Nintendo sure is sucking everything it possibly can out of the Pokemon franchise. For a while there it got pretty obscene with all the Pokemon crap out there. Little did Nintendo know that kids who play a game that collects monsters would like a game based on a TV show about a kid who plays a game to collect monsters better than their own game. Now at least there's some competition with Yu-Gi-Oh and Digimon. I never really got into the Pokemon thing myself, I played the game, it was alright. I didn't have to go out and buy everything with a Picachu on it.
Anyway so I picke one of these up for $20 recently. Pretty neat little machine. It's very small, like twice the size of those old virtual pet things. Very simple, three buttons (A, B, and a C button on the right,) also has an infrared port on top for competive play. There's built in rumble, as well as motion sensors (some of the games require you to shake the machine.) The carts also lock in as to not be shaken out.
The screen is not back lit but is still very easy to see. No blurriness of frustration going on here. Graphics look as good as say old school GB games, but the sound is of the "bleep-bleep" variety. Carts are extremely small, like half the size of GBA carts. I can see them getting lost very easily.
Only game I've got so far is Pokemon mini party, which is like a collection of very small mini games, most of them require one or two actions and only last a few seconds. The other games look a little more involved.
A neat gadget for the wee ones in the house but I doubt anyone over the age of ten will get any lasting satisfaction out of it.
