Finally bought a Game Boy Advance...

[vsp]

...for the wife, for her birthday.

Up until now, I've avoided contributing to Nintendo's effective-monopoly on portable systems. I own three NeoGeo Pocket Colors (bought long after the system crashed and burned, alas), and have put in ungodly hours on some of its games; I own two TurboExpresses, and still consider it to be the high-water mark of 90's gaming technology. Somewhere, I still have a Game Gear modified by a friend at Sega to include TV-Out cables (even though the only game that's ever been played on it is Bust-a-Move).

I felt the original GB was a cheap hack that sold billions strictly through (a) marketing muscle and (b) having Tetris; I felt the GB Color was an inferior product to the NGPC that sold billions strictly through (a) marketing muscle and (b) having Pokemon. It's ironic that only now, with all US competitors squashed, has Nintendo come out with a portable that interests me.

Why?

* Compilations of arcade games that don't suck. The Midway one is horrible and Spy Hunter was a remake of a remake, but the others I've seen (Konami with six, Atari with six, Namco Museum with five, Pac-Man Collection with two and some originals, the hopefully-US-bound Bubble Bobble pack) have been surprisingly true to the originals. Rock! It's a portable MAME, so to speak, for those of us who won't shell out the bucks for a Palm.

* The usual assortment of puzzle/action games -- Columns, Puyo, Bomberman, Tetris. If Nintendo doesn't rerelease Tetris Attack, Tetris 2 and Dr. Mario in a full-color GBA format, they're nuts.

* Some actual RPGs -- Golden Sun (which the wife's playing through now), some Breath of Fire games, Tactics Ogre (!), Lunar on the way, and FINAL FANTASY F'ING TACTICS ADVANCE IS COMING.

* I don't care much for the Mario-run-and-jump games, but they're there for those who want them. The remixed US SMB 2 does have my interest, however, as that was my favorite Mario game (and, coincidentally, the only one that wasn't originally designed as a Mario game).

* English-translated versions of Fire Pro Wrestling. THAT's a first.

* Doom, Doom 2, and Duke Nukem in (pixellated) portable format. Nothing like a rocket-launcher to pass the time on long trips.

* Advance Wars. I've been playing this on an emulator, and it's just fantastic. Somebody on the dev team played "Military Madness" on the TurboGrafx, because this has all of that game's good points (which were MANY) and takes them to a new level.

* The "Flood Light", by Radica, is the best portable light-source I've ever seen. It's got a little fluorescent light bulb, which can be tilted and adjusted to light the screen well and eliminate all glare as well. Beautiful, even if it does require batteries. If I get another system, I might spring for an Afterburner-ed unit.

* The e-Reader is a wild-card. It lets you scan specially-coded trading cards to play mini-games, connect to select GameCube games, and play early NES games (!!). THAT has my attention, particularly if third-parties get into the act. Konami would be crazy not to rerelease their NES lineup, for instance, but that's some time off. Regardless, this add-on has major potential, even for quick one-off throwaway games from Nintendo like Air Hockey...

* Advance Wars. Did I mention Advance Wars?