Wednesday, 11 March 2015

The game that can give you 10 extra years of life

One morning I am sitting around with nothing to do and so I decide to turn on Netflix and as I am flicking around on there trying to find something to watch I come across TED Talks.
Now normally I would just scroll past something such as this but last week I was shown a clip from TED Talks during one of my Lectures at University and it really made me think about the differences in the world. The overall message of the piece was that sometimes it takes us travelling to the other side of the world to realise biases we didn't know that we had.

Jane McGonigal: The Designer Behind
SuperBetter
So after that lecture I decided to check out TED Talks and found one called Jane McGonigal: The game that can give you 10 extra years of life. It was inspiring, in a world where all I ever seem to hear about games is how much they corrupt children and people, it was a breath of fresh air to hear someone tell us how they could essentially make us better people. She talks about the regrets people express when they are dying and how games can help us fulfil those regrets within our lives.
Most of all she talks about how games got her though a very serious time where he was incredibly depressed. Now I am not stranger to seeing how games help those who are depressed (One of my favourite content producers for GameSpot - Danny O'Dwyer -  Did a video called Video Games vs. Depression and honestly opened my eyes) but the way in which she used games to help her through her period of depression was inspiring.

Not only that but she made this game into something other people can use in their life. She created a game called SuperBetter and she saw how it has changed the life of so many people who are using this game to achieve personal health goals but not only that, she shows you how you can use this game to give you extra time on this planet.
I don't want to ramble on about this too much because you guys should all go watch it and see how this game and, well, what she says in general can change how you look at life.

If you are looking on Netflix look for TED Talks: Life Hacks and it is listed as Episode 2 however, if you don't have Netflix (or cannot be bothered to go looking for it) click >> Here << and it should take you to the free version on the TED Talks website.

SuperBetter can also be downloaded on the Google Play Store for £3.18, on the IOS store for £3.99 or you can play it in our browser by going to https://www.superbetter.com/want_to_play

She has also wrote a book called "Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change The World" which at the time of writing this can be purchased from Amazon for £7.99. 

If you also like what I show you of Mr. Danny O'Dwyer then click >> Here << to be taken to a playlist for his latest show, The Point, where he talks about video games and stuff. 

Anyway Guys, thanks for reading, I hope these videos help to see things in a different light as well. 

Monday, 13 January 2014

3DS XL - Thoughts and Impressions

I love Nintendo handhelds and have one for as long as I can remember, I have had an Aqua Blue 3DS for around two years now and over the Christmas period I finally decided to jump and get a 3DS XL, more specifically the Limited Edition Legend of Zelda 3DS XL., these are my thoughts
*Queue Law & Order noise*

Now I love my 3DS, so I was curious about what the 3DS XL improved on in terms of performance, 3D effect and various other aspects.
In the box for my 3DS XL I got 6 AR Cards, the 3DS XL itself, a Club Nintendo Code and a digital download for The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Words (Which I did not use, I got the game physically at release and I prefer physical copies rather than digital).

Now the first thing you will notice when you pull the 3DS XL out of the box it is weight difference and more notably the size difference as well. In my opinion, the 3DS XL feels very light compared to the normal 3DS and is quite a lot larger, I mean even I didn't think it was going to be *that* large compared to the 3DS.

When I first saw the 3DS XL I thought it was very cheaply made and I did not think I was going to feel sturdy at all but let me tell you, I was completely wrong. It feels very sturdy and very well made, even compared to the 3DS and the hinge connecting the two sections together feels much better with it now having two solid clicks when opening and locking the top screen in place. Changing the face buttons (i.e. the 'Start', 'Select' and 'Home' buttons) into proper buttons rather than having them all as one like on the 3DS was something which I did not think was going to look as nice as the 3DS ones and I don't think they do, however, they are a lot more practical than the 3DS ones. 
Another noticeable thing with the buttons is the 3DS XL does not come with a second analogue stick so if you want another to play games such as Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate on the 3DS you will need to buy the extension which clips onto the 3DS XL (Note: The 3DS one does not fit the 3DS XL, so you will have to buy another one). The 3D slide bar now has a small clip lock if you will, so no longer will you accidentaly switch the 3D on and really hurt your eyes in the process. 
The only thing that I do not like about the buttons now is that the analogue stick can feel stiff at first and the Power button is not raised any more so sometimes it feels like you aren't holding down the power button. Also, I prefer the stylus which came with the 3DS over the 3DS XL, the stylus for the XL just feels cheap and honestly when I was first using it I felt like I was scratching the screen which made me very uncomfortable, I felt like Nintendo had made some progress with the 3DS stylus from the one which came with the original 3DS, but they have just reverted. 


