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Portables (Games) Entertainment Games

Nokia Slams GameBoy, Discusses N-Gage 78

Posted by simoniker from the finnish-have-heart-of-lion dept.
Thanks to Gamesindustry.biz for writing up an article discussing Nokia's most recent comments about their N-Gage portable phone/game deck, which launches later this year, and will be at least partly competing against Nintendo's all-conquering GameBoy Advance. Most notably, Nokia boss Ilkka Raiskinen is quoted as saying "GameBoy is for 10-year-olds. If you're 20 or 25 years old, it's probably not a good idea to draw a GameBoy out of your pocket on a Friday night in a public place."
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Nokia Slams GameBoy, Discusses N-Gage More

Nokia Slams GameBoy, Discusses N-Gage

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  • Nokia blows (Score:5, Informative)

    by LineNoiz ( 616971 ) <kal_durak@yahoo.cCOWom minus herbivore> on Thursday June 12, 2003 @05:33PM (#6185782)
    I think Gabe's post [penny-arcade.com] pretty much sums it all up.

    • Re:Nokia blows (Score:5, Informative)

      by DragonPup ( 302885 ) on Thursday June 12, 2003 @05:40PM (#6185875)
      Speaking as someone who went to E3 and played with the N-Gage, I agree with Gabe on all counts. Control was arkward at best, screen wasn't so great, and the games I played were not making me want to consider buying this. And the having to turn the phone off and remove the back cover to change the games sealed the deal. :p

      The only 'cool' thing it does is allow you to play against other people using GSRP and GSM. Oh, except those things cost money under just about every cell plan there is...

      -Henry
    • That was exactly what I thought when I first saw the N'Gage and then read Gabes post yesterday. It is an absolute perfect summary of the handheld. I particularly liked the part about people playing snake on thier cell and not being able to use the cell game combo on a plane. Long flights are the reason I loved my old game gear and now the gameboy advance.
    • Yup - here's the comic [penny-arcade.com] in which he commented on it. And here's [penny-arcade.com] his original news post from E3 (scroll down a bit) where he goes into even more detail about just why he thinks it will fail.
    • Heh. That's exactly what I thought when I saw this story. The NGage is another case of one device that does a few things in a mediocre way.

      The GBA does what it does damn well. There are cell phones which do a good job of that too. It is certainly possible to create a device which is the convergence of a cell phone, game device and cell phone- but this isn't that device.

      I have a GBA, but I regret getting it just a little. The kinds of games I play most often I can get both on my PDA and my GBA- Snood m

  • He might have a point (Score:5, Funny)

    by nicksthings ( 678040 ) on Thursday June 12, 2003 @05:37PM (#6185835)
    But by the same token, if you're out on a Friday night and you "draw" anything out of your pocket to play a game you either:

    a) Need to find new friends and/or friends. Period.
    b) Need to find a new place to hang out on Friday nights.
    c) Should get punched in the face.
    d) Are a huge doofus.
    e) All of the above.

    Cell phone games sure are a neat waste of time, but if I'm going to blow $300 on a portable gaming system it has to blow me, too.

  • Target demographic (Score:5, Funny)

    by oskillator ( 670034 ) on Thursday June 12, 2003 @05:37PM (#6185836)
    Nokia seems to have learned the wrong lessons from Microsoft's X-Box marketing strategy. They need to remember that the "insult your apparent target demographic" gimmick only works if you're using it as part of a billion dollar campaign to convince regular people that it's socially acceptable to buy your product.

  • What they DON'T tell you... (Score:5, Informative)

    by Blackwulf ( 34848 ) on Thursday June 12, 2003 @05:38PM (#6185840) Homepage
    ...Is to change the game, you have to open up the back of the N-Gage, take out the battery, and change the chip that's underneath, then replace the battery...

    I think I'll stick with my "Cartridges that only a 10-year old would play", thank you. At least then I can play them on airplanes.

