Nintendo Game Boy Advance SP

It doesn't look like a toy. It looks more like an executive fold-able PDA or a mini-platinum DVD player. Pull it out at your neighborhood diner and heads will turn as your son plays Pokemon Sapphire. "What is that???", adults and kids want to know. A very hot product for Nintendo of America, that's what!

Adding an all-important front light to the color screen, the reflective LCD display (which is 2.9", identical in size to the Game Boy Advance) is light and bright and much easier to see. Sporting the same color resolution as the GBA, 240 x 160 pixels, it is armed with a slick 32-bit RISC-CPU with embedded memory.

Weighing a mere 5 ounces, it easily stashes in your favorite cargo pants or your locker.

The great news is this portable gaming device powers up with a rechargeable lithium-ion battery good for 10 hours of continuous play (with three hours recharging) or a whopping 18 hours of continuous battle (I mean, play) with the light function disabled.

Our tester unit was an awesome Platinum color. It also is available in cobalt (blue). Both are metallic and sweeeeeet!

This unit is about 3.33 inches high, with a width of 3.23" and a depth of 0.96", when it is closed. Basically, it's smaller than a 3.5" floppy disk (if you remember what an ancient floppy even looks like).

Definitely an improved version of an already improved Game Boy Advance, my tester was ready to give it an ultimate thumbs up or down, depending on his experience. It turned into a mega-thumbs up adventure!

In fact, one of the biggest advantages that this unit has is its foldability. What does this mean to your typical gamer? Simply, if you suddenly need to stop, you can fold down the screen! If you're thinking what I'm thinking.....don't take it to school!!! Or, have your kids swear they won't take it to school. Also a note to all moms out there, check your kids' cargo pockets. You wouldn't want to wash one of these GBA SPs, you know?

Another big improvement on the GBA SP is that the light is built-in (no more of those silly add-ons) and it allows you to play in the dark (a very important kid feature when delegated to their room--they don't sleep, they play GBA SP for 10 hours of continuous play WITH the light function ON!!).

At a list of only $99.95 and officially launching on March 23rd, it's well worth your gaming bucks. An audio jack is available for separate purchase from Nintendo so that you can plug in some all-important headphones. At press time, the audio jack was under $5.00. Go to the ShopNintendo site for more information.

The GBA SP also has connectivity--you can connect it to the Nintendo GameCube console with a Nintendo GameCube GBA cable. This allows you to exchange game date or unlock new game levels, depending on the game.