DS Daily: Sad to see the GBA slot go?

Posted Oct 2nd 2008 9:00AM by David Hinkle
Filed under: DS Daily

With all of the oooh-ing and ahhh-ing we've done at the recent announcement of the DSi, we are bummed about one thing: the GBA slot being no more. We like GBA games. They're cheap and fun! But, is it worth losing the GBA slot for all of the other goodies on offer? What do you think of the GBA slot going the way of the dodo bird?

Gallery: Nintendo DSi

Tags: dsi, gba, nintendo-dsi

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)

10-02-2008 @ 9:12AM

C02M0 said...

since i use a flashcart it dosent really bother me .
i doubt ill buy the new DS anyway .
i want the DS for gaming , not a camera or a music player , and its light enough.

10-02-2008 @ 10:57AM

MarTin said...

Guess what? They're gonna upload the GBA game library to the DSiWare channel and charge you for games that you already own.
Maybe Nintendo think it's clever: I think it's a mere rip-off instead. Just my thoughts anyway.

10-02-2008 @ 11:33AM

Haohmaru said...

Or you could, uh, keep your current DS Phat/Lite and continue playing your GBA games on it whenever you want. I know it's crazy, but it might just work.

10-02-2008 @ 11:48AM

LiqwidZero said...

Maybe Nintendo won't charge for games that you've registered online. I've registered every 1st party GBA game I have.

10-02-2008 @ 11:53AM

Sonic_13 said...

You'd only be charged for games you already own if you buy a game you already own.

The purpose of that is to allow people to get games that they may have wanted but never had the chance to get or to try out classics.

You make it seem as if Nintendo is forcing you to buy games. If you have a problem with it, here's a simple idea: don't buy any!

10-02-2008 @ 5:02PM

Jace said...

What MarTin said has not actually been announced. They have merely announced "Nintendo DSi Ware" and pricing structure with no details beyond that. In fact, this Iwata quote: "We will continue offering Nintendo DS Lite for those who enjoy playing GameBoy Advance software as well." - makes it seem that we will in fact NOT be getting GBA software on DSi Ware.
http://www.nintendo.co.jp/n10/conference2008fall/presen/e/02.html

10-02-2008 @ 9:20AM

ramuji said...

I have only one GBA cart, so this isn't a big deal for me. The only other thing I've ever used the GBA slot for is the Opera browser, and since that will be included in the DSi I really have no complaints about losing GBA compatability (although I can certainly understand why others might).

Wouldn't it be cool if DS Ware downloads also included a "GBA Virtual Console"? (Again, maybe not so much for people who already have alot of GBA carts.)

10-02-2008 @ 9:30AM

Kenji said...

It's a big deal to me. I've never owned a DS; the last handheld game system I bought was the original GBA. Backward compatibility with the 27 games I have for it would've been welcome.

10-02-2008 @ 9:51AM

B-Rad said...

Really??? You never owned a DS???

I guess you are not Nintendo's target audience then, so your opinion does not matter

10-02-2008 @ 5:07PM

writkat said...

Uh. I'd have to say that someone who doesn't own a DS *is* probably part of Nintendo's target audience.

That said, you could just buy a DS Lite. They're probably going to go down in price now that the DSi is coming out.

10-02-2008 @ 9:30AM

Olivier said...

Well, for example, what will happen to Guitar Hero without the GBA slot? I doubt a touch-screen interface will work for that game...

10-02-2008 @ 11:35AM

acefondu said...

That is quite a good point. I also thought about Pokemon transferring data and so forth. Very dumb move by Nintendo not to just keep that slot in.

10-02-2008 @ 9:32AM

Kaes Delgrego said...

You know, anytime I want to play a GBA game, I always fire up my SP. It still gets a respectable amount of play time (more than my PSP, anyway). The Lite's Start and Select buttons don't do it for me.

10-02-2008 @ 10:34AM

LeMi said...

I always play my gba games using my psp (I've broken my gba sp and hate to bring gba carts around). So the gba slot is not a problem for me and if some game that needs it comes by I'll play it on my backup ds lite (it will be a backup after I buy a DSi) :D

10-02-2008 @ 9:37AM

tamriel said...

Well, I do own a GBA SP and, maybe it's just me, but I feel more comfortable playing my GBA games on it. Therefore, I think that replacing the GBA slot with a SD card slot is a pretty good move from Nintendo.

The only little beef that I might have with this regards the add-on controllers, like the Taito Paddle or the GH Guitar Grip. However, I own neither of them and I've been made aware that they tear through your battery juice like ravenous raptors. So okay, goodbye; I am much more excited by the music, storage and browser features.

10-02-2008 @ 9:44AM

mko said...

Maybe DSi will have some sort of virtual console allowing Gameboy, Gameboy Color and Advance games to be downloaded?

10-02-2008 @ 9:53AM

Risingsun said...

If it makes the console smaller than i say go for it. Besides we can expect the GBA to be supported forever. If anything, I feel like im ready to move on.

10-02-2008 @ 9:58AM

igorponweed said...

Gba/GB/GBC/SNES/NES/Original DLC pleeze.

10-02-2008 @ 6:03PM

dagguis said...

I think it would, because that other notice about, wii points chaingin to be nintendo points, so they can be used both in ds and wii.

So maybe we´re having gb gba gbc nes and snes games in our ds, without those NOT r4 :)

10-02-2008 @ 9:59AM

Mark said...

I have the rotary controller for Space invaders/Arkanoid as well as guitar hero. So I will miss the GBA slot.
Will this split the DS audience as with so many DSs' out there with GBA slots for such periferals and definetly more Guitar hero games in the future, does this mean that new DS owners will miss out on future game releases and will they be aware of this?
What if games start to use the new features will the existing DS base be left behind? such as in game camera usage.. or greater use of memory.

Why is Nintendo mimicing the less successful PSP? or in the UK not so must have Iphone. which try to do too much only to fall behind.

I look forward to buying a cheap second DS lite for work when they bring out the new model :)

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