The Game Boy Advance SP was forward-thinking in a lot of ways. It featured a frontlit (later changed to be backlit) screen that has since become standard, and a highly portable clamshell design that paved the way for Nintendo DS. But its marketing here in the UK now looks more than a little more dated.
Originally released in Japan 20 years ago today, and then here in Europe on 28th March, there’s no doubting the SP was a sleekly-designed piece of kit. The original Game Boy Advance was compact enough, but could also never escape looking like a toy – something a kid might try and conjure a Digimon out of in a particularly energetic play session.
The SP, on the other hand, was intended to appear a more grown-up device and was therefore marketed as such. Its colours were more muted – its all-silver option made its hinged design look like a small laptop. Its angular shape was more business-like (and its dinky shoulder buttons rather less ergonomic to hold down). But all of this made sense – right? Nintendo already had a successful Game Boy Advance for the younger market. This one was for a different and more narrowly-targeted demographic – something its advertising also reflected.
Source – eurogamer.net
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