Now, the 3DS XL is not shiny like the original 3DS... THANK GOD!
The 3DS is a magnet for finger prints and sometimes that could really bother me. The 3DS XL which I have purchased does get a few finger prints on it but they aren't as noticeable as they are on the 3DS. The 3D effect on the XL is also so much better, the range for what me and my friends refer to as the 'sweet spot' for the 3D is a lot bigger and doesn't require you to have the system really close to your face to get the full effect.  
Now I have read a few things where people have complained due to the stretching of pixels when playing 3DS games on the 3DS XL. Now I have not really noticed this, in fact, more recently released games actually look a lot better on the 3DS XL than the 3DS, I tired this with Bravely Default and it seems to suit the larger screen a lot more. 

Now the size difference and boy, is it a size difference. Pictures really cannot describe the size difference between the 3DS and the 3DS XL, because no matter how much you look at the pictures, the size difference is more noticable when you are actually holding the device itself... but for good measure I have inserted an image of the 3DS vs my 3DS XL. 
To put it into a measurable perspective, the touchscreen, yes the touchscreen on the 3DS XL is larger than the main screen on the 3DS... that's a huge size difference. The battery life on the console is a lot better lasting around half an hour longer when playing 3DS games and between 1 - 2 hours longer when playing DS titles. It also doesn't heat up as much, making it more comfortable for extended gameplay. 


*THE 3DS XL DOES NOT COME WITH A CHARGER SO THIS WILL HAVE TO BE PURCHASED SEPARATELY UNLESS YOU ALREADY OWN A 3DS OR 2DS!*

Final Thoughts
In my opinion, the 3DS XL is worth the price you pay for it. If you are someone how has not yet purchased a 3DS, I would strongly recommend purchasing a 3DS XL rather than a 3DS as it is worth the extra money you may pay for one. If you are a current user of the 3DS and are wondering if it worth the upgrade, I believe it is, there are a lot of good points about the 3DS XL which are worth the extra money to get one, maybe wait for a limited edition that catches your eye and drop some money on it yet. 

The 3DS XL is available at any good retailer for a variety of prices, so shop around for a deal that suits you before you buy! 

Monday, 6 January 2014

Review: Deadpool for the PS3

Deadpool is probably the funniest game I have played this year and even
this generation
I am a huge comic book fan, especially when it comes to Marvel, my favourite ever comic book character is however Deadpool and when I heard that they were making a Deadpool game I was more than excited. I was waiting for the game to go down in price but after the whole ordeal where some licensed games have been taken of the online stores on consoles and PCs, I felt now was the time to just take the dive and purchase the game and *Spoiler Alert* I am so glad I did.
Deadpool (a.k.a. Wade Wilson) is the Merc with a Mouth who has a tendency to break the fourth wall, regardless of medium and originally appeared in New Mutants issue #98. Deadpool is based on the DC Character Deathstroke (a.k.a. Slade Wilson) however, is not quite as serious as Deathstroke.
Deadpool is obsessed with Pancakes, chimichangas and boobies and has a tendency to speak his mind, but with all that being said he is still one of the most utterly entertaining, Wolverine-Hating, comic book characters ever created in the Marvel Universe or otherwise

*Warning if you do not like childish vulgar you should stay away from this game and any Deadpool comic*

