From: kochmar@sei.cmu.edu (John Kochmar)
Subject: Gameboy bashing: why?
Organization: The Software Engineering Institute
Date: Mon, 4 Jan 1993 12:59:30 EST


I've noticed quit a bit of Gameboy bashing (seperate from the usual
Nintendo bashing), and I just don't understand why someone would bother
to bash it.

Yes, I know that it isn't a color system.  I know that it has an 8 bit
processor and a small internal speaker.  So what?  Is this really so
much of an impediment to people enjoying the games that they can't get
by this?

I happen to like the Gameboy for what it does.  I'm an old gamer (I
grew up on games like Breakout and Asteriods), and the games that the
Gameboy offers appeal to me.  And until I can get American ports of
games like Pengo and Make Trax for one of the other handhelds, I don't
expect I'll buy one.  But that's just me.  My fiancee and I played with
a Game Gear over the holidays (a friend of mine owns one), and while we
were impressed with the Sonic game, we weren't impressed enough to want
one.  But, I have a Genesis and an NES at home (and my fiance has a 386
PC), so maybe that influences me somewhat.

Still, some of the things I like about my Gameboy:

	It fits nicely in my hands for hours at a time.  My hands are
	about average size for a man, and I find I can hold the gameboy
	for hours at a time (really important for those trips from PA
	to CA.)

	The batteries last a *long* time.  I hate having to change the
	batteries, especially if I am in the middle of a game.  We
	keep a spare set of batteries in the case, but it is nice to
	have the system work on the flight out, while in the hotel room
	late at night, and on the return flight, without having to
	worry about batteries.

	The games cater to a wide variety of people.  I've never been
	all that interested in the "script" games like Mario Land.  I
	have it, and it is OK, but it's not my favorite.  I like simple
	single-screen games that take a minute to learn and a year to
	master.  Qix, Tetris, Pipe Dream, Dr. Mario, and Hatris (the
	most recent addition to the library) all fall into this
	catagory.  I expect I'll buy Dig Dug and Mr. Do for the Gameboy
	shortly as well.  The games don't have color or flash, but for
	me, they have systained playability.  And that's what I bought
	them for in the first place.

That isn't to say I don't like flashy games.  I enjoyed playing the new
SNES Road Runner game (my nephew has a SNES), and I really like Castle
of Illusion for the Genesis.  But I really don't understand why some
people insist on bad mouthing the system and wishing for its demise.
If it bothers you so much that it isn't in color, don't play it.  For
me, game play is most important, and while I've played with the Lynx
and Game Gear, only the Gameboy gave me the trance-like heart-pounding
time-slowing-down feeling that I grew to love with games like Qix and
Asteriods.  If that isn't your cup of tea, I understand; just
understand that some of us actually like what the Gameboy offers.

John



-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
John Kochmar		 | Estimated amount of glucose used by an adult human
kochmar@sei.cmu.edu	 | brain each day, expressed in M&Ms: 250
SEI Computing Facilities |			-Harper's Index, October 1989