Game Boy Micro Black - Game Boy Advance

In a world where handheld consoles keep getting more powerful, they sure don't keep getting smaller. The original Nintendo DS was pretty huge, hardly pocket sized. And even the DSi which I also own will fill a pocket and create a large, blocky outline. Sony's PSP offering is thinner but also longer and has that large, easily-scratched screen. When considering a handheld gaming device, one has to consider portability almost at the top of the list. The Micro was designed to perfectly fit that task. Sure, the Gameboy Advance is essentially a dead console considering companies no longer make new games for it, but there's still a trove of gems out there to be bought, and often very cheap on the used market. That leaves the machine itself. It's tiny, but still perfectly handy. Your thumbs might cramp up if you hold it a certain way, but if you keep them straight over the face of the machine it's not an issue. The screen is small, but the colors are so crisp and the screen so bright (adjustable to be dimmer if playing in a dark room) that you hardly notice unless you play it right next to someone playing a GBA game on a DS.The modular faceplate design is especially smart, because if you get more scratches on the screen than you'd like, simply remove the faceplate and put on another one. With this ability, your screen can stay essentially perfect indefinitely. It also lets you change the look of your machine. Perhaps: silver for dressy occasions, camouflage for outdoor activities and sports, red for playing at home... or just whichever color you like most.The Micro has a headphone jack for headphones (unlike the GBA SP), which is advisable because the tiny speaker holes can be easily covered with your thumb, and the speaker is honestly not very powerful. The on-off switch is recessed well into the bottom of the machine so as to not be hit accidentally unlike some GBA/DS iterations (I'm looking at you, original DS...) but the volume/brightness control is button-based, rather than operated with a slider, so volume/brightness can't be changed with the unit off. As for negative aspects of the Micro, the shoulder tabs are operated by buttons hidden underneath that are located closer to the middle of the unit than the corners, so one has to place their index fingers farther over the tops of the corners to reliably actuate them, unlike in units like the DSi where simply tapping on the very corners will suffice. This will often not be a problem, but it's worth noting.Overall the Gameboy Micro is an excellent choice for a handheld console, even in an age of technically superior ones. Finally a portable unit that I can actually take everywhere. If you plan on buying a handheld to be used primarily on-the-go, this might be the best option. If you almost always play handhelds at home anyway, you may as well go for a DS Lite, DSi XL (and in a few months when mroe games come out, the 3DS) or PSP.

I bought this game system last week and got it today and it doesn’t even turn on. Absolute waste of money, not to mention it very dirty under the face plate almost as if it hadn’t been cleaned. I do not recommend buying anything from this seller at all.

The media could not be loaded. Works well. Showed up on time. Package well. In good condition.

You open up that package, and there you have it: the 20th Anniversary Edition Game Boy Micro! It has this gold-looking faceplate with a Famicom look to it, you're so happy, you go on Wikipedia, look up the GBM....and you find out how ridiculous and incompatible it is.If you're a collector, it doesn't matter at all. But if you'd seriously buy it just because you want to play Game Boy games, DO NOT, as you cannot play Game Boy original games or the Color games, in addition to:- Game Boy or Game Boy Advance Game Link cables*- Game Boy Advance Wireless Adapter*- Game Boy Advance e-Reader- Nintendo GameCube Game Boy Advance cable- Game Boy Printer- Game Boy Camera*You have to buy a Game Boy Micro-compatible versionYou also have to buy a special GBM-only adapter, which makes even MORE inconvenience.So when you think about it, why was this even made? It came out at the time the Nintendo DS was out, which already played GBA games. The GBM costed $99 at the time, and the DS was at $150 (soon lowered to $130), basically saying you'd rather be short of $30 to lose the functionality of some really great 3D games with touch screens and a bigger, not-pixelated screen.But of course, this is not 2005, so all of these reasons don't matter anymore, but it still confuses me just as much as the Nintendo 2DS. I really did not want to buy this, but because it was the last Game Boy I needed to get in order to have every single GB console out there, I had to.Now this thing is really, really small.The length of it is *almost* as big as an iPhone 4. But when I first turned this on, I did feel this "premium experience" with it, however, and that really changed my thoughts on it. It has a great screen, not really pixelated, the golden faceplate makes it even cooler, and it is as bright as a DS Lite. (Hey, that rhymed!)So to top this off, if you seriously want functionality, don't buy this, buy a GBA SP or something. But if you're a collector, and care to spend your money on this, buy it.If this was 2005 right now, I'd rate this 2 stars, but because it's more of a value item now, I'm giving it 4 stars.

From what I’ve seen so far of this purchase I’m left feeling mostly disappointed. I understand that this unit is somewhat on the rarer end and that contributes to the price. However, the item that was advertised included a charger, which I did not receive when my package came. The unit itself is dusty and dirty, the game slot is bent, the frame is scratched up and is missing paint in multiple places, and the power switch is loose. I would test the battery to see if it lasted for a reasonable amount of time, but again I did not receive the charger that was advertised and am currently waiting on an after market charger as well as several replacement parts.For the unit itself the price to me would have been acceptable considering the unit still turns on and can read cartridges (it had about 10 minutes of battery left upon arrival); I believe it should be the seller’s job to clean a unit, anyone can do it really so the cleanliness of the unit isn’t a huge deal. If it had come with the charger and the case was in decent shape I likely would have been fine.Long story short, my advice is if you want to buy something from this seller contact them first to be SURE of what you’re getting.