  • Noika Slams GameBoy! (Score:5, Funny)

    by ArmorFiend ( 151674 ) on Thursday June 12, 2003 @05:39PM (#6185867) Homepage Journal
    • Noika Slams GameBoy!

    in other news:
    • AT&T badmouths Atari 2600!
    • IBM hammers Colecovision!
    • Sprint exec calls Vic20 "a toy"!

    Shouldn't they pick on someone their own size?

    • >Shouldn't they pick on someone their own size?

      Sadly, GameBoy is their âoesame size.â The sad truth is that, for $300, you are getting something that is not a flexible or as fun to use as a $99 GameBoy Advance.

    • Re:Noika Slams GameBoy! (Score:5, Insightful)

      by sweetooth ( 21075 ) * on Thursday June 12, 2003 @05:51PM (#6185995) Homepage
      Your comparisons don't make a bit of sense. In the handheld gaming market Nintendo is the 800 pund gorilla. Nokia is a giant company that holds a good percentage of the cell phone market, but they are a newcomer to handheld gaming. Thier tactics are funny because they are resorting to mud slinging rather than introducing a good product. Cause I know that I would much rather have a handheld that requires me to remove the battery to change games and can't be used on an airplane instead of a Gameboy SP. Oh, and I'm part of thier 18-25 year old target demographic (I'm 24).

      Not only is the handheld unappealing because of its design and poor cell phone integration it seems to me to be a trend with thier current line of cell phones. Why in the world would anyone want a cell phone that is layed out like a rotary phone?

      • Your comparisons don't make a bit of sense...Oh, and I'm part of thier 18-25 year old target demographic.

        Well sonny boy, back in about 1980 there were these game systems called "Gameboy", "Atari", "Colecovision", etcetera. At the time there was a popular childrens toy called "N Gauge model railroad". It is to these things, not the johnnie come lately "Gameboy Advance", that the headlines appeared to be referring to -- at least to a crustly oldster like myself.

        I have to go now the buzzards are starting

        • Believe it or not I owned all of the above listed "toys" as well as others like the intellavision, turbografx 16, game gear, etc. The references coupled with "Shouldn't they pick on someone their own size?" makes the parent comment make no sense to me as Nintendo currently is the large market share holder in the handheld gaming market and is not a small company.
          • Gotcha.

            Do you realize that my original post was a joke? Jokes sometimes compromise "making sense" in favor of "humor". In this case it was clear from the article body that they were talking about gba, not vanilla gb, but since I'm a shameless karma ho, I decided to get my licks in... :)
    • Actually, considering the way Nintendo 0wn20r5 the handheld market, Nokia's braying sounds a lot like SCO. How long until Nokia starts "pressuring" Nintendo to buy their wireless technology?

      I mean, really, I give Sony's offering a longer life-span against the GBA than Nokia. And I don't think Sony will be able to surpass the Game Gear's high water mark.

  • Friday night (Score:4, Funny)

    by dirtyhank ( 135909 ) on Thursday June 12, 2003 @05:40PM (#6185878) Homepage
    Honey, is that a GameBoy in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?
  • Again, a Futurama Bender quote says things perfectly.

    "No, THEY look like dorks!! *grumble*" (from "War is the H-Word")
  • a GBA might be ok, but when you hit 30, you might want to keep your GBA playing in stealth mode.
    • Maybe for you, but I'm 25 right now, and myself and all my friends both work in the game industry, and carry our gameboys everywhere. I don't see that changing any time soon. So theoretically, the habit will grow with the gamer. Maybe not many 30 year olds right *now* have gameboys, because maybe that "generation" of individuals looks upon it differently, but the age group that I occupy grew up with this stuff. It's part of life, we do it every day, it's our entertainment. When we're 30 years old, that
    • Pheh.

      I'm on the verge of 32 and I have no issues pulling out my GBA while waiting for a plane or on the plane. My wife and I both have GBAs with Afterburners for the lights. Most likely we'll get each other GBA SPs for some holiday or another and use the old GBAs as GameCube controllers for use with FF.

