First GBA without backlight - WHY?

[Creamu]

So the first GBA had no backlight. This was a terrible decision, because it forced developers to make the artwork overly exposed. Why did they do this? Only to save money? You would think if they saved money on removing two facebuttons, they could include a backlit screen. Was it the right move?

Please share your thoughts?

 

[Ulieq]

Technology/price wasn't there?

 

[fmhugo]

Nintendo Policy. And this still forces the consumer to buy an improved version later. Sell the same hardware twice.

 

[yuyuyup]

Worse than that, the maximum contrast was terribly dark.

 

[SaulFabre]

I think because Nintendo at this time was aware of including a screen with backlight, along with a rechargable battery, it was too expensive for them.
However in 2003 they finally included those things on the GBA SP.

 

[Creamu]

Technology/price wasn't there?

The game gear had backlight.

Nintendo Policy. And this still forces the consumer to buy an improved version later. Sell the same hardware twice.

Evil Nintendo....

Worse than that, the maximum contrast was terribly dark.

Agreed!

I think because Nintendo at this time was aware of including a screen with backlight, along with a rechargable battery, it was too expensive for them.
However in 2003 they finally included those things on the GBA SP.

Yes, but developers had to develope for both and it was a mismatch.

Look how overexposed everything is:

 

[SaulFabre]

The game gear had backlight.

Evil Nintendo....

Agreed!

Yes, but developers had to develope for both and it was a mismatch.

Look how overexposed everything is:

That's a shame that a lot of GBA games suffered of brighter colors for accomodate the GBA's dim screen, but luckily some GBA games have color restoration patches.

And these games you mentioned have one.

Super Mario Advance 2: Super Mario World (made by Asaki) - https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/470
Super Mario Advance 3: Yoshi's Island (made by @ShadowOne333) - https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/2597
Donkey Kong Country 1 (made by marc_max) - https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/4051

Hope this helps

 

[Nikokaro]

There simply was no such technology at that time.
It was still an improvement over game boy color.
The next model then (ags-001) had a front-light, not a back-light, little better than its predecessor, with watered-down, dull and hazy colors, and annoying light reflections. Ags-101 is undoubtedly the best, with bright and vivid colors: but its life was short-lived, as it was soon supplanted by the DS Phat (and then DS lite), which as you know also reads GBA cartridges.

 

[Creamu]

That's a shame that a lot of GBA games suffered of brighter colors for accomodate the GBA's dim screen, but luckily some GBA games have color restoration patches.

And these games you mentioned have one.

Super Mario Advance 2: Super Mario World (made by Asaki) - https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/470
Super Mario Advance 3: Yoshi's Island (made by @ShadowOne333) - https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/2597
Donkey Kong Country 1 (made by marc_max) - https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/4051

Hope this helps

Thank you very much for these awesome patches! When your fans fix your errors you know youve messed up.

There simply was no such technology at that time.

It was still an improvement over game boy color.
The next model then (ags-001) had a front-light, not a back-light, little better than its predecessor, with watered-down, dull and hazy colors, and annoying light reflections.

Yes, that could have been much better.

Ags-101 is undoubtedly the best, with bright and vivid colors: but its life was short-lived, as it was soon supplanted by the DS Phat (and then DS lite), which as you know also reads GBA cartridges.

Okay

 

[Nikokaro]

Okay, the Game Gear looks like it was backlit. Maybe Nintendo should have gone to lessons from Sega, which seemed ahead at the time.
But then the former quickly regained ground and then won on all fronts.
What I wonder is: why introduce the intermediate front-light phase (clearly annoying and tiring to the eyes), and not go straight to back-light?
This I really would like to know.

 

[izy]

Thank you very much for these awesome patches! When your fans fix your errors you know youve messed up.



Yes, that could have been much better.

Okay

you do realise the gamegear uses a fluorescent light as its backlight and it isnt small

you ever wonder why the gamegear needs 6 batteries and its battery life is bad also its massive

 

[Creamu]

Okay, the Game Gear looks like it was backlit. Maybe Nintendo should have gone to lessons from Sega, which seemed ahead at the time.
But then the former quickly regained ground and then won on all fronts.
What I wonder is: why introduce the intermediate front-light phase (clearly annoying and tiring to the eyes), and not go straight to back-light?
This I really would like to know.

Maybe Miyamoto was trolling us?

 

[Creamu]

you do realise the gamegear uses a fluorescent light as its backlight and it isnt small

Still would have been better than overexposing the graphics on a screen that is hard to see even with that.

 

[izy]

 

[Creamu]

they did it better.

 

[spectral]

Still would have been better than overexposing the graphics on a screen that is hard to see even with that.

Honestly I don't think most people would agree. It would have been too big and power hungry. You'd just have people posting the same kind of "what were they thinking" posts but about that.

 

[Nikokaro]

But with that contraption behind it, gba would have been heavier, thicker, and lost the virtue of portability, I suppose..

 

[izy]

Still would have been better than overexposing the graphics on a screen that is hard to see even with that.

yeah too bad the gamegears lcd is 3.2inch vs the gba 2.9 inch

Physically, the Game Gear measures 210 millimetres (8.3 in) wide, 113 mm (4.4 in) high, and 38 mm (1.5 in) deep

meanwhile gba , Approximately 145 mm (5.7 in) x 82 mm (3.2 in) x 24 mm (0.94 in) (WxHxD)

oh and gamegear was 5x the weight

they did it better.

thats while it sold so well
also not to mention all the capacitors the console required (which are prone to failure like the og xbox)

 

[tech3475]

Likely cost, design and/or battery life.

The GG, infamous for it's 6 batteries and uses a florescent bulb.

Apparently the Casio TV-970 pocket TV also used a similar florescent bulb and was introduced in 2001 and the 2002 PSOne's display used a CCFL.

 

[Creamu]

Those points are true. But the SP and micro had lighting and if only the first version was backlit the games wouldn't be constrained into doing this hideous overexposing.