is it jus me or is gba running on dated hardware?

bruce_pwns_j00

bruce_pwns_j00

CAGiversary!
I was off school today because I wasnt feeling good and I was thinking and realized something. Game Gear and Neo Geo Pocket Color (ngpc) all had graphics practically as good as gba sp and came out way before gba. This made me wonder if nintendo is running is running on outdated software. Or maybe they have the most popular system and all the third party support so they just cut back on technology and know that their system will still pwn the others. Does anyone else agree with me?
 
NGPC to me looks more of a mid-range between GBC and GBA graphics, and the Game Gear looks like complete ass IMO (I should know, it was my first handheld).

If you want to compare, I think the GBA is closer to the Nomad in terms of graphic quality.
 
I have both GBA and NGPC, and personally the NGPC looks around the level of a GBC, and isn't anywhere near the level of the GBA. No contest really.
 
Hardware Specifications:

CPU: 16 MHz 32-Bit RISC with embedded memory
Memory: 32 Kbyte + 96 Kbyte VRAM (in CPU), 256 Kbyte WRAM (external of CPU)
Screen: 2.9in diagonal, reflective TFT color front lit LCD, 240 x 160 pixels capable of displaying 32,768 simultaneous colors in bitmap mode



It's a SNES with a lower resolution. It's crap.

But I can't stop playing Mario Vs. Donkey Kong anyway!
 
Well, soundwise and graphics wise, the gba is WAY more powerful and capable thant the ng pocket and game gear. It has a much larger color palette, has polygon pushing capabilities, can support features like parallax scrolling and mode 7(SNES crap), as well as the carts having much more storage capability....I think its really not that outdated. The gba is a pretty damn capable system.

Mightve gotten the impression because you were playing a crappy game.
 
[quote name='bruce_pwns_j00']I was off school today because I wasnt feeling good and I was thinking and realized something. Game Gear and Neo Geo Pocket Color (ngpc) all had graphics practically as good as gba sp and came out way before gba. This made me wonder if nintendo is running is running on outdated software. Or maybe they have the most popular system and all the third party support so they just cut back on technology and know that their system will still pwn the others. Does anyone else agree with me?[/quote]

Dude, the GBA blows the GG out of the water in terms of graphics. However, I love my Game Gear, and still play it almost everyday.

That damn Ax Battler is a helluva hard game, but I love it!
 
No shit, Sherlock.

Both the GCN and GBA are using ancient technology. THAT IS WHY NINTENDO IS THE ONLY COMPANY THAT MAKES MONEY OFF OF CONSOLE SALES!

Btw, just to piss you off, it costs $20 to make your $100 GBA SP, and that includes the slave labor.

That is what it costed upon release, but dated technology and expensive LCDs may have changed it. But the price of quality Chinese slave labor has remained constant.
 
Seriously, the Gamegear isn't even in the ballpark of the GBA. The NGPC (which came out about the same time) is much closer.

The GBA is stronger than an SNES, the Gamegear is a handheld conversion of the Sega Master System, which was only slightly stronger than an NES.
 
[quote name='bmulligan']Hardware Specifications:

CPU: 16 MHz 32-Bit RISC with embedded memory
Memory: 32 Kbyte + 96 Kbyte VRAM (in CPU), 256 Kbyte WRAM (external of CPU)
Screen: 2.9in diagonal, reflective TFT color front lit LCD, 240 x 160 pixels capable of displaying 32,768 simultaneous colors in bitmap mode



It's a SNES with a lower resolution. It's crap.

But I can't stop playing Mario Vs. Donkey Kong anyway![/quote]

It's crap? But you can't stop playing? You do realize that this statement is pretty stupid sounding, right?

The GBA kicks ass. I'm just learning this as I've only owned one for about 5 months. But do I care about graphics or hardware? No, the games...the GAMES are what matter. This goes for NES, SNES, Genesis, Neo-Geo, Playstation, Playstation 2, XBox, Gamecube, Atari, Saturn....it doesn't matter which system can do what, it's all about the games you were playing.
 
They were supposed to lower the cost of ALL the games about a year ago...and all 3rd party would be 19.99 and nintendo games would be 24.99...but this never came to pass...and so...I only have 3 games
 
Not really, It can do better 2d graphics than the PSone, I like the fact there is a powerful 2d mainstream system out there.
 
[quote name='Quackzilla']No shit, Sherlock.

Both the GCN and GBA are using ancient technology. THAT IS WHY NINTENDO IS THE ONLY COMPANY THAT MAKES MONEY OFF OF CONSOLE SALES!

Btw, just to piss you off, it costs $20 to make your $100 GBA SP, and that includes the slave labor.

That is what it costed upon release, but dated technology and expensive LCDs may have changed it. But the price of quality Chinese slave labor has remained constant.[/quote]

Yeah and I just heard that Saddam Heusain escaped with a bunch of PS2 hardware and they are planning a nuclear strike with its high power!!!! :eek:
 
[quote name='Thunderscope']Not really, It can do better 2d graphics than the PSone, I like the fact there is a powerful 2d mainstream system out there.[/quote]

Not even close. PSone games are typically driving a 640x480 mode display with a minimum 16-bit per pixel color depth. Compare this to the vastly lower resolution of the GBA and the amount of data for each of those pixels.

PS1 640x480=307,200 pixels with full color depth depending on mode
GBA 240x160=38,400 pixels with very limited color depth and 15-bit palette.