      Hell, last time I was at the airport I saw someone at least 40 in a suit playing on a GBA SP. If you want to hide your playing, all you are inconveniencing is yourself :)


    • Why? I'm 39 and I still play my GBA everywhere. Do you know of a better way to spend three hours in an airport waiting for the flight, then ten hours flying, then time waiting for the luggage? I don't. (Also the reason I won't get a SP, no place to recharge!). Besides it's the most interactive my SO and I can do in public without being arrested. :-)

    • I don't know how old you are, but if you are 30+ and still even interested in playing video games, you (like me) could probably give a rat's hindquarters what non-gamers think. I got my GBA SP to play on the bus, where I am for 45-60 minutes a day commuting. Before that I'd be struggling to enjoy the lame selection of games for my Zaurus and before that the Palm/Visor. The games available for GBA are simply the best.

      Frankly I find a little video gaming a lot less of something to be embarrassed about than

  • my thoughts (Score:3, Interesting)

    by funkmastermike ( 264946 ) on Thursday June 12, 2003 @05:44PM (#6185926)
    "GameBoy is for 10-year-olds. If you're 20 or 25 years old, it's probably not a good idea to draw a GameBoy out of your pocket on a Friday night in a public place."

    I used to play with my gameboy a lot back in '89 and played it to death until I got my gameboy color. Back when I was young, it was fine for me to be playing it until it did indeed seem to be a bad idea to draw my gameboy out when I was in high school or with friends as it seemed like kiddie stuff.
    I fit the 20-25 age group but now it is cool again to play. People don't give a fuck. Many times they're more interested in what video game you're playing so they can check it out also. Video games have become so commonplace that seeing the new professional, shiny, and slick gbasp in silver makes me look godly. I would think that buying a $300 phone just to play some games seems like a bad idea imho.
    I could just imagine my friends say "WTF? you have a gameboy for portable games and its cheaper. You idiot.. you got fucking ripped off".

  • It's not the system that matters.... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by neostorm ( 462848 ) on Thursday June 12, 2003 @05:45PM (#6185941)
    Sorry Nokia, toting around trendy hardware to show off with poor performance is what's for 10 year olds.

    If this is Nokias stance on gaming, then they are already doomed. Not because of the trash-talking to gamers either.
    They are making a very similar mistake that past console makers have done, and that is to front their systems and not their library. They haven't learned one of the most *basic* rules for manufacturers in the game industry, and that is that *games* make the system.
    (Yadda, yadda... It's been said a 100 times)

    I think the majority of the older generation of gamers play their games because they are fun, not because a system is hyped. I have yet to see any real fun games on the N-Gage. I'm 25 years old and I carry my GBA where ever I go. It's a blast, yours is not, I've played it.
  • If I get one of these (which I won't) I'll have to deal with the following two annoyances.

    1. When playing games, people will ask me why I'm molesting my cell phone.
    2. When talking on the phone, people will ask me why I'm talking into a gameboy.

    I got a GBASP a month ago and it's become part of my standard gear I take with me everywhere I go (cell phone, wallet, keys, pen, GBASP). It's perfect for killing time between meetings, classes, etc. Plus it fits perfectly in my cargo pockets (hey, they finall
  • This is probably going to be just as effective as "John Romero is going to make you his bitch". Complete failure of this project to continue I'm sure. I'm 24 and love my GBA SP, fuck you nokia.

    N-Gage piece of trivia for you. To put a new game in this thing you have to remove the batteries. Brilliant!

  • hrmm... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Artemis P. Fonswick ( 680020 ) on Thursday June 12, 2003 @05:59PM (#6186068) Homepage Journal
    If you're 20 or 25 years old, it's probably not a good idea to draw a GameBoy out of your pocket on a Friday night in a public place.
    They obviously haven't hung out with anyone at Slashdot on a Friday night.

