GBA SP
My onyx GBA SP (adorned with a sticker from one of my fave Canadian bands) is a sexy beast. I bought it on Boxing Day several years ago really cheap at Future Shop, and much like the DS the second hardware revision was decidedly worth the wait. Those first gen GBA’s? Yeccch. No good. I was worried that when my DS Lite was purchased my GBA would be set aside, possibly for good, but there’s really no chance of that happening. I really dig the system, it’s small and fits well and with upcoming titles like Final Fantasy V and Final Fantasy VI coming out for it, as well as the awesome Rhythm Tengoku, it’s not a platform I’m likely to feel is past its expiry date anytime soon.
In order to save money, and get the most out of my GBA, I went all crazy and bought a new-fangled 512 Mb X-Rom flash cart from EasyBuy2000.com, and much laughing and gibing ensued courtesy of my friends. “Is that a real company? Have they shipped it yet? Will that thing even work?” A couple months later, I was the one laughing when I had three or four new GBA games with me at all times, all for a reasonable one-time cost. I would’ve bought it for the NES emulation alone, but the import titles were a nice bonus too - some hot European games that would never make it to Canada. In the end the GBA w/X-Rom was my sole form of video entertainment while I was away backpacking all Winter, and it did a great job, despite a couple adjustment snags with the power down there. Now I’m using it pretty much exclusively for Final Fantasy titles, having wrapped up an all-Red Mage funfest with FF I and several unsuccessful attempts at getting into FF II. Final Fantasy Tactics it my main man now, but once FF V comes out I’ll give that one a go, maybe playing through FF IV first (my first attempt ended up being sidetracked by Sword of Mana).
X-Rom aside, I own a legitimate copy of Final Fantasy: Tactics Advance (though exactly how legitimate may be called into question by the K-Man) and Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, which I’ve barely played at all.