Also the GBA is dealing with hardware character maps and sprites while the PS1 gives you freedom to do character maps as needed and on the fly per pixels operations, too.

There is nearly an order of magnitude different in the work loads for the two systems. The GBA is designed to deliver a reasonable platform within a set of rigid specs for price and battery life. Making the claim that it can outperform the PS1 is not only nonsensical but also very unfair to the GBA's task.
 
Nintendo controls the tech level of handheld hardware because it can. The PSP and DS are more in line of what can be done, but by using older tech, nintendo keeps costs down, and until Sony forced their hand with the PSP they controlled the market. They've obviously been very sucessful and it remains to be seen how well the DS and PSP will do when the general public gets a gander at the price tag.
 
[quote name='ZForce915'][quote name='bmulligan']Hardware Specifications:

CPU: 16 MHz 32-Bit RISC with embedded memory
Memory: 32 Kbyte + 96 Kbyte VRAM (in CPU), 256 Kbyte WRAM (external of CPU)
Screen: 2.9in diagonal, reflective TFT color front lit LCD, 240 x 160 pixels capable of displaying 32,768 simultaneous colors in bitmap mode



It's a SNES with a lower resolution. It's crap.

But I can't stop playing Mario Vs. Donkey Kong anyway![/quote]

It's crap? But you can't stop playing? You do realize that this statement is pretty stupid sounding, right?

The GBA kicks ass. I'm just learning this as I've only owned one for about 5 months. But do I care about graphics or hardware? No, the games...the GAMES are what matter. This goes for NES, SNES, Genesis, Neo-Geo, Playstation, Playstation 2, XBox, Gamecube, Atari, Saturn....it doesn't matter which system can do what, it's all about the games you were playing.[/quote]

No, stupid sounding is what's pecking forth from YOUR keyboard because you didn't get my point that the games are good no matter what the technology specs are.....

DOAH!
 
The fact that the small handheld device plays games at the same or better quality than the large SNES did makes me think we're getting pretty decent technology for our money.. sure they could have ultra-modern tech in it and outdo the Xbox in graphical prowess.. but I doubt anyones going to buy a GBA for 15 large.
 
[quote name='Quackzilla']No shit, Sherlock.

Both the GCN and GBA are using ancient technology. THAT IS WHY NINTENDO IS THE ONLY COMPANY THAT MAKES MONEY OFF OF CONSOLE SALES!

Btw, just to piss you off, it costs $20 to make your $100 GBA SP, and that includes the slave labor.

That is what it costed upon release, but dated technology and expensive LCDs may have changed it. But the price of quality Chinese slave labor has remained constant.[/quote]
Sir, you are an idiot. That is all that needs to be said.
 
[quote name='Tromack'][quote name='Quackzilla']No shit, Sherlock.

Both the GCN and GBA are using ancient technology. THAT IS WHY NINTENDO IS THE ONLY COMPANY THAT MAKES MONEY OFF OF CONSOLE SALES!

Btw, just to piss you off, it costs $20 to make your $100 GBA SP, and that includes the slave labor.

That is what it costed upon release, but dated technology and expensive LCDs may have changed it. But the price of quality Chinese slave labor has remained constant.[/quote]
Sir, you are an idiot. That is all that needs to be said.[/quote]

He may be crude, but I think what he said is true or at least very close to true. Where do you think they make the GBA? Surely not somewhere that would cause Nintendo to have to pay a minimum wage.
 
[quote name='epobirs']PSone games are typically driving a 640x480 mode display with a minimum 16-bit per pixel color depth. Compare this to the vastly lower resolution of the GBA and the amount of data for each of those pixels. [/quote]

Sorry, but you are misinformed.

The PS1's standard mode of resolution is 256x224. And, that is the mode over 90% of PS1 games use.

Tobal 2 ran at 640x480, along with a small (very small) handful of other games that included the THQ PAL only release Shaolin. Shaolin actually runs at both resolutions -- 256x224 for the Quest mode and 3 or more player Vs. mode, and 640x480 with the 2-player only Vs. mode.
 
a) GameCube for a console is not ancient. The parts in it would definitely be 2nd tier for a computer, but it doesn't have a resource heavy operating system either.
b) Nintendo still has a lot of production facilities inside Japan.
c) While the labor in China is definitely cheaper and working conditions not as good as in America, most labor is definitely not "slave labor".
 
Back of the GBA says "made in china" though I doubt Nintendo uses "slave labor"to construct sensitive digital equipment but they sure arn't making U.S. minimum wage.

20 dollars actually might be too much, you have to factor in the markup in retail and how much Nint. uses from those sales to pay for product shipments and advertisiment. They might have to make them for 10 bucks each just to make a nice chunk of change from them.

The hardware in the GBA isn't dated, it's designed to do exactly what it does which is "play GBA games" that for the most part are similar to SNES games because thats what they figured people would like to play on a portable system 2 years ago.
 
The Game Gear was basically nothing more than a Master System, the Nomad was a portable Genesis. Both sucked batteries dry.

The GBA is more or less a SNES. Hardware wise it is outdated however you can't put powerful stuff in a handheld the battery life won't support it long. Wait until you see how bad the PSP tanks on internal batteries. You're going to need a laptop sized battery pack to get through a coast to coast flight or full length movie 3+ hours.
 
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