    And if their target market is 20-25, I doubt their ad-campaign [nokia.com] is going to be very productive.

    "Dude! I need to get an NGage so I can be bitchin!!"
    • They probably have never seen the new GBA SP either.

      I heard Nintendo is gonna make a GBA BlueTooth adapter to provide wireless gaming through NTT Docomo phones. Really, the little voices in my head told me. :)

      If Nokia really want to create a wireless gaming market, maybe they should try and focus on promoting the current breed of games on J2ME and Series 60 platforms. Most people don't even know they exist.

      Oh yeah, thanks for the link to that ad. It's uber-r3t@rd3d. LMAO
    • That ad makes me want to take the game device and slap the kid around with it and then jump up and down on the phonegamewhatever until it's in a thousand shiny little pieces. I'm not even going to buy a regular Nokia phone after seeing that (not to imply that I'm unhappy with my current Motorola model).
    • I don't know about you but that N-gage thing sure looks a lot like the OLDER GBA, so if you pulled a N-gage out of your pocket, people might say, "Hey what's the deal with the old GBA. Why don't you have an SP yet?" There is a reason Nintendo created the SP, and most folks agree that the SP is the best design yet.

      And as if anybody needed another reason why GBA is a system for mature gamers who want great gaming: I give you Castlevania [metacritic.com].
  • wow, this looks like a total peice of crap! way to go!

  • Is that a threat? (Score:4, Funny)

    by jpr1nd ( 678149 ) on Thursday June 12, 2003 @06:06PM (#6186129)
    "If you're 20 or 25 years old, it's probably not a good idea to draw a GameBoy out of your pocket on a Friday night in a public place." ... because a crack team of nokia ninjas will emerge from the shadows and beat you down (??!)

    BEWARE THE NOKIA NINJAS
  • As long as phones and wireless devices are frowned upon on airplanes a combo device will not work well for the frequent traveller.

    it doesn't matter if it includes a "turn radio off" feature. flight attendants can't be expected to understand that or be able to actually verify/believe it.
    • On the contrary: if you've got your fingers on the controls, an N-Gage looks more like a Game Boy than a phone. A casual glance from a flight attendant probably won't spot its phoneness. The N-Gage may find a target market in people who want to get away with using their phone before the plane is at the gate.

      That may, in fact, end up being its only market.

  • Hey Nokia, stop competing with another market. Stay in your own industry. Classic nintendo and Gameboy should not be messed with!
  • "...it's probably not a good idea to draw a GameBoy out of your pocket on a Friday night in a public place." GameBoy or not, playing games by yourself in a public place is a sure sign that you are a loser. There is no 'coolness factor' to hand held games, so whip those gameboys out in public and fsck everyone else.

  • Gabe of PA said it best (Score:3, Insightful)

    by octover ( 22078 ) on Thursday June 12, 2003 @06:26PM (#6186285) Homepage
    Gabe of Penny Arcade [pennyarcade.com] said it best on June 11th. He talks more about how much the device sucks, but specifically about the trash talk he says this, "Your second mistake was in allowing Mr. Raiskinen to ever open his fucking mouth in public. His statement is so absurd that it borders on the humorous. In fact if I were not quite certain that he was serious I would think it was a joke. Not a good idea to take out a game boy in a public place? Does this man even live on this planet? Did he make these comments from inside some kind of protective bubble orbiting the earth, insulated from the day to day happenings of itâ(TM)s inhabitants? If I am out with my buddies on a Friday night and we are waiting in line for a movie or some other event I can guarantee that Game Boys will come out. Not one of my friends is without a GBA. They are practically a necessity at this point. Like bread or water. It is the poor young man still playing snake on his cell phone in the airport that gets the pitting look from our group.

