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Why remove GBA Slot?
Topic Started: Apr 4 2009, 06:39 AM (200 Views)
pokeplayer984
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An Ultimate Tails&Cosmo Lover

This topic is meant for only the sole purpose of helping others here understand Nintendo's decision to remove the GBA Slot for their new DSi. A lot of people did not understand this. Once they saw that it was gone, they started negatively attacking it and saying that it is the worst idea Nintendo could've made. However, it is MY understanding that this is one of the BEST decisions they could've made with their handheld product.

Why do I say this? Well, first off, I expected this to happen. How did I expect this to happen? Truth to tell, there were several things that ended up leading to this, and I'm going to be talking about them.

First thing I want us to look at is how this is a lot of like something that happened in the past. I'm talking about when the DS itself came out. We all knew our first initial thought, right? That we could play ANY handheld game that was supported by Nintendo that was on the market. It worked with GBA games, so we get out our old Game Boy and GBC games, and then discover that they can't be inserted far enough. Darn it!

You immediately wonder WHY they did this? Well, the answer is simple, really, and the second thing that must be understood... Game Boy and GBC were literally NOT making Nintendo ANY money. It involves a simple lesson of Marketing 101. Basically, no matter how much you may care about your target customers, and I seriously mean this, you have to understand that when a product isn't making a profit for you that it is best to drop it or ultimately risk going bankrupt with your business.

This was the sad fate of the Game Boy and GBC. They weren't making them any money, and keeping them around, would've ultimately meant bankruptcy for the Nintendo Handheld business.

This didn't mean that they didn't care about us gamers. They made upgraded versions of the games we loved, and even brought a real treat for us, NES and SNES games on the GBA.

And now, we are back to when the DS came out. With the new DSi, people are going crazy. Saying that it's the worst move ever and not understanding the reasoning behind it. GBA isn't making money now, and it's best to drop it.

Sure, there are those that argue with Pokemon and Guitar Hero, but that's only TWO franchises, and a gaming company really can't survive with that. Besides that, Guitar Hero: On Tour was just an experiment, and an unsuccessful one at that. The fact that there was only 20 songs and they didn't have a positive impact on the target audience, made it fail in the end. Sure, they tried to bring it back with an 80's Decade version, but even that didn't help. It didn't make a profit for the main company, so they dropped it. Let it go, because we are not seeing it again.

What of Pokemon? Well, truth be told, it's been 10 years and its been the same old thing. Doesn't that at least SOUND a little tiring to you? Also, 493 Pokemon? Don't you think the number's big enough by now? Sure, I love Pokemon, but I'm facing facts that it won't last, here. They go too far, and we won't be able to keep up. Truth be told, it's main part is something called "Level Grinding", and those of us understand all the hard work that comes into that. No real fun, but a big reward in the end. Something that works, but only with hardcore, and that kind of audience doesn't last for you in the end.

So, with that out of the way, tell me, what is Nintendo doing for those that have been with them through thick and thin? They have made it possible to get games from the past. All the way back to Game Boy. (I can definitely tell that Super Mario Land is on a lot of people's minds right now.) It was the same thing they did with the Wii. They have a storage space ready for downloading the old games we love. It's one of the few things they can do for us to show they care while making a profit at the same time. Making them on-line available costs next to nothing, and so it's really worth it in the end.

I want to also point out that On-line is really a golden opportunity for businesses. Setting it up hardly costs a thing these days, it just takes a lot of work is all. How this is a golden opportunity is simple, really. More and more people are buying stuff on-line now. It's no surprise Americans are doing the same thing that many other countries are doing too. They are saving money by shopping on-line. I'm sure some of you here have been doing that already. May I point out e-Bay and Amazon? And just how big are they? Now you see how it's an opportunity? Okay then.

So what of the other features in it. Why put in a Camera, Web Browser and iPod? I think everyone can establish how big iPod is, right? Music is a huge business. Just about everyone enjoys it. They were pretty much golden with this alone. No one really has to go into it.

Same deal with the Web Browser. Being able to surf on-line is huge, no doubting it. Many out there even get a laptop to surf on-line where ever they want. Imagine though if we didn't need that big clunky thing anymore. Cell phones were the first to take the idea of a handheld Web Browser to put into the works and now Nintendo is doing it with gaming. If it can succeed through cell phones, I don't see how it can fail with gaming, one of the few things that took advantage of on-line rather early in it's development.

