Reviews |
Gameboy Colour | ||
First off I'd like to say that if you haven't gotten a Gameboy Colour or have questions about it please | |||
check out the GBC FAQ found in the Links section. This section will refer to some of the things covered | |||
in the FAQ, but defiantly will not get too technical. When I pre-ordered the GBC on Tuesday Nov. 16th | |||
I was told that it will arrive at the latest on Friday the 20th, and that I will get a call as soon as they get the | |||
GBC. Friday rolled around waited... 5pm waited... 6pm waited... ok I gave in, called the store, "Sorry | |||
we won't be getting them until tomorrow maybe?" Saturday at work convinced my friend to call them | |||
for me, she was told they will be coming in now on next Tuesday 24th, what ??? Well what can I do | |||
I'm stuck without a GBC until Tuesday. Tuesday rolled around, 12pm no call, waited, gave in and got my | |||
to call again... hehehe (Thanks Cat!) The GBC were in !!! Why didn't they call ??? When to the store | |||
and found out why... there must of been 100 people in the store! I had to wait for 30mins just to pay for | |||
my GBC colour. But when I finally had the box in my hand, my first impression was ahhhh.... sweet! | |||
The Box - The box is about the same size as the GB Pocket, (if I could only find my GBP box I'd tell you | |||
for sure.) (front) silver foil with the words Game Boy down the left hand side and a picture of the GBC, | |||
depending on the colour you choose the pic differs (Solid Purple for me) and the word Color at the | |||
bottom. On the sides, top, and bottom the words were written on it Game Boy Color and a few small | |||
screen shots of Zelda DX and Warioland 2 in colour. Same as the back, ok now for the system. | |||
The System - As I mentioned earlier I got the solid purple GBC (clear purple seemed to be more popular) | |||
and I'm happy with the purple, it's a nice deep purple, not some washed out purple/blue or pastel that I | |||
saw in some pics. The physical size of the system is about 3/4 of a cm longer than the GBP as is the | |||
thickness. It's nicely curved at the back and bottom vs. the flat GBP. I personally find the bump | |||
where the battery goes makes the GBC easier to hold. The buttons are sightly smaller than those on the | |||
GBP and the + controller is now textured so it's easier to grip with your thumb. and as with all GB it feels | |||
pretty solid in your hands, not like some thing that you have care for like a baby. | |||
The Screen - The screen to my disappointment is smaller than that of the GBP, although not by much but | |||
still smaller never-the-less.With that said, I have to applaud Sharp for making an excellent screen, all of | |||
my GB games looks better on the GBC, the contrast is better than that of the GBP the, blacks are nice, the images | |||
are sharper and Kirby looks cute in colour. =) One thing though, is the screen on the GBC lacks any contrast | |||
adjustment, so you have to position it on the right angel to get the best picture plus it's almost mandatory | |||
to have a light behind or above you when you are playing with the GBC. | |||
The +'s - Colour screen | The -'s - Smaller screen | ||
- Long battery life | - No contrast switch | ||
- I think good price | - No backlite | ||
- Compatibility with old games | - Still a pretty slow processor (IMHO) * | ||
- Compact size | |||
* What I mean by slow processor is that, just as in the older GBs' on certain scenes where there is a lot of activity | |||
* on screen (ie. lots of sprites moving etc...) I can notice that things slow down. Now I know that there are two | |||
* processor modes in the GBC, but I think that when the full 8 MHz is being used in games, those games will be in | |||
* full colour, so the added processing power would still not be enough. | |||
Conclusion - Now many will argue and have different opinion, but I give the GBC a 9 out of 10, now you're | |||
probably wondering how in the world did I ever come up with such a high score? The simple fact of the matter is | |||
that there is no competition. Sure you can name names like Gamegear, and I say not much game support and bad | |||
battery life, or Neo Geo Pocket, and I say one word COLOUR! So until Sony or someone else comes out with | |||
a competing product I stand at my conclusion. | |||
If you still haven't seen what a GBC looks like check out the FAQ and there are some nice pics there, no point in | |||
me posting the same thing over again. | |||
Jonathan Lim |