    We even strung our link cables across the seats in the airplane on our way to E3 in order to partake in some four player Puyo Pop. Whereas airline regulations will not even allow me to turn on your masterfully designed game system while anywhere near a fucking airplane much less play a game to pass the time. Oh and speaking of great design, having to remove the battery in order to change gamesâ¦brilliant. "

    This fits my own sentiments dead on. Almost all of my friends have SPs and you better bet we will pull them out when we are sitting waiting for a table or a movie to start. That is the beauty of my SP, I can play high quality games where ever I happen to be. So I can have a social life without having to sacrifice my gaming completely. I was interested in checking out the N-Gage, but now I feel that out of principle of not contributing to its success I won't. I am your target demo graphic, young geek male with loads of disposable income. Way to go Nokia.

  • On a certain Friday night (Score:3, Interesting)

    by L-Train8 ( 70991 ) <Matthew_Hawk AT hotmail DOT com> on Thursday June 12, 2003 @06:33PM (#6186338) Homepage Journal
    I went to see the Matrix opening weekend, and I counted 5 GBA's in the audience while we waited for the show to start. Since this was a rated R movie, it was mainly comprised of the demographic that Mr. Raiskinen says would be too embarassed to use a GameBoy. So, based on my experience, he's pretty wrong. But I'm not the guy who's trying to sell crappy cell phone/video game thingies.

  • Buisness Plan (Score:3, Funny)

    by Rudy Rodarte ( 597418 ) on Thursday June 12, 2003 @06:53PM (#6186526) Homepage Journal
    1. Come out with a new portable video game system.
    2. Insult potential customers
    3. ????
    4. Profit!!!
    Actually, after that comment, I will never buy this poor waste of landfill space!

  • Dear Nokia: (Score:5, Funny)

    by lightspawn ( 155347 ) on Thursday June 12, 2003 @06:57PM (#6186557) Homepage
    I visited n-gage.com, but couldn't find the pages with the game screenshots.

    Could you help me find them? Thank you.

    I am very excited about the names of the forthcoming titles. As many as two or three of them I could not recognize from my gamestop GBA section. I am sure they will be excellent, and even the games that do exist for the gameboy will be much better for the n-gage.

    P.S. Last week I saw a really hot chick and I think I might have had a chance with her, but she saw my gameboy SP and ran away. If possible, can you send me an early copy of the n-gage or even a mockup so that I can score the next time I see her?

    • Screenshots (Score:2, Informative)

      by @madeus ( 24818 )
      Yeah, I wonder Why there are no screen shots, oh no I don't, I know why, it's because it's going to be pants.

      Actually from these screen shots [newlc.com] it looks half reasonable, but:

      1) I bet it's not that good in reality.
      2) Slagging of GBA SP owners by suggesting they are uncool 10 year olds is market suicide (have they not heard of the 'GBA:SP - For Men' campaign all over London?)
      3) You take the battery out to change games? *boggle*
      4) Looks like a brick, and I can't see it being comfortable.
      5) It's been hyped for

      • If the Atari Lynx and the Sega Game Gear couldn't do it, this phone doesn't have a chance (the only advantage it has is wireless play and we know that GBA BlueTooth adapters are en route).

        There is at least a slight difference between N-Gage and all those devices :
        - it's also a mobile phone
        - you can download free or shareware games and those could be stored on the phone file system

        I have seen some of these games running: they are impressive for a mobile phone platform.And as I don't know the GBA-SP

  • 2Old2bCool (Score:3, Insightful)

    by nick_davison ( 217681 ) on Thursday June 12, 2003 @07:30PM (#6186784)
    If you're 20 or 25 years old, it's probably not a good idea to draw a GameBoy out of your pocket on a Friday night in a public place."

    Last Friday night, at 2Fast2Furious (I'm in a war of attrition with a friend to drag each other to the worst possible movie), I pulled a platinum SP out of my pocket and played (original GB) Mario in the cinema, waiting for the movie to start. All the little kiddies playing centipede on their cell phones all leant over to watch, as did the older people on a retro kick.

    Granted, I've been 26 for two months now, so I'm clearly passed it.