Deadpool is a beat’em up shooter which has a 3rd person camera angle. It was developed by Highmoon Studios and published by Activision and was released for the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC in June of 2013. So let’s begin the review…

Story
C'mon, in what other game will the main character ride
 a rocket during a important speech?!
Wow, this is the first time I have reviewed a story arc… oh well, here goes nothing.
This is one of the most insane storylines I have ever heard of in a game, Deadpool wants to be in a video game and so writes I letter to Highmoon studios asking them to make him a videogame starring himself as the lead character, when the initially turn down Deadpool’s idea he makes everyone at Highmoon into a hostage whilst they make "the most awesome game ever starring himself", he even hires Nolan North during the game to voice him!
Anyway Deadpool receives the script that Highmoon have made for his game but he doesn’t read it because there are too many words and it’s too serious, so he improvises the rest of it. The main plot starts off with Deadpool being hired to kill Chance White, however, white Is saved by Mr. Sinister (A long standing enemy of the x-men) and then killed by the very same person, this upsets Deadpool so he decides to get revenge. There are some guest appearances from the likes of Wolverine (which leads into a hilarious slapping scene) and other characters from the x-men universe throughout the game.
Overall, for a game the story is pretty much non-existent after the first 45 minutes to 1 hour of the game and the rest is pretty much a brawling beat’em up until you finish the game. However, those how are familiar with the works of Deadpool will understand the charm of this, throughout the game, Deadpool knows he is in a game and therefore keeps commanding the player and Highmoon to do things within the game. He has conversations with the voices in his head about the things he is doing and whether they are good or not and who really cares because GUNS!
I must admit, this game is not for everyone, not many people will appreciate the kind of humour that comes with this game and will probably either find it vulgar, offensive or just down right stupid. So checking out the trailer which can be found on www.deadpoolgame.com would be a good idea, if you like the trailer, you’ll love the game.

Gameplay
To quote "BANG! BANG! BANG!"
Deadpool is a beat’em up shooter which has a 3rd person camera angle. Deadpool does move a little bit sluggishly and jumping initially does feel very weighty but this is something you get used to when playing the game. Deadpool cannot sprint nor can he dodge in combat, however, he can teleport which is a lot more helpful as you cannot get hurt when teleporting… plus, you can teleport and that’s always fun.
As a standard Deadpool comes with two swords and guns, both of which are upgradable through the course of the game. The swords have two types of attacks, light (dealt by pressing Square) and heavy (Dealt by pressing Triangle) and the guns have one, which, in case you didn’t know, is shooting. You can chain the light and heavy attacks together and sometimes you can even throw some shots in there at the same time.

As well as the two swords and guns which come as standard, there are also another two types of swords, three types of guns and 4 miscellaneous weapons ranging from bare traps to hand grenades, all of which are upgradable using ‘Deadpool  Points’ these are gained from killing enemies, level progression and kill streaks, they are pretty easy to pull off so if you play it right you'll be rolling in the points. 
The aiming system is similar to that used in Activision's major license, Call of Duty where to aim you would hold down L1 and to fire you would click R1. Ofcourse you can still fire your weapon just by using R1 but in this game aiming will do more damage which can pay off in the long run as bullets can be scarce at points in the game. Personally, I have not really played many FPS games other than Halo so it took some getting used to for me, however, if you do like FPS games then you should be very comfortable with this system. 

Visuals
Any scene in the game with Wolverine included is Hilarious
Deadpool is a pretty dark game but this just reflects the tone of the game at points, although it is funny it does have a very serious undertone and the visuals of the game really play into this. 
Deadpool himself is pretty vibrant in his bright red merc suit that he is known for wearing. 
The graphics are actually really nice in the game and do a lot of justice to the art style which is used in the comics. Visually it is not the best looking game which has come out this year but it is pretty impressive and that really should not be overlooked. 

