DougWright

Nintendo DS vs. GBA SP, Help!

I have picked up a GBA SP for Christmas, got a good deal on the system with Super Mario 3. But I can't help thinking I should return it and get a DS when they ship.

Things that will help me decide,
1. Does anyone know if the DS will play old GB games? It only states GBA games on the web site. I like the fact that the GBA SP will play all the old GB games, even GB colour.

2. Does anyone know the form factor, I really like the portability of the GBA SP, it is tiny.

Can anyone shed any light on these 2 items for me. One positive thing about this is that at least with not being sure if I am going to keep the GBA SP, it has helped me to not open it before Christmas.

Doug "Thread Killer" Wright

Chris Bardon

Some answers

1-Nope, only GBA native stuff. The GBA actually has the old GB hardware embedded (so it's not emulated), and this was dropped from the DS.

2-The best example I've heard is to take the old GBA and hinge two of them together. Obviously the DS will be thinner, but it'll give you some idea of the size.

Aaron Gould

I'm debating this same topic myself... My wife actually told me about the Toys 'R Us SP/Mario 3 special. I'm as indecisive as you about this.

The SP deal is a good one: $145 combo for $100. Future Shop lists the new DS at pre-order price at $199. But if I recall the US MSRP is $149. Which would make the Canadian equivalent likely $179. If that game with Mario64 or something, I'd jump on it.

I guess it comes down to whether the DS is worth the added $80. The only DS feature that looks good to me is the added bonus of Nintendo 64 ported games.

Is the GBA line going to be disappearing?

John Berggren

Nintendo says that the DS is -NOT- the successor to the GBA. They will develop a GBA2, which will be a direct competitor to the PSP. The SP is a whole new beast.

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Chris Bardon

Well, if this is actually the case, then buying a DS really depends on whether you want a bunch of touch screen games. My question is how long the touch screen is going to last. Any PDA owners out there know that those things get scratched all to hell pretty quickly, and I'm sure that a lot of DS owners won't invest in screen protectors.

Aaron Gould

I've gotta agree Chris. Although the main draw for me is the N64 equivalency, I think the price of the GBA SP is winning out for me. After all, it's got all the original Super Mario games (including S.M.World and Yoshi's Island), and the first two Zelda games. Those alone would make the purchase well worth it.

As long as the SP is further developed, it won't be obsoleted anytime soon.

MatS

a very valid question since all I heard from GBA SP buyers when the units first came out was complaining about the slightest specks of dust

just wait till their touchscreen sees some wear and tear

Rodrick

hMMM Yeah Im thinking that same idea. I had every gameboy at one time. This new one is getting me that both new portables will have probs. And the next system again probably will fix their probs.

DS's touch screen
PSP's unprotected screen.