Hardware Are we spoilt by backlighting?

[yuyuyup]

wormlight

 

[Try2bcool]

wormlight

That POS put such a hard glare on the surface of the screen that you couldn't see the sreen at all if you didn't have it positioned perfectly.

 

[santorix10]

the Lite D-pad is a piece of crap (almost the same as the SP)

I agree, but for different reasons. The DS lite d-pad is too stiff, it never seems to respond correctly. When I first purchased the unit it was nearly unplayably stiff, but now it's getting more worked it. But, my used micro still has the best d-pad period.

 

[reaperman@home]

well there are always the two backlit gbas--the "new brighter screen" sp's and my personal favorite system ever the gameboy micro. When I got the micro, I instantly had to see every gba title again with it's sharp, brightly lit screen.

Frontlighting, done in the older gba sp or the afterburner mod causes the colors to wash out badly and isn't a good choice. After my gbm's my afterburnered gba was my favorite, since I really can't hold an sp for very long without hand problems.

I'd still rather hold an unlit, stock gba than anything with two screens. Nintendo can just go to hell this generation, and if they don't plan on shaping up they can just stay there as far as I'm concerned. Two lines of handhelds, my butt... I hope everybody involved in the design of the DS dies a horrible death.

 

[Psyfira]

It's not spoiling, the GBA should've been back/front lit in the first place. Other handhelds on the market were (the Neo Geo Pocket Colour was, and still boasted 40hours battery life), so why Nintendo chose to leave it out was a complete mystery at the time.

The old GBA was very awkward to use, you've probably just forgotten the tricks to get the best out of it (sit with a well-lit window directly behind you, or under a lightbulb). For lighting solutions the Wormlight was awful, it sat right in the way of the screen. The Traplight was the way to go; it used separate batteries so added weight, but lit the screen a lot more evenly. Just avoid games with a dark colour palette; Castlevania's still playable but don't even think about trying to play Stuntman on it unless you're a fan of crashing into obstacles you can't see.

 

[foob]

IMHO the SP's backlight is shit. Too dark and the colors are just shit. I had no problem playing my old GBA in my room , but with the SP I couldn't. weird.

The original Game Boy Advance SP had a relatively poor backlight (front light actually).
They released a revised edition (model AGS-101) with GREAT backlight (on par with DS Lite and Game Boy Micro). There's no mistaking the two when you've used the updated one (and pressed the brightness button to get the extra level of oomph). Kapowwww!

Similarly, the original DShad crap backlight and/or far less vivid screen in comparison to the DS Lite. Playing golf, i noticed the original DS had far more natural skin tones, for what it's worth

The improvements they made are stunningly obvious in the revised hardware of both models. Any direct sunlight visibility the original DS and Game Boy Advance SP had (and frankly it was very little) was lost when they introduced these better backlight screens in both these models (and the Game Boy Micro). I would rate direct sunlight performance and/or overcast day performance a zero on all current selling models; entirely unusable without a roof over your head).

I've always thought that Nintendo wanted to make the things playable in natural light (hence first SP being front-lit and having so-so natural light performance) and waited for display tech to improve, which is why they compromised for a while with iffy sunlight performance and iffy backlight before going full-on and bringing out the bright back-lit models out. But who knows; could have been entirely cost-related. Small savings per unit add up to millions when you are selling millions. Millions that they took to the bank.

edited for clarity.

 

[Artheido]

I played Golden Sun, Mario Kart and tons of other games on my GBA with no problems. I did have a light thing that connected to the GBA but I didn't use it since it got in the way. The only issue I had was playing in the dark, of course xD

 

[gizmo_gal]

BAAAAWWWW the original GBA doesn't have a backlight, however will I see the screen?

Cry more, the original GBA was just fine. I used my original GBA almost exclusively until this past Tuesday, when I got my M3 Real, despite getting a DS Lite for Christmas (one game lol). Aside from the backlight (which was nice, I'll admit), the original GBA was better than the SP in every way. It actually fit your hands, it didn't have that annoyingly tinny speaker, and - most of all - it didn't have those shitty "clicky" buttons.

Try not playing it in the dark and you should be OK.

Oh, come on the SP wasn't all that bad. I loved it and still do. It was my first real solo owned, and controlled video game system and I saved really hard and sold the N64 that my cousin gave me and my sister to get it (I had to share it with my sister and she had so many rules surrounding it I could only play 3hrs a week--in 45 min installments...on Sunday

)

The DS had been announced and the price on the GBAsp went down so when I went to the store I got a brand new GBAsp DBZ:LoG, A Hulk carrying case and 3 faceplate's for 99.00 USD I sung a chorus of hallelujah in the store after the cashier counted up all the coins and crumpled dollars and put in the total of it as being enough.

And yes, I think we are definitely spoiled by Back lights, front lights and every other kind of light. Just think of the millions of GameBoys/ GBpockets and GBcolors that we all played (I said played, not owned.)

Ah, great, great memories

 

[Sweater Fish Del]

It's not spoiling, the GBA should've been back/front lit in the first place. Other handhelds on the market were (the Neo Geo Pocket Colour was, and still boasted 40hours battery life), so why Nintendo chose to leave it out was a complete mystery at the time.
Nah, the Neo Pocket doesn't have any backlight, it just has a *GOOD* reflective TFT screen. That was the real problem with the original GBA screen, it just wasn't as reflective as the screens in the Neo Pocket or Gameboy Color.

I still play my Neo Geo Pocket frequently and its lack of built in lighting never ever bothers me. (And if you want to talk about nice feeling controls on a handheld...)

On the other hand, as soon as I bought a GBA in 2001, I hated the screen even though I had never seen a good backlit screen to spoil me on non-backlit screens (only the Game Gear and Lynx, which were both horrible).

QUOTE(Rawrl @ Mar 28 2008, 09:53 PM) Cry more, the original GBA was just fine. I used my original GBA almost exclusively until this past Tuesday, when I got my M3 Real, despite getting a DS Lite for Christmas (one game lol). Aside from the backlight (which was nice, I'll admit), the original GBA was better than the SP in every way. It actually fit your hands, it didn't have that annoyingly tinny speaker, and - most of all - it didn't have those shitty "clicky" buttons.

Speak for your own hands. The original GBA most certainly did not fit in my hands. To me, it was th emost awkward and uncomfortable handheld system I'd ever owned. In fact, I found it totally unplayable and eventually sold the system since I just couldn't play it even though I could tell the games I was buying seemed good.

I don't like the SP, either, though. But the DS Lite feels fine to me and I don't even have any beef with the dpad like so many people seem to.


...word is bondage...

 

[Psyfira]

Nah, the Neo Pocket doesn't have any backlight, it just has a *GOOD* reflective TFT screen. That was the real problem with the original GBA screen, it just wasn't as reflective as the screens in the Neo Pocket or Gameboy Color.

I stand corrected, just stuck some batteries in my Mum's old one (inherited it in a clearout a month or so back) and you are absolutely right

. In that case wow, their screen is pretty impressive.

 

[techforumz]

Off Topic:
Now that the DS (lite) has the power to burn your face off, the next thing we need is a selectively reflective layer. That way, when we play in direct light, we can turn off the backlight for better lighting (only DS lite is visible in direct sunlight, and barely at that). But the GBA (old) is playable in full sunlight, correct? In fact, isn't that the best place too play GBA old?

 

[DanTheManMS]

Yeah, the GBA requires tons of light to see anything clearly, but in direct sunlight it's incredibly viewable compared to the DS Phat/Lite.

 

[Jack-Of-Trades]

Contact NASA and get a polarized Screen protector