In case you missed it, Shigeru Miyamoto appeared on stage at Apple's 2016 conference yesterday to announce Super Mario Run, a brand-new Mario game for iOS. As if that wasn't shocking enough, Apple also revealed its new iPhone 7 which - as had been rumoured - does away with the traditional 3.5mm headphone socket.
Reaction to this move has been mixed; many claim it's a good thing as embracing wireless audio means you don't get tangled cables, while others have criticised the removal of the jack as it reduces the audio options available to the end user.
Nintendo fans may have watched the conference with a wry smile on their faces, and not just because of the hero's welcome that Miyamoto received. We are of course referring to the fact that Nintendo dropped the headphone socket more than a decade ago when it launched the revised Game Boy Advance SP.
The removal of this port forced SP owners to purchase a special adapter that connected to the charging / EXT socket. Apple has adopted pretty much the same approach - the iPhone 7 will be getting a connector which plugs into the phone's charging and data port and allows wired headphones to be used.
While Apple is unlikely to embrace the 3.5mm headphone socket again, Nintendo quickly reversed its decision and reinstated the port on the Game Boy Micro - and has included it on every other handheld it has produced since then.
Removing a headphone socket? That's so 2003, dude.
Comments 78
Just recently got my sp out and went to insert headphones forgetting it didn't have a socket for them😂 It's been a while!!
let's not remind them or they might do it again with the nx. it's already possible that instead of two analog sticks, we'll get two pencil eraser c-sticks for the thing.
How much was the sp back in the day? I'm almost scared to take my new 3dsxl anywhere in case it gets damaged it was a lot of money I thought, never had this issue with sp it's more portable and robust I think
@sandman89 The GBA SP launch at $99.99 in 2003 when the original model dropped to $79.99 but it got a price drop in 2005 at $79.99 when the Game Boy Micro launch at $99.99 and the original model dropped to $59.99. The backlit GBA SP quietly launch in mid 2005 at the same $79.99 price point. In early to mid 2006, the GB Micro quickly got its price drop from $99.99 to $79.99 and eventually got down to as cheap as $59.99, at that time GBA SP were going for around $59.99 - $39.99 depending on if it's a backlit model or not while the original GBA model was discontinued. The reason for dropping the price of the GB Micro and GBA SP both backlit and frontlit models so soon were because Nintendo wanted to clear remaining stocks of the GBA platform and make room for the upcoming Nintendo DS Lite which launch in summer 2006 of that year. You could still buy a GBA SP backlit til the end of 2008 but the frontlit model was replace or discontinued as GBA support was discontinued and DSi launch in 2009.
With the GBA SP, there are two ways to get audio headphones for your stereo needs. 1) Buy an adapter headphone connector so you could hook up your regular headphone and use it on the GBA SP via the adapter dongle. 2) Buy an exclusive GBA SP proprietary headphone direct from Nintendo. Usually if you are Nintendo Power subscriber at the time (before Nintendo sell NP to Future US), you could renew your subscription and get a free pair for no extra cost. Those proprietary GBA SP headphone works best than the headphone dongle that third party provided as performance on those usually don't channel the stereo audio that clearly or accurately. If you were not a NP subscriber, you could still buy the headphone direct from Nintendo via their online store at the time for around $2.00.
Dont scaree me like that Nintendo Life.... Thought you were going to spread rumour that the NX wont have a 3.5mm!!
As a kid, I never felt the need to use headphones with my GBA SP, but now I can't imagine playing on my 3DS without headphones, in public or even at home. I suppose whether you can survive without a headphone jack really depends on the user. (And a Bluetooth headphone's sound quality is generally worse than that of a wired one, so I couldn't imagine making the switch to a jackless phone)
Never really realised that SP doesn't have a headphones jack. I never really owned one so this skipped my attention.
Ha, but Nintendo realized their mistake and put the headphone jack back in. Hopefully, Apple will come to their senses, too.
Since i often charge and listen to music at the same time, especially during longer bus or train rides, I will never buy an iPhone 7. I hope they come to their senses and bring back the headphone jack on iPhone 7s.
@MitchVogel I think like the iMac dropping floppys in '98, Apple are moving at least 5 years too soon.
The SP was such a step up from the vanilla GBA in nearly every way, but Nintendo can't seem to resist having a goofy quirk in their hardware.
Sometimes we just want to play Fire Emblem or Metroid: Zero Mission (and listen to their soundtracks) without bothering the people around us, early-to-mid-2000s Nintendo!
I wonder, IF the new NX is indeed portable then perhaps they will also go futuristic and do away with the old headphone socket? just a thought
I still have my sp but the screen is just so poor.
