switch beneath the screen. This feature is what makes the GBA SP far superior to its predecessor, as the backlight allows you to play games with no other sources of light around. The backlight brightens up the gaming screen considerably, making all games much much easier to play, without you having to strain your eyes or constantly shift around to get a decent bit of light on the screen. Although it drains more battery power this way, the Lithium Ion battery is rechargeable so midnight gaming sessions are at last possible!

The only minor gripe with this new Gameboy is the lack of a headphone socket. So, while the sound is perfect coming out of the GBA SP's speaker other people around you may not appreciate it, so you'll have to turn the volume down and stop enjoying those tunes or invest in a headphone adaptor.

The GBA SP's game library is huge. It's backwards compatible with all the older versions of the Gameboy (although the old games stick out a bit due to the bigger cartridges!), so it can replace any other Gameboy's you may have. Also, it has some fantastic new games (e.g. Advance Wars) and ports of old classic SNES games available, which has left me spoilt for choice as to what to buy next.

The only bad things about the GBA SP are that there is no headphone socket and some of the games can be expensive, so if you buy one you'll need to have the cash to supplement your gaming desires.

Aside from that, it's absolutely top class.

Top Notch Gaming
I can't recommend this little gem enough. It's taken me a while, but I thought i had to add my adulations to the other top reviews for this gaming marvel. I think the nice thing about the GBA SP is that it looks cool, I'm 32 and regularly travel on business yet I'm never embarassed taking the GBA SP out of my bag! in badly lit places like trains and planes, the screen of the SP stands out really well. The controls are perfectly placed and the battery life is excellent. My only gripe would be that a headphone socket would have been better than having to purchase a special adapter, but this is only minor. Enjoy!