Now we come to the tough one, the Camera. The truth is that Digital Cameras have become big, especially with Digital Frames now. Being able to put a bunch of pictures into one little frame. Sounded too good to be true, but it happened and made it big.

The extra features of the Camera only enhance it's opportunity. There's a slew of programs on here that let you edit the pictures in fun and interesting ways that would normally cost quite a bit to put onto a computer. To get these for a fraction of them put together, that's a dream come true for some of us, and a golden opportunity for them.

Okay, yeah! Removing the GBA Slot and replacing it with this other stuff has been about money, but everyone was looking at it the wrong way. Like I've said, it doesn't mean that they don't care. They had to make this decision to stay in business. It's how Marketing works. It's how things go in the end.

Still don't like it? Well, let's just say I have a feeling that a third-party will make it possible to play the old handheld games on there without on-line. I'm looking at Nyko here. Let's hope for the best.
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AugieD
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"I wanna fly high!"

Just a quick note here, there will be DSi Enhanced games that work on all DS systems but have features that only the DSi will be able to use, then there will be game cards that will be DSi ONLY, those games will be able to use the additional features, memory and processing power inside the DSi.

Also, Nintendo did say that DSi only cards and DSi enhanced will be region locked if played on a DSi, but they are not eliminating the possibility of adding DSi region codes to newer game cards that have no DSi feature use and work on all systems.

And those of you that are wondering if you will be able to view pictures on an SD card that were taken on another camera on the DSi, the answer is officially no. This is because the DSi requires special metadata to be in the picture file for it to work on the DSi, plus resolution issues.

I will post More info on the DSI tomorrow after I get it.

Sources: Nintendo Support Site, IGN
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Django
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Solar boy Django

you forgot a game that uses the GBA feature: Mega Man Starforce
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Skylar
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I'm bordering on insanity. Why fight it?

Wait, I read the 1st post, But I'm still confused.
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Tails Fox
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June 14th

Realleh it isn't hard to pull out your Lite and play games on there ^-^;

But I do agree that this could hurt the way for several games. Guitar Hero would be one of them like you said (which I'm a big fan of), as the guitar grip required a GBA slot to work. Pokemon really isn't a big deal with this because teh GBA slot is not required to play. DS expansion packs are basically obsolete once the DS Lite stops selling. Which is why you don't throw away your Lite, of course, but this could also hurt the sales of future releases using the GBA Slot feature (if there are any).

Looking to the bright side of things, the DLC seems good. There are several GBA games I'd kill to play but I could never get my hands on. But as said before, keep your Lite, or don't buy the DSi at all. It's an upgrade, every new DS is an upgrade. It's just a matter rather you like the new addons or not (and also because Nintendo <3s your money). It's not recommended like a Virus Software update or something~
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Lukeprism
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Zeldaaa~

Another reason they took it out is so it would be slimmer. :/

It really isn't all that hard to just take out another system(whether that be a Lite or an actual GBA) and play. And Nintendo's even showing that they care, by giving you the oppurtunity to download them(for a modest fee, of course). And if they did keep it in and go bankrupt, we would all be without Mario, Pokemon, Zelda, etc.

No one wants that to happen.
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pokeplayer984
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An Ultimate Tails&Cosmo Lover

Seeker The Hedgehog
Apr 4 2009, 08:47 PM
Wait, I read the 1st post, But I'm still confused.

What exactly is it that confuses you? Maybe I can make it more understandable if you explain to me what you don't understand.
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Missy
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mrow

I don't plan to get the DSi, but I think it's kinda silly they took the slot out =/ People still play the original GBA games and even now they're selling a heapload of DS games. Why does the slot have to be taken out? That's stupid
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Django
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Solar boy Django

Missy
Apr 5 2009, 02:37 PM
I don't plan to get the DSi, but I think it's kinda silly they took the slot out =/ People still play the original GBA games and even now they're selling a heapload of DS games. Why does the slot have to be taken out? That's stupid

The GBA slot removal isn't a problem to me. I like it (right now I typing or should I saying tapping this message from its browser) I agree they should have kept the slot. Playing GH: OT with the DSi speakers would make it awesome
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Skylar
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I'm bordering on insanity. Why fight it?

@pokeplayer:
I'm confused about the DSI...
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Aurorae


Removing the gameslots to add them to the new DS channel to buy them again.
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Lucifer Sam
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Is there gas in the caaaar? Yes there's gas in the caaaaaar&

If you still want to play GBA games, keep your GBA and play it. I don't see what the big problem is.
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