Score
Deadpool for the PS3 is an amazing game which has been overlooked over the last year because its target market is those people who love Deadpool and his humour. Any fan of Deadpool should really pick this game up ASAP before it disappears from store shelves as well as the virtual ones. My final score for the game is:

 8.5 -  Great!

Deadpool can currently be purchased physically in any good game stores but it find it new is now very hard. If you aren't sure of you will like Deadpool, watch the game trailer at www.deadpoolgame.com, if you like the trailer, you'll love the game.

Wednesday, 6 November 2013

Hatsune Miku: Project Diva F - Review for the PS3

Hatsune Miku: Project Diva F is probably the most addictive and beautifully made rhythm action game ever!












Hatsune Miku: Project Diva F for the PS3 is a port of the Japanese PSVita game of the same name.

Project Diva F is a Japanese rhythm action game based on the Vocaloid programme in Japan. This programme allows artists and song writers to break into the Japanese music industry, and because of this Hatsune Miku (The main Vocaloid programme of Six in the game) has become a Japanese icon.

Game play

Image taken from PSVita version
The game play in Project Diva F is different to most rhythm action games. When you think of rhythm games, you think of games where the note moves from a predetermined place to another predetermined which never moves the entire time. 
That's where Project Diva F is different, the points you have to hit move around the screen in accordance with the pitch and tone of the song and the buttons you have to hit also come in from different directions. This might seem difficult but trust me, once you hear the song and get used to its tone, it becomes really easy in concept. It has several levels: Easy, Normal, Hard and Extreme so if you're like me and you love rhythm games but aren't too good at them then Project Diva F is perfect because if you play it on easy you can learn the game and become really good at it too.

Visuals

Image of Gameplay from Japanese PS3 Version
The visuals in Project Diva F are completely stunning, the music videos which play behind the game itself are completely stunning, heart-warming and funny all at the same time. 
The fact that by hitting some certain notes or building up streaks can actually make minor changes to the music video in the background is an amazing mechanic.
Although through the game play you might miss some of these fantastic scenes, you can unlock the music videos to watch alone and even live versions of the video simply by just playing the game. This is something which I love because it means I can listen to the songs which are stuck in my head and get to truly appreciate them.
However, this is one of the features which can be seen in a negative light. This is because the backgrounds are bright, lively and constantly moving, however this can cause you to miss a few notes because they blend in with the background. This is the tiniest of nitpicks however because you can get over this in various ways by turning the brightness down and really just concentrating on the notes rather than the background.

Extras

Yes, you can even pet the Vocaloids!
By playing the songs and getting good grades you get Diva Points, and Diva Points can be used to buy outfits, presents and items to but into the Diva's room. This can be done for every one of the Vocaloid's in the game. 
Buying them gifts can make them increase their affection levels and increasing their affection levels and unlocks trophy and achievements and even allows you to play mini games with the Vocaloid's to unlock other things which you can buy for the Vocaloid's. This part of the game is something you can ignore if you want but the amount of work which has went into it, it really just wouldn't be fair to the game if you did. 
Also with the Diva points you can buy outfits which match the music videos you play. Basically you start off with the Vocaloid's default outfit and then you earn the diva points to purchase the matching outfit for the music video, again, a very small thing you could ignore because it would not make much of a difference but it is nice to see how the videos where originally intended to look which these outfits. 

Music

33 songs and 4 modes means there is plenty to do here
With Project Diva f being a rhythm game, you expect it to have a good sound track and trust me, it has an amazing soundtrack. Almost all of the songs on the game are sung in Japanese, with one song sung completely in English and a few lyrics here and there in others. Even though they are in Japanese these songs are incredibly catchy and I find them getting stuck in my head a lot of the time, there is a soundtrack available for the game however it is not purchasable in Europe or America physically or digitally (to my knowledge) however, if you go onto iTunes you can get a flavour for the music by listening to some of the other songs made with the Vocaloid programme. Luckily you can listen to the music without having to play a level of the game which is a good enough substitute.