@InternetBowser The Apple iCar will have no wheels, it will have a proprietary movement system and you will only be able to buy overpriced first party replacements.
I own a GBA SP and this is the only major flaw I can think of that it had. At least Nintendo quickly fixed their misjudgement with newer handhelds.
Apple will likely not. And Nintendo didn't do it to sell you overpriced gimmick earphones.
Apple have definitely done this for essential design reasons, not because they now own one of the world's most popular headphone manufacturers and are about to release a load of headsets that have either a lightning connector or bluetooth. Definitely not.
@MadAdam81 The iMac dropping floppy drive was a truly stupid move in '98.
Floppies were edging on obsolescence by then, but there was no proper replacement for quick file storage and sharing back then. No thumbsticks and the internet speeds were still in a few Kb/s range.
Then in all their subsequent handhelds, the headphone socket was back.
Coincidentally, NX may be their first home console with a headphone socket. (Wii U doesn't count.)
@Mahe Why wouldn't Wii U count?
@Samurai_Goroh The headphone socket is on the Gamepad, not on the actual console.
@JoakimZ Or use a DAC that can also charge the device. I use an Oppo HA-2 with my iPod touch. Not cheap though.
@Mahe The controller is part of the system and a first on Nintendo home consoles just as well.
Yes, it was really annoying. Just like when it made the cartridge slot so small it wouldn't take Game Boy games without them sticking out the top, which for OCD perfectionists like me was really frustrating. But, ultimately, the GBA SP is still one of the greatest little handhelds ever. And the GBA SP in black in just a thing of beauty imo:
PS. I really don't like the stupid looking wireless headphones on the new iPhone 7:
He's trying real hard to look cool . . . but he just doesn't look cool.
It wouldn't be so bad if they didn't look so daft. But Apple's design aesthetics have went downhill slowly but surely since the iPhone 4, imo, and certainly once Steve Job's guiding hand was no longer present.
@MitchVogel since it was removed to make the iPhone waterproof, I doubt it
Nintendo better not think about removing the headphone socket. Don't anybody be fooled by Apple's reasoning. It's to save them money on production and then charging customers extra for a little propriety dongle. It's a double money grab by Apple and a scummy tactic.
@Samurai_Goroh You know where my Wii U Gamepad is? Stashed away with other unused game console junk, like my PS Vita that I never play. Likewise, I never play with the Wii U Gamepad anymore. I'll just plug it in for a second if I need to use it for something inane like changing the system settings, otherwise the Wii U Gamepad might just as well not exist for me. So while it has a headphone socket, I don't consider it a part of the console. It's just an extra controller that just takes up space in my junk stash.
Yes, I remember, and it was a stupid move!
GBA SP doesn't even come close to the original GBA, for several reasons.
One is the lack of ergonomics on GBA SP.
GBA, Nintendo's best ever handheld console!
@SLIGEACH_EIRE In fairness to Apple, the headphone adapter does come in the box with the iPhone 7.
I'll be skipping this year's iPhone. I've upgraded every other year since the iPhone 3G but I'm not impressed with the 7 at all.
Dropping the headphone jack is such a stupid move, particularly as I use the same wired headphones with my iPad, Wii U, 3DS, MacBook, etc. It's not like dropping the floppy drive on a desktop PC where it's no problem to plug in an external device, this means having to carry extra poop around with you.
Bluetooth isn't an option either, the Beats headphones I tried had masses of lag, it's really weird playing Mario and having the jump sound effect come after you've jumped. Plus you can't charge the iPhone 7 when using the Lightning port for headphones. I would need to do that as I use my phone as a satnav and the GPS drains the battery and I like to listen to music when I'm at work.
Hopefully the iPhone 8 will reverse this decision.
As much as I adore my AGS-101 model GBA SP and consider it the best way to play Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance games on the go, I do have to admit that the audio quality is pretty terrible when it's being piped through the charging port. Even the best headphone adapter available for the system (which is the little blue Intec one as far as I can tell) still results is crackly audio with a somewhat annoying underlying hissing sound unless you crank the volume way up.
But hey, it plays Doom and Doom II on a beautiful backlit screen so I think any little niggles I might have over the audio quality can be forgiven. =)
I had an SP but never even noticed the lack of a headphone/earphone socket. Though I didn't use any back then. Now though, I do occasionally use headphones when playing my 3DS, so a lack of socket for them would be quite annoying.
You guys are so naive, next year Apple will unveiled the iPhone 8 touting it's best feature: Headphone jack.
"While Apple is unlikely to embrace the 3.5mm headphone socket again"
The iPhone7 comes included with a Lightning 3.5mm headphone adapter, so they still support it through that adapter.
