X-Box? GameCube? Game Boy Advance?

I

Istanbul

Guest
Who here has a Game Boy Advance? Is it really that much of an improvement over the Game Boy Color?

Who here is going to get one of the next-gen systems (X-Box or GameCube)?

If only one, which one, and why that one?

If both, HOW?

Inquiring minds want to know! :)
 
N

nodnarb24

Guest
I have not bought a gameboy advance but I hear that it is pretty descent. There are some good games out, like Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2. But the screen is dark and sucks up batteries even worse then the old gameboy.

I will probably be buying the X-Box since it has better graphics and a better line of games and better support from the industry.
 
E

EricBess

Guest
I sort of have a Game Boy Advanced. It is a Father's Day gift, so I have to wait until tomorrow. Of course, I never had a game boy color to compare it to, so I'm not sure I could tell you about that anyway.

All I know is that there is a huge difference between an 8-bit system and a 32-bit system. Even if they don't have that many games availible right now, the possibilities that this opens up are huge.
 
M

mogg bomber

Guest
I don't have a GBA yet. I have played one though, and yes it looks much better than GBC. Unfortuneately, it also suffers from GBC's weaknesses: it's not backlit, and all sorts of terrible pointless games will be released for it. I only bought maybe one or two new GBC games a year, which is why I haven't bothered getting GBA yet(but I will get one).

I am getting Gamecube at launch though, it looks great, and I always buy Nintendo systems, they always have quality games. I don't see any reason to get an X-Box, I already have a PC, and it will probably be a failure anyway(remember, Dreamcasts failure in Japan was the main reason it went under. I really can only see the X-Box doing even worse there).
 
L

Landkiller

Guest
My brother got the GBA, and we probably will get the Game Cube.

We have the PS2, but haven't got enough games for it really. Maybe this paycheck...
 
F

fuzzy510

Guest
And do you wanna know if it's better? Let me put it this way. Would you rather have a 2001 model year car of your choice even before it hits the lot, or your parent's 1985 Datsun that they've driven for all 16 years and have never had it repaired? I thought so. The GBA is the 2001 car (Duh) and the GBC is the Datsun. As far as color as concerned, the GBC displays 54 colors. The GBA displays 32 -- thousand. The games look, play, and overall are better on GBA than on the GBC.
 
U

Ura

Guest
Despite all the wonderful color and processing power of the GBA, it shares one distinct problem that all the previous GB systems have had. It has no back lighting from what I understand which means I hope you have really good cat eyes or alot of candles around.

As for the up and coming things.

XBox - Its Microsoft trying to soak up more cash. Microsoft already has enough problems with their software, can you imagine a home platform game system popping up with the evil "blue screen of death" claiming its had some kind of internal systems failure. As far as I'm concerned little Billy should leave the games to the gaming companies and stick to making his almost good computer software. Besides all that, I already have a very nice PC that has an excellent selection of games and I can actually upgrade my PC when I feel like it. The box will eventually become a paperweight.

Gamecube/Dolphin - I'm still dissapointed in Nintendo's failure with the N64, yes despite it having some excellent games the system is considered a failure by many including some people at Nintendo. While I think that they can do a good job with it, I'm hesitant to put any money into their coffers, its promoting similar to the way the dreamcast did and there is an air of desperation about the project for its success. At least thats what the reports are saying. Besides all that I can't get past the point that it looks like a toilet from a Greyhound bus. ^^;;

I'll stick with my PC and PS2, both money well spent.
 
F

FoundationOfRancor

Guest
On general principle, all 3D games are poor. Side Scroller are, and always will be, superior.
 
F

fuzzy510

Guest
PS2: While I have been tempted to buy one, and there's a solid library out, I have seen too much of Xbox, and have changed my mind. Sorry.

Gamecube: I was considering getting one of these when I realized two things.
1: Xbox is better than it.
2: Metroid for the Gamecube, the one game I truly cared about, was becoming a FPS instead of a side-scroller.

Xbox: Come on, you HAVE to know how I feel about this by now.
 
T

Thallid Ice Cream Man

Guest
I'm probably getting none of them, so I'm not going to pretend that I'm on topic.

FoR: I would pretty much agree with you, but for a specific reason.
Most game designers recently have been making 3D platformers by pumping into the graphics and neat sound effects etc.
While their increased ability to do this may have been a product of 3D capabilities, the problem is that they've been focusing on the nice-looking graphics rather than the gameplay, which is the whole point.
Many people make (at least) one of two mistakes:
1. They design games from a marketing perspective, which makes for horrible gameplay; or
2. They attempt to convert "tried and true" 2D formulae and gameplay elements into 3D games without realizing that they can't do that without shaking things up.

You wait, eventually some great platform innovation will come again and usher in a new age of platforming goodness.
 
