Soapbox options allow our particular person writers and contributors to voice their opinions on scorching matters and random stuff they have been chewing over. Today, practically 20 years to the day for the reason that GBA SP launched in Japan, Jim argues the case for why it nonetheless has a vital position to play in his day-to-day…
Ok, let’s get this out of the way in which to begin with. The 12 months is 2023 and I personal a Switch OLED packed filled with nice video games, and even some nice Game Boy Advance video games, too. So why — with certainly one of Nintendo’s most profitable consoles ever sitting proper there — am I nonetheless taking part in my Game Boy Advance SP? The reply (in case you had one way or the other stumbled this far with out seeing the title): public transport.
Gaming on the go is a wierd beast. Since the beginning of handheld consoles, the idea of taking part in your video games wherever you occur to be has been the large promoting level within the gross sales race. Why play Skyrim in your TV when you could possibly be taking part in it on a type of big drop-down airplane tables that solely exist in TV advertisements?
I moved to London six months in the past and my travelling has develop into much more Tube-focused ever since. While I used to make quirky selections like strolling or using my bike to the venue 20 minutes up the street, I’m now a type of Big City Kids that you just see in The Movies™ — no have to get my strolling sneakers on, I’ll hop on the Tube.
But this comes with its personal set of challenges. I’ve been fortunate sufficient to journey on numerous underground prepare networks in my time (I do know, save your applause) and I’m but to seek out one that does not make me need to stuff headphones to date into my ears that I can not hear myself suppose. Frequently, there isn’t any cell phone sign on these journeys so you might be left to both play some trashy, Flash-y sport {that a} YouTube advert mentioned “you completely should play,” stare into the abyss of the chewing gum-encrusted flooring to keep away from catching anybody’s gaze, or convey a video games console alongside for the journey.
The factor is, it is a crowded market lately. You’ve bought your loved ones of Switches and new-fangled Steam Decks on the one hand, however there is a boatload of so-called “retro” consoles that additionally match the invoice from the traditional days of *gulp* 10 years in the past. I’m speaking about your DS, 3DS, and PSP. Consoles that, sure, have fallen out of trend, however nonetheless supply that sense of portability that we crave so badly. None of those, nevertheless, can match as much as the Game Boy Advance SP.
The Switch, whereas packed filled with nice video games, is simply too large for this. Most folks cannot slide one into their pockets and even when you do take a bag with you when leaving the home, taking part in Nintendo’s newest in a crowded carriage is certain to attract undesirable consideration from these round you. “Wait a second, he is not staring into the abyss of his telephone. What’s happening there?”
The similar could be mentioned of the 3DS. It is less complicated to slip right into a pocket, sure, however you open up that dangerous boy on the prepare or bus and it will be very clear that you’re the odd one out. There’s no use making an attempt to crack the case of The Curious Village when a snotty toddler reverse is supplying you with these “you bought video games?” eyes.
And so we land, comfortably, on the GBA SP. It slips into most pockets (I put on males’s denims and perceive that I’m extraordinarily fortunate within the pocket-size division as a consequence), has a backlight, and when unfolded isn’t any bigger than a normal telephone in the present day. In truth, at first look, people would possibly suppose that I used to be tapping away on a type of new sci-fi-looking new-old folding telephones and transfer on with their quest for a grubby seat, blissfully unaware that I’m truly taking orders from a speaking hat on a two-decade-old Game Boy.
What’s extra, there is a sport library besides which ensures that no two journeys want ever be the identical. Yes, all of us personal no less than one dangerous film tie-in title *appears to be like shamefully at my GBA copy of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest*, however for essentially the most half, there are video games for all events. I’ve accomplished a full playthrough of Pokémon Emerald and I’m at present engaged on A Link to the Past for longer journeys, however there are loads of titles damaged down into crisp 10-minute ranges which really feel made for using a few stops earlier than hopping off — Super Mario Advance, Wario Land 4, that Crash and Spyro bundle that everybody appeared to personal, the listing goes on!