This year Apple removed the headphone jack to create controversy. Let the people debate and argue about it so they overlooked the fact that iPhone 7 is basically iPhone 6 with upgraded components.
Inviting Miyamoto to present Mario game at the start of the presentation is a good mood lifter for people expecting a train wreck for this year's iPhone.
The SP was the first thing that came to mind as I heard this news. I love my SP, but it sucks not being able to charge while using headphones. I assume the iphone will allow for 'wireless' charging, though.
Also removing the headphone jack helps the iphone be more water resistant? My Galaxy S5 (from 2014) has the same IP67 rating yet has a headphone jack.
Having bought a pair of B&W P5's less than a year a go I think I better start getting used to the Android OS in the near future when commenting on here.
The only solution would be if a case manufacturer develops a sleek yet rugged case that has an extension at the bottom and plugs into the Lightning port, yet provides separate lightning port and headphone sockets on the outside.
I hated that headphone/charger connector on the SP.
Never has it been more evident than now that Apple is truly missing the intellect of Steve Jobs.
@retro_player_22 That historical info should be in the article!
Weird that the GBA SP didn't have a headphone jack. Pretty much every handheld has had that.
As for Apple, as @SLIGEACH_EIRE stated, this is just money grabbing at it's finest. Encouraging you to buy more things you don't need at the expense of functionality and ease of use. Just about every device made in the last 10-15 years has this jack, and the audio quality is fine. I really hope this doesn't catch on with Android manufacturers or future iPhones. Be careful before you put your money down on the iPhone 7 people.
@WilliamCalley Samsung's recent phones have headphone sockets, and they're waterproof.
EDIT: And Sony's, come to think of it.
@Jin15 Digging that purple colour.
The lack of headphone jack on the SP is one of those things I always forget about until I go to plug some headphones in. I have the adaptor and even headphones with the EXT connector on (some of the GBA Video films bundled them in), but I've rarely used them.
My current EarPods work fine; I'm not upgrading, but if I was the new EarPods have a lightning connector, so no need to go wireless anyway.
Nintendo removing the headphone jack from the SP made no sense at all. Notice they put it back with the Micro?
@Jamotello
The official name for those nubs is:
Nipple
I love my GBA SP, I never had any good games for it, just licensed garbage. All the good games I had I lost
Oddly enough I never know that. I jump from GBA to Micro without the SP in between. Even when I borrowed my friend's own for some time (mainly for the multiplayer GC games with GBA support), I didn't look if it had one or not. I was mostly distracted by the shape/layout and having built-in light.
Also I didn't use headphones for games back then since the sounds wasn't as good or important as it is in today games and I had cheap crappy headphones as a kid. Think of the free headphones they used to hand out when flying JetBlue.
@Retron
When did they first do that?
@ultraraichu Sound wasn't as good? You need to try Metroid: Zero Mission with headphones.
@Gold_Ranger unsuited for something so unfun to play with.
@Jin15 that pic is a thing of beauty.
Actually bought a pink ags-101 for cheap off eBay because it was in really bad shape. Swapped the internals and screen into my original silver and now have what is birth my favorite handheld and childhood in my pocket.
...and then they added it back in again, because not everyone wants to use stupid wireless headphones or adapters
I want the headphone socket to stay, because it is convenient, I don't want to buy all this extra crap, just plug and listen.
I don't like wearing a microwave transmitter on my head, so wireless headphones and headsets are a no go forever. I use a wired headset (and a handset at home) for my cellphone too.
Yep, I've bought my last Apple product. Android is the future. (FYI: All of my last 5 phones were iPhones, I'm currently using an iPhone 6 and that will be it)
@crazycrazydave It's not likely to be mirrored by Android companies. It's more likely you will start seeing Android phones advertising that they still have a headphone jack. Basically Apple is creating advertising for Android Phones with this move.
I try to forget about it, but I sure remember. I rember it being the worst thing about the SP
It'll be interesting to see how this moves forward. Apple assumes everyone is ready to go wireless much like they assumed everyone was ready to move past Flash when it came to viewing websites and use HTML5 instead.
They were right... about 5 years too soon. And this time they don't have a shiny new addition to tout in its place... just an absence of one.
@Jin15
...Did we have the same model? I seem to remember the GBA SP having great sound quality through the port. Maybe it's down to how well the sound was coded on a game-by-game basis. WarioWare in particular sounded awesome on headphones.
Then again, I was 13, and didn't know nearly as much about audio as I do now.
