Digital Trends

Game Boy Micro

September 25th, 2005 | by Scott Steinberg

Features and Design

The device, available in silver and black versions, measures only 4” (W) x 2” (T) x 0.7” (D). Think just a hair larger than cell phones and super-sized packs of gum, or (unless you take after Seinfeld's George Costanza... and possibly Uncle Scrooge, for that matter) the average citizen's wallet.  What's more, it weighs but 2.8oz — less, one might add, than keychain equipped with a car remote.

Longer horizontally than the 3.8oz Game Boy Advance SP, it's also almost half as thin and hefty. Dimensional comparisons are even more telling when stacked against next-generation competitors like Nintendo DS or Sony's PlayStation Portable. Both are wider, bulkier and (as any attempt to hoist them reveals) much more demanding on the biceps. To put it in perspective, you can comfortably slip the Game Boy Micro into any pants or shirt pocket; doing so with the SP is manageable, yet unwieldy, and outright impossible with the DS or PSP.

It's easy to see Nintendo's strategy.

On the one hand, the company aims to wow audiences with a library of over 700 compatible low-cost Game Boy Advance cartridges, including video packs that play 30-90 minutes of cartoons or animated movies. (Sorry, Super Mario Land fans... neither Game Boy nor Game Boy Color titles work with the unit, or even fit in its bottom-mounted slot, so don't toss older models just yet.)

By the same token, the manufacturer is also angling for teens, hipsters, consumer electronics enthusiasts or anyone else who carries a cell phone and/or worships at the altar of all things tech-related. After all, between a Blackberry or Handspring Treo, iPod and WiFi hotspot finder, what's another irresistible, pocket-cluttering example of visionary industrial design work to today's gadget-loving audiences?

Just to seal the deal, Japan's finest is even including three swappable faceplates with each model. The thought process being, naturally, that gamers and everyday Joes alike will enjoy personalizing their new toy.

True confession, though: you're probably just as well off with, say, basic black as a swirl-tinted option, camouflage pattern or cover decorated like a pink daisy sporting a ladybug on one painted pedal. Especially, that is, considering popping the [censored] front off requires that you insert a dual-pronged plastic ejector into two side-mounted holes anyway.

Even the console's amoeba-sized start and select buttons, located above the cartridge insertion bay near the unit's bottom on a curving overlook, have been subjected to an extreme makeover. That's right: the buttons now glow blue, so you can actually see them in the dark.

Enough about semantics, though — it goes without saying you won't be embarrassed about being spotted prodding away at the Game Boy Micro in public. Focus instead on how the gizmo itself handles: shockingly well. Thank a stunning 2-inch color display with adjustable brightness levels, the sharpest Nintendo's manufactured yet. While we're sorry to report it doesn't match the clarity of PSP's 4.3-inch 16:9 widescreen panel, the monitor is still a cut above predecessors.

Of course, getting used to it at first's a trick: roughly 0.4 inches are shaved off previous model the Game Boy Advance SP's screen size. But titles' color and clarity come through much crisper than ever. In fact, you'll be blown away by how good the graphics on offerings like Mario vs. Donkey Long look — shrinking them down actually enhances their vibrancy.

Gossip holds the screen's decreased size may cause headaches and eyestrain in certain viewers over an extended period. However, we experienced no problems whatsoever throughout a week-long testing schedule. Even better, all games designed for use on earlier systems remain fully playable — so much so, no less, that you'll be pleasantly shocked.

 
Image Courtesy of Nintendo America