    GameBoys have a level of retro cool that completely transcends just about any other retro fad. They also have a stupidly large library of some of the most simply playable games ever. I'd choose to be seen playing one of those things over the "Please look at me, I desperately need to be cool by sticking flashing LED battery packs on my cell phone" alternative - be it Friday night or any other time.
    • One last thought...

      "GameBoy - You'll never have your mum calling to check up on you on it."

      Any device that allows your mum to check you've got your thermal underwear on, you've got your coat buttoned up and you'll be home by bedtime, while you're trying to hang out with your friends, is fundamentally uncool.
  • "GameBoy is for 10-year-olds. If you're 20 or 25 years old, it's probably not a good idea to draw a GameBoy out of your pocket on a Friday night in a public place." Uh, yeah but pulling out a big, goofy looking phone and playing it is?Gameboy has become a common sight among 20-25 year olds and beyond. Hell, I'm 32 and I play my GBA every day during breaks at work and the only response I get is, "What game is that? Cool!"I take it to baseball games to play between innings or when the game is getting ugly (an
  • I'm 28 and play my GBA on the train to work every day. No one has dared come up to me and told me I was immature.

    I hardly think a 10 year could play all the games. Heck my daughter (who is 9) cannot play (functionally and maturity) all the games we have.

    Don't see me letting her play any mortal kombat games in a hurry.
  • "GameBoy is for 10-year-olds. If you're 20 or 25 years old, it's probably not a good idea to draw a GameBoy out of your pocket on a Friday night in a public place."

    hmm, well a) you'll never get the chicks playing video games while they're around, so this is bad juju for nokia also and b) i'd guess 1 in 5 guys of university age (20-24) own a GBA of some sort... it's not exactly like playing video games is a demasculating activity, seeing as how pretty much all guys play some sort of video game at least on

  • Wow... (Score:4, Funny)

    by Guppy06 ( 410832 ) on Thursday June 12, 2003 @08:33PM (#6187129)
    "GameBoy is for 10-year-olds. If you're 20 or 25 years old, it's probably not a good idea to draw a GameBoy out of your pocket on a Friday night in a public place."

    I must say, Scandanavia is the last place I'd expect Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf to pop back up...
  • This thing looks remarkably like the classic GBA. So what's this do to make it appealing to older people who don't want the *gasp* horrible embarassment of pulling out a portable gaming device in public? What're you going to do? Pull it out, getting scornful looks (according to Raiskinen) and then explain that no, it's not a GBA, it's a Nokia N-Gage (TM) which appeals to older audiences? Then, thinking realistically, they're either going to be confused or they're still going to look at you the exact same
  • I'm 27 and I play my SP in public. I'm not the only one. I see other adults playing them regularly on the subway.

    You should check out Nintendo's campaign in Europe. Young attractive couples half naked in bed [nintendo-europe.com] playing gameboy. (possibly not safe for work)
  • "So, uh, what's up?" "Well, last night, I picked up an N-Gage.." "N-what?" "N-Gage. It's like a cell phone and a handheld gaming platform rolled into one. Don't get the wrong idea, though - the Game Boy is for the kiddies. N-Gage is for more of a, shall we say, mature audience." "Yeah, well, whatcha got for it?" "I've got Tomb Raider, um, Sonic... er... Pande..mo..nium...." "Get outta here."

  • Ha! (Score:2)

    by Tom7 ( 102298 )
    GameBoy is for 10-year-olds. If you're 20 or 25 years old, it's probably not a good idea to draw a GameBoy out of your pocket on a Friday night in a public place.

    Nokia, I am not afraid!!

  • If you hadn't seen it... (Score:2, Informative)

    by bl4nk ( 607569 )
    Gamesindustry.biz also wrote a nice little article about the pros and cons of the N-Gage at first sight.. Check it out here. [gamesindustry.biz]
  • 10 years old draw mobile phones out there pockets, and I have seen more than one late-twenties draw a GBA while commuting to work in the train.
  • It's immature to keep your GBA in your pocket. It spoils the lines on your Dockers(TM). I suggest a case [madcatz.com] made of rich, Corinthian vinyloid, with a sturdy snap.