AND everyone hated having to use an adapter to use headphones and Nintendo promptly put back the headphone jack on all subsequent products including the WiiU Gamepad...I half expect Apple to do the same and bring back the headphone port citing how now they came up with some great DAC...in the mean time, I see NO reason to recommend anyone get the new iphones because wtf, why is there no headphone port?
GUYS does anyone know of a place /where can i get an normal GBA with a proper backlight not like the AGS101 which are to expensive and old tech LCD but like this one which uses a modern LCD and looks better sadly though the company have stopped doing them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVi6ebMLwP4 because whilst the DS Lite can play my GBA games in quality i have know way of playing original Gameboy/color games on a decent screen.
@MitchVogel Apple makes headphones so they are not going back. And they did it to make the phone thinner. Next up is the iPad. At the end of the day they want as much profit as possible. Since the phone sells are down charging for $160 earphones that will be super easy to lose is their next big money maker.
When the rumors first started months ago about Apple ditching the headphone jack, the reasoning mentioned was about making phones even thinner(because phones aren't thin enough, apparently). Since there are other water-resistant phones with the jacks, I suspect that has more to do with it. I'm not an Apple fan for a number of reasons, but it's a shame for Apple users that they have no real hardware alternatives if they want to stay within the same ecosystem. But I'm not here to start anything heated, so I'll leave it at that.
I'm one guy not affected at this point by the removal of the jack, and I would consider Android phones without it. I know there are some, at least in China. I have never used headphones/earphones with a phone. I actually have some issues finding ear buds that work for me.
Relating this to Nintendo, I have never even touched a GBA SP. I have no idea if I'd like the form factor. Most of my friends had the original GBA and didn't jump on the SP. I got the original GBA and the Micro. Strangely enough, I had to go without headphones on my original GBA, as the unit I received had a defective headphone jack and I didn't want to do a mail-order exchange. GBA availability wasn't yet great at the time, so I decided to live with it.
@siavm That makes no sense. If phone sales are down, then people aren't buying their phones. If people aren't buying their phones, nobody is going to buy an extra device to use the phone they aren't buying. I doubt that is their reasoning for this.
What was wrong with a headphone socket? Is it not futuristic enough? If the wireless earbuds for that thing are more expensive than the regular earbuds and break just as easily I'm going to scream.
I think the article forgot to mention that the DS Lite also does not have a headphone socket, which irritates me often whenever I want to play on it. Nintendo reintroduced the headphone socket with the DSi.
Ehm, okay. Even I as a wireless headphone heavy user am against removing the headphone socket. It still has its use as a backup connection method (or for connecting a BT adaptor) and should never be removed!
@LemonSlice I am right there with you on the wireless headsets and try to keep my exposure to electromagnetic radiation at a minimum myself. My recent research on the subject led me to some information showing that using a wired headset on a cell phone can still significantly expose you. Apparently the wiring in the headphones can act as an antenna and pull the microwaves right to your head. It's something I think deserves looking into. There is more info on it at http://www.electricsense.com/
@Jamotello
WHAT?
Nipples are very fun to play with!
The GBA SP is an awesome console. Not having a headphone port was really annoying though because using an adapter just wasn't the same, it got in the way.
I do remember. It was a stupid, money grabbing idea then, whereas in 2016....it's a stupid, money grabbing idea.
"Paving the way in more ways than one"
And that should be applauded?! Of course not, we need a headphone-socket!!
@WilliamCalley Yet, somehow everybody else with waterproof devices like Sony and Samsung still have their audio jack...
@Henmii (sorry, couldn't find the original comment you replied to, so I'm replying to you).
Apple paving the way? Really? Pretty much every single thing Apple has been commercializing on as being innovative has already been done one way or the other. The last time they actually did something new and improved was a long time ago. All they do is cast it in a new package every few years or so and ask more money for it. And Apple followers happily jump on the bandwagon, basically purchasing the same product over and over again...
@Shade1982
"And Apple followers happily jump on the bandwagon, basically purchasing the same product over and over again..."
New Super Mario Bros Wii, NSMB-U, NSMB 2, New Super Luigi Bros...
@Retron
Too true
@WilliamCalley All products I did not buy for that exact reason. And at the very least games still have the advantage of each having their own set of levels, still making them somewhat unique.
@Retron doesnt everyone in the gaming biz do it
@Shade1982,
I totally agree, but that wasn't my point! My point was: a handheld-device always needs a headphone-socket. Apparently this site was applauding Nintendo for not including such a socket with the GBA Sp. It was a enormous bonehead move back in the day, and it still is!
@Henmii Yeah it is. When even their own Steve Wozniak says in an interview how he doesn't support this decision at all, that should ring some bells at Apple...
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