D

Darsh

Guest
1st off Imagine the GBA as a portable super nintendo...it obliterates the GBC easily.
2nd I grew up with nintendo, I've owned every system they've made, and I liked the games on the 64...I'm getting a gamecube
3rd I despise the X-Box, and I will be laughing when it becomes a failure. Since it doesn't have the support of many japanese developers I'm not even going to give it one look. And besides I already have a computer, and you know that any good game on the X-Box WILL be made for PC. And here's a little interesting fact, nintendo put the launch of gamecube a mere 5 days before the launch of the X-Box...I can almost hear nintendo yelling SCREW YOU.

In conclusion, die X-Box.
 
F

fuzzy510

Guest
I got my E3 edition of EGM, and after a poor showing, I have already put money down on my GameCube.
 
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nodnarb24

Guest
Well I bought my Gameboy Advance (and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2) on Tuesday and I like it. It is better then I thought. For one thing the battery life is great, I have played about 7 hrs on it and it is still on the original set of batteries. Also the graphics are better then I thought. The only problem is that the screen is way to dark, but that doesn't bother me since I have a nice bright lamp.
 
I

Istanbul

Guest
Well, I finally rented the Game Boy Advance.
Graphics are quite good. Sound is *worlds* above the GBC. But I have one warning:

BUY A LIGHT!

Not being backlit made the GBC a little difficult to play without a light. The GBA is impossible to play without a light.
 
F

fuzzy510

Guest
Import a Light Boy Advance. It's a Japanese-exclusive Official Magnifier/Light.
 
E

EricBess

Guest
The one thing I noticed about the GBA is that a lot depends on the game. There are some games that use colors with enough contrast that you are okay without a light. But there are others that are a pain in the neck.

Also, the worm light only goes so far. If you put it right over the screen, you can't see because of the glare. You can put it to the side and angle it in and it is okay, but overall, they could have done a lot better job with the brightness.
 
G

Goku

Guest
Ura: Money well spent? Have you made a coffin for your PS2 yet?

I have spent quite a while going over the system stats, on the official sites, for Gamecube and XBox.

Sega will be working with Nintendo for their mainstream games for Gamecube, such as the Sonic series. XBox will only be receiving a few of Sega's lesser secondary games.

The XBox will be a 733 cpu, single processor. What that means is that it will essentially be a computer in a box. A 733 one, nonetheless. Which means it will be outdated in a short while.

The Gamecube, as most consoles have been before it, will have multiple processors to do its various functions, such as one for sound, one for video, one for control, one for 3D graphics, and so on. All of these processors together work for the overall system, instead of one processor.

This can be made easier to understand with a simple example.
Why can you not run a N64 emulator on a Pentium 200 cpu? After all the 64 processors run at 94 mhz! Why not? Because the N64 has multiple processors that, for the most part, work at that speed. Hence, the N64 has about the capabilities of a, to quote the vernacular, "seriously beefed up" 533 computer.

Therefore, with the Gamecube processors running near 500 mhz, and there being multiple processors, the Gamecube will not only far outdo XBox, but receive incredible software support, as the PS2 is (finally) dead. And N64's only real rival for software support was Playstation.

(The PS2 is officially recognized as a "gone" system- I believe Sony made that judgement after seeing that since PS2's release, just from the release date of the PS2, the original Playstation has made a much higher gross profit. The notoriety for PS2 being almost impossible to develop for also helps for that judgement.)

Furthermore, the Gamecube was so easy to develop for, that Rogue Squadron 2 only took the developers 2 weeks to make it for the Gamecube.

Ah yes, and one can check out the screenshots for Gamecube under the "News" section of the Nintendo site. The screenshots are, to be frank, spectacular. The release date is November 5; in the US, that is.
 
I

Istanbul

Guest
A lot of people will be wary of the GameCube because of the mediocre state of the N64.
I suspect that the three-way system war will be close.

On another topic, if you buy only one game for the Game Boy Advance, buy Castlevania: Circle of the Moon.
If you've ever played Castlevania: Symphony of the Night on the Playstation, they're quite similar...in other words, VERY good!
 
B

Bob

Guest
It really doesn't matter to me, which system I get. Right know I am leaning torwards Xbox becuase it plays DVDs. I need to find out what kind of games each of the systems play.
And I'm not all too sure about Xbox, though. Microsoft is a Computer Company, and Nintendo has been making games and consoles for years, and Microsoft has been making Computer Games and Consoles for uh.....never?
 
T

Thallid Ice Cream Man

Guest
Bob: PS2 already plays DVDs.

Goku: Whoop-dee-doo. Gamecube has better processors than XBox. I wouldn't be surprised to hear that, but I don't really care.
Remember, back in the old days, Saturn had 3 times as many processors as the PlayStation. So what?
 
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