    WARNING: Not a sincere recommendation.

  • Free and accessible development kit for N-Gage (Score:3, Informative)

    by snowtigger ( 204757 ) on Friday June 13, 2003 @05:57AM (#6189213) Homepage
    This should be a good news to the Slashdot community.

    Nokia provide free development kits for their mobile phones (have a look at developer.nokia.com [nokia.com]). OK, it may be just java (not C++), but for people programming for fun, this is more than you will ever get from Nintendo, Sony or Microsoft/Xbox, who require you to go through a certification process (impossible for an individual).

    From their web page:

    Nokia N-Gageâ game deck supports two different game styles: downloadable titles and rich games distributed on MMC cards. Downloadable titles for Nokia N-Gage game deck are developed in Javaâ MIDP in the same way and with the same tools used to develop downloadable games for any other Series 60 Platform device. Our Step by Step Guide to mobile game development [nokia.com] will get you started. You do not require authorization to develop downloadable games for any Series 60 Platform device.
  • If the product quality of the N-Gage is anywhere as poor as that of the 9110i Communicators I see Nokias' handheld gaming history being a short one.

    The Communicator is a nice concept, but horribly implemented.
    I've seen plenty of 9110i and all had the same problems. Apps crashing, caller lists getting nuked, phone crashing. Best one always was when the diplay looked like normal, but the phone actually crashed internally.
    Hmmm, strange no one called today...

    One had to reboot that thing once a day at times. T
  • "Our advertising ranges from the subliminal to the liminal to the superliminal."
    "Superliminal?"
    "Hey you! Join the Navy!"
    "Okay"

    Does anyone else see similarities between Lt. L.T. Smash's advertising tactics and Nokia's.

    "Hey you! Don't buy Gameboy. It's uncool."
    "Okay."
    "Hey you! Buy N-Gage. It's cool."
    "Okay."

    It's so simple it's genious. They'll make bags of money.
  • Definitely not the GBA-SP. My wife was very concerned about my "image" when I told her I was getting a GBA (for use as a special "controller" for the gamecube, don't have any GBA games and don't really plan on it). However when the GBA-SP arrived she said: "Oh. Well that looks kinda neat. Can we get the old Mario games on that?"
  • ...now quit bothering me, this 24 year old is in the process of dominating Golden Sun:The Lost Age.

    ---

  • And I pull my GameBoy out in public and play and get no odd looks. Sounds like Nokia has a spokesman who specializes in speaking out of his ass.

  • "GameBoy is for 10-year-olds. If you're 20 or 25 years old, it's probably not a good idea to draw a GameBoy out of your pocket on a Friday night in a public place."

    And pulling your small phone out of your pocket to play a game on while you are out on a Friday night is somehow more 'adult'???
  • I remember a SEGA ad, way back when I was a kid, that was mocking Gameboy owners. Basically, it had a family of people who were meant to look like mentally-challenged degenerates, standing around a bug zapper and cheering whenever a bug would fly into it. Then the commercial asked, "What kind of people are entertained by cheap, mono-colored electronics?" (In those days, the Gameboy was black and white.)

    It was an advertisement for Gamegear, SEGA's answer to Gameboy. Where is Gamegear now? For that mat

  • I couldn't wait until I was 20 to be able to afford to buy games whenever the hell I felt like it. Been in my 20s for a few years, and been enjoying the GBA most of that time. And in my late 20s, I'll get the newest gameboy incarnation, all the while thinking about failed gaming systems like gamegear, neogeo pocket, and this nokia crap. And I still won't have the slightest hesitation about playing the thing wheerever/whenever I want without any shame.

    Then again, I am pretty shameless as it is.

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I tell them to turn to the study of mathematics, for it is only there that they might escape the lusts of the flesh. -- Thomas Mann, "The Magic Mountain"

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