Gameboy Advanced screens are really dark?

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Verm3
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Gameboy Advanced screens are really dark?

Postby Verm3 » March 31st, 2017, 5:12 am

I know that the Gameboy Advanced lacks a back light of any sort, but is the screen of it really that dark that you practically need a light behind your shoulder, or is it a sign of a dying handheld?

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scotland
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Re: Gameboy Advanced screens are really dark?

Postby scotland » March 31st, 2017, 6:19 am

My eyes are no longer in the best of shape, but I agree with you. Thats why there are those silly light accessoriee, and even hardware mods for it. I believe you can tune the brightness a bit with a potentiometer behind the sticker.

Personally I gave up my unbacklit unit (and an unbacklit SP too) as too annoying. Get a DS lite or even a chinese knockoff now with a beautiful bright screen.

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Gentlegamer
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Re: Gameboy Advanced screens are really dark?

Postby Gentlegamer » March 31st, 2017, 8:28 am

The last version of the GBA SP had a better screen with back light.

CharlieR
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Re: Gameboy Advanced screens are really dark?

Postby CharlieR » March 31st, 2017, 9:08 am

I have a pink GBA sp with the brightest screen, the AGS-101. It isn't even on it's brightest setting when you turn it on, you can push a button to make it brighter! I do like the form factor of the original GBA better, but the dark screen pretty much makes it unplayable for me. I'll take the brightness over form factor.

I did end up buying a GB boy colour, which is a knockoff, but pretty good. It's basically a backlit GBC, and despite its screen being slightly less vertical than the real thing, it's a good handheld. Comes with games built in!

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scotland
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Re: Gameboy Advanced screens are really dark?

Postby scotland » March 31st, 2017, 10:56 am

CharlieR wrote:I did end up buying a GB boy colour, which is a knockoff, but pretty good. It's basically a backlit GBC, and despite its screen being slightly less vertical than the real thing, it's a good handheld. Comes with games built in!


I like the way you game.

I have a pink SP too, and its great. I also got the GBC knockoff this holiday season, and that backlit screen makes it better than the original, at least for me. There is also a version with the SP form factor for the GBC knockoff.

Voor
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Re: Gameboy Advanced screens are really dark?

Postby Voor » March 31st, 2017, 4:09 pm

I've been looking to pick up a GBA SP and wanted to make sure I got the brighter screen versions. It's the pink and placid blue ones, right?

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astrodomekid
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Re: Gameboy Advanced screens are really dark?

Postby astrodomekid » March 31st, 2017, 5:46 pm

Yes, the original model. My parents got me a GBA for Christmas back in 2001 (a purple one, to be specific), and I would play Star Wars Episode I Racer (for Game Boy Color) all the time on it. But yes, even as a seven-year-old I was kind of annoyed by the lack of a backlight, and I distinctly remember trying to play it in bed one night and having to turn on the lamp on my nightstand just to see what I was doing. And trying to play it as close to the lamp as possible while lying down was uncomfortable to say the least. Thank goodness I later got a blue GBA SP in 2003 to eliminate this problem! It has a button that switches the backlight on and off, but it's always on by default. And I'm saying this in present tense because I still have it and it still works as beautifully as ever. I also still have my original GBA and it still works fine, but now I don't use it nearly as much as I used to.

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scotland
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Re: Gameboy Advanced screens are really dark?

Postby scotland » March 31st, 2017, 7:07 pm

Voor wrote:I've been looking to pick up a GBA SP and wanted to make sure I got the brighter screen versions. It's the pink and placid blue ones, right?


Its the AGS-101 models, not the AGS-001 models. Yes, it comes in Pearl Blue and Pearl Pink, whatever 'pearl' means. The backlight makes a huge difference.

Verm3
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Re: Gameboy Advanced screens are really dark?

Postby Verm3 » March 31st, 2017, 7:23 pm

I see; so the original Advance console is known to be terrible, as is, I assume the GB and GB colour.

So to recap, the best variant to play GB, GB Colour and Advance games on is the Gameboy Advance SP; no wonder that model costs soo much. I assume that DS games are best played on any 3DS model then?

So a new 3DS and Gameboy Advance SP are the best handhelds to get and cover the entire Nintendo handheld library?

The Critic states in his Sega Rally review for the Advance, that he uses a Game Cube Gameboy player for playing Advance games. How does he play GB and GB colour games?

Verm3
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Re: Gameboy Advanced screens are really dark?

Postby Verm3 » March 31st, 2017, 7:26 pm

All these different models of older Nintendo handhelds get confusing. At least the 3DS seems more standardized.


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