Score

Hatsune Miku: Project Diva f is a fantastic rhythm action game which has boat loads of character and an amazing soundtrack. However, its unfortunate that the display can get a little in your face during game play and that there is not many more songs available for the game on the US/UK PlayStation store.

My score for Hatsune Miku: Project Diva f for the PS3 is:

8.5 - Great!

A wonderful game! if you get the chance, download the demo for PS3 from PlayStation Store. 

Hatsune Miku: Project Diva f is available now for PlayStation 3 now digitally on the US/UK PlayStation Store for $49.99/£36.99 as well as a physical release in the US. if you live in the UK or Europe and would like a physical copy visit www.play-asia.com where it is available for import from the US/Japan for just under £40!

Thanks for reading! 


Thursday, 15 August 2013

7 ways to make Mario Kart 7 Better

I have been enjoying Mario Kart on handhelds since 2001 with the release of Mario Kart: SuperCircuit, but when I was playing Mario Kart 7 on the Nintendo 3DS I found myself getting quite annoying with the random generator which determines how much of a douche bag the other 7 NPCs were going to be during the race, especially when I’m first place on the game. First place doesn’t seem to be an achievement on this game but more so a target for every NPC to unleash all their weapons on you and create holy wrath to make you lose all your coins and drop 5 places just before you are about to cross the finish line on the last lap.  Not only this but when you actually manage to finish first with all 10 coins in every race on the grand prix, I still haven’t managed to complete the lighting cup with three stars.  So while angrily playing Dead or Alive 4 on my Xbox to vent my Mario Kart anger I found 7 ways which would make Mario Kart better, and more of a fair game for the user.

     1.    Lose the Blue Shells!
These work for no one!  You either get hit by them when you are in first place, get knocked over by them when they are going to hit the person in first place or you get the blue shell… but this happens once in a blue moon and generally when you are in last place on the final lap. The blue shell removes the need for skill in this game, bringing it down to the level of things such as imagine babysitter: A game which needs no skill in the slightest to play it because of the mind numbing experience you receive from it.  Mario Kart 7 became a game of luck and generally you never get any in this game. Remove the blue shells and you but the need for skill back into the game, making it a challenging game which is still enjoyable for the entire family without Dad getting annoyed at his child for unleashing a blue shell which hit him and made him lose.

2.    Let me collect more than 10 damn coins!

In Mario Kart 7 they introduced a new feature: coins. Each race you get the chance to collect 10 coins which in total over the course of the entire game collectively, unlock new customisable features for the cars which you drive (and as there are only 3 customisable features for the game, this doesn’t happen often). The fact is, during the race you can only collect 10 coins, but even the most unskilled player could collect 10 coins within the first lap. You are left for the rest of the race driving around, still collecting coins but them not recognising it because you already have 10 coins. Allowing the player to collect more than 10 coins each race means that it becomes for of a challenge for the user and most probably a better use of their time on the track. Any other Mario Kart 7 fans out there would be sitting there saying “But if you get hit by anything you lose half your coins, if you had 30 coins you’d lose 15” and well I have thought about that too, creating a coin storage which stores every lot of 10 coins in the race would a) keep track of how many coins you have collected so far through the race and b) mean that once those coins have been stored they cannot be taken off you (and here is the exciting bit ) unless you fall off the track, which is a cost of 10 coins (see! I think of compromises too) this means that the user has to use their skill to stay on the track and they also get the chance to collect more coins.

      3.    Nintendo: Fix the so-called random      generator!
Mario Kart is known for the fact that the characters can use weapons in the race, in fact it is a feature which sets it apart from every other stereotypical racing game released. This generally comes into effect when you drive through a ‘Surprise’ box and the random generator selects a weapon for you. I say ‘random generator’ but when I drive through these god damn boxes all I seem to get it green shells and bananas whereas every other Tom, Dick and Harry in the race gets Lighting, Ink, Bullet Bills, Mushrooms, red shells and of course the famous blue shell. Not only that, but they seem to enjoy setting all their weapons off at once, but only if you are in first place with 10 coins. Back in the day of the Mario Kart: Super Circuit, most races only gave you the chance to get weapons once a lap, which meant you had to use your weapons strategically and plan for the worst possible scenario, but even the worst possible scenario didn’t pause your gameplay for that long whereas in Mario Kart 7, you get hit by a blue shell and you can drop from 1st to 8th before your Kart actually moves again. So I say one thing to you Nintendo: MAKE YOUR RANDOM GENERATOR MORE RANDOM! Because at the moment it isn’t fair on the user and its making me lose all hope in Nintendo party games.

