GBA-Gaming > Hardware > Cobra Light
                                         
 

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Game Info

   Developer
 Nuby

   Category
 Light

   Release
 June 11th, 2001

   Best Feature
 Fair battery life

   Worst Feature
 Extremely dim light.

   GBA-Gaming's Rating
 5/10

Main > Hardware > Cobra Light

HARDWARE/PERIPHERAL - What can I say? When I first saw this peripheral at the store I thought it would be a great idea. The light consists of a neck and the "cobra" head. The head hangs slightly above the GBA, but not far enough to cast any shadows, and has a mirror on the underside of it. Now, the light shines upwards from the middle of the neck, reflects off of the mirror, and hits the screen of your GBA. This no-reflection method could actually work pretty good. That is, if the company spent a bit more time on it. I have the feeling that Nuby was just rushing to get out a light at launch, and they released this little tidbit.

     I bought the Cobra Light hoping for a good light. I don't have much trouble using the GBA in the day, I mean, just sit with your back to a window or light. But in a dim light room or at night, especially in the car, I needed a good light. So I purchased the Cobra Light at the nearest CompuCentre and put it to the test. I can tell you, it's not very good. One, the Cobra Light's reflecting method makes sure there is hardly any glare. This is all fine, except after all this reflecting, the light comes out that much more dim. And I can tell you, dim light is very unwanted and unneeded with the Game Boy Advance. Sure, when you are in complete darkness the Cobra Light lights up the GBA fairly nicely, but even in a dim lit room there is no difference in lighting. It is a small change in just playing the GBA without any lighting at all, and there is not much point to buying it.

     Nuby wasn't exactly thinking with a few of these points. For an extra gimmick, they made the Cobra neck and head able to go over the screen and half cover it. This is all fine and dandy, except for the fact that it really scratches the screen. When this thing is down, not only does the screen get scratched twice as much as if there is nothing over it, but it also makes your GBA much less portable, especially because the Cobra head hangs down below the bottom of the GBA. Because Nuby added this in, I think they expected the people to want to always keep their Cobra Light on their GBA, clicked in and ready to go. Because of this, it sticks fairly well into the slot. But this isn't the problem. Sure, it comes out pretty easily, but it stresses the entire light just to pull it out. Pretty soon the cable began to wear down and the neck becomes wiggly and unstable. If you want to make a useless gimmick, atleast do it right.

     One thing I can give the Cobra Light, is the battery life. It's actually pretty good for a light that drains extra power from the Game Boy's own batteries. The Cobra Light fits perfectly into the link cable slot at the top. The battery time is hardly drained from the GBA's own 15 hours, which is great. Lights like the Pelican Light Shield excell in every category except battery power, considering they bring battery time down to 3-5 hours. Ouch, that's quite a bit of money spent just on alkalines. The battery life of the Cobra Light (about 10 hours or so), is probably the only good function, other than the internal link cable slot to link up while the light is on, and the off/on switch. Other than that, the no-glare idea, dim light and "screen cover" are all things that you really should avoid.

  • By Garett Barr



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