4.   Give the coins significance
Obviously in one of my last points I was talking about how I wanted to be able to collect more than 10 coins. But I have another point about those coins; they have no significance in the game… like none what-so-ever. What is the point of putting something into the game which does not affect the game play in the slightest! It’s like releasing a DLC for a first person shooter which contains a new outfit i.e. there is no point because you don’t see the damn character at all during the game. By giving the coins some significance you give the game a purpose or at least make the race more interesting for the user.  I thought up two things which could give the coins in the game purpose and even make the game more interesting. The first one I thought of was giving the character a special power after collecting 10 coins; this could be things such as manually flying or having the ability to break through things such as walls and doors. These special powers could be used to access hidden routes in the race which can only be accessed if you have chosen the character with the same power. Another idea would be to make the coins currency, this way when you collect the coins you can purchase upgrades for the car, but not the upgrades which are unlocked via races. I mean things such as paint jobs, suspension packages and shields. This way the user is rewarded for collecting the coins and receives an upgrade which they can pick for themselves. This simple thing makes the game more user oriented which, at the minute, it is lacking very much.

5.    Make the Grand Prix more customisable 
Don’t get me wrong, I love to say that getting hit with numerous shells, lightning and ink things doesn’t bother me, but it does, it winds me up something rotten. It actually annoys me quite I lot, I love racing games because of the simplicity in them but yet skill is required to actually play them, but Mario Kart 7 has removed this from the equation making it more of a party game which you play with your family on Christmas day and never play it again. What I’m trying to say is that Mario Kart 7 is more fun to play with local players because you are playing for fun, not for the fact that when playing it you can actually achieve something as when you do try to achieve something in Mario Kart 7 you become a target for weapons. I say make it a choice on whether to have weapons available or not and maybe even pick and choose what weapons you can and cannot get, doing that would make the game different every time you play it.

6.    Allow characters to get Shields
All is good and well when you throw shells at other characters because they never seem to be affected by it, however, when the shells are being fired at you, they hit you and you have no way to defend yourself. My theory is to change the boost that you get from drifting around corners into a power build up for a shield, the more you drift, the longer the shield stays up. The best thing about this is that it makes you think more strategically in how you play the game i.e. I’m in first place, I should probably do some drifting to build up my shield for when I get hit with 5 blue shells, Ink and lightning.

     7.    Remove the useless characters 
Sure this wouldn’t exactly improve the gameplay but half of the characters in the game don’t really deserve to be there! Characters like Queen Bee, Wiggler and Metal Mario have appeared in one Mario game for 5 minutes and suddenly they become a playable character in Mario Kart 7 beating out Waluigi, Goomba, Birdo and the baby series of the main Mario Characters. This just isn’t right in my eyes, the characters should be well established to go on a game such as this one, ones which are recognisable to even those who haven’t played Mario before (because let’s face it, everyone knows who Mario is whether they have played a Mario game before or not). Nintendo need to get their priorities straight on this one: Introduce new characters which no one is heard of or celebrate the original and recurring characters of the Mario series.

So there, that’s my personal opinion on how to make Mario Kart 7 better, to be fair many people may disagree with me because they will think Mario Kart 7 is fine the way it is, I just think these points will make it for fair to play and therefore give a better gaming experience i.e. I won’t want to take the game out of the console, jump on it many times, throw it off the wall and then out of my bedroom window because I was in first place on Rainbow Road and someone set a blue shell off on me and then another character pushed my off the side. Hopefully Nintendo will address these issues in Mario Kart 8 set for release in April 2014. 




5 reasons that the Gameboy Advance is the best handheld ever!

I have had many Nintendo Handhelds through the years, from borrowing my sister’s Gameboy and playing Lemmings until the batteries ran dry to spending hours on Animal Crossing New Leaf and holding my breath until Pokemon X and Y come out. But the Gameboy Advance is always the one which stuck out in my mind and held a place in my heart, the many games that I had on it as a kid, the joy I had playing it and honestly it was one of the hardest consoles I ever had to let go of, so hard that 8 years after selling it on, I bought another one with the games I used to have.  So here it is, 5 reasons why the Gameboy advance and the Gameboy advance SP are the best handhelds ever and the legacy they begun.

1.    The Backlight
The Gameboy Advance SP was the first handheld to have a backlight, something which now seems like a minor thing that we take for granted but before that time if you wanted to play on your Nintendo handheld in the dark you needed an external lamp to clip onto it so you could see in the dark. So the Gods at Nintendo created a wonderful thing, a console with a backlight, one which could be turned on and off and all of a sudden, we could easily play Zelda, Spyro and other games in the dark and under our blankets late at night after our parents had sent us to bed early because it was a school night. Not only that but the backlight added a new dimension of colour to our beloved games, Mario never seemed so full of colour and life on a handheld until that moment in time.

2.    Rechargeable Batteries
Just picture the moment, you are about to defeat the legendary Pokémon on Pokémon sapphire or Pokémon when all of a sudden, the batteries in the console run out and you’ve lost all the progress you made. Then at the release of the Gameboy advance SP, we got a console which we could recharge! No longer would we have to steal the batteries from the TV remote when our parents weren’t looking or go on a rampage through drawers looking for batteries when the red light comes on, no, now we could get out our charger and sit there whilst it charged and play our game without worry.



3.    Compact and Comfortable
One thing that Nintendo are good at in my opinion is making a handheld which is comfortable and compact and nothing screamed this more than the Gameboy Advance SP.  As comfortable to hold for hours on end like all those consoles that went before but even more compact than ever. The SP itself being able to be shut not only made it the most compact Nintendo handheld ever but also protected the screen from anything lurking in the bottom of our school bags which could potentially damage the screen.  A design so ingenious that it has become a major design component for every handheld they have made since, and honestly I love it.

4.    Backward Compatible and Region-Free
These days when you buy a new console most people will sell their old ones due to the fact that their new console won’t play the games they already have. With the Gameboy Advance that was not an issue, you didn’t have to throw away that Pokémon game that you got for Christmas with your Gameboy colour, or that copy of Tetris your older sibling gave you all those years ago. No, the Gameboy advance was 100% backwards compatible with both Gameboy and Gameboy Colour games. Not only that but it was region free, meaning you could get those games which America got and we didn’t meaning the gaming possibilities were endless.

5.         Simplicity
When I say simplicity, I mean it in two ways, in use and in design.  The Gameboy advance had 7 buttons in which you would use to play the game, which was a simple layout compared to the GameCube controller which had 11 buttons or the PS1 controller which had 13. This simple layout made it easy for us to get a hold of game controls easier and truly enjoy our portable consoles. And c’mon, the Gameboy advance and Gameboy advance SP looked amazing, and in my eyes no matter how flash a handheld looks, The Gameboy Advance was just a beautiful piece of kit.

So those are my reasons why the Gameboy Advance is the greatest handheld ever, and how it paved the way for handheld’s to become something which most people have in their life, even those who do not consider themselves gamers. The Gameboy Advance has really stood the test of time and in my eyes always shines up on top as wells as bringing back a sense of nostalgia which makes me feel 10 again, I’ll come right out and say it, it’s my favourite handheld and even with the 3DS and the PS Vita showing the endless directions in which handheld gaming is going, I like to remember where it started, with the Gameboy Advance.