Nintendo head of marketing Reggie Fils-Aime once again whipped yet another Nintendo portable device out of his coat pocket in the middle of the Nintendo E3 press conference this year. Last year he presented us with the Nintendo DS. This year we have the Game Boy Micro, a Game Boy device engineered to an even smaller size.

　　As the name implies, the Game Boy Micro is small enough to fit just about anywhere. The unit measures 4 inches wide, 2 inches tall, and 0.7 inches deep, and it weighs in at 2.8 ounces. Its weight is similar to most small Nokia 6000 series cell phones. Nintendo had to reduce the screen size to 2 inches in order to fit into the smaller form factor, but the picture will look sharper due to a tighter dot pitch. We found text to be harder to read due to the reduced screen size. However, action-oriented gameplay did not suffer from the loss of display size. The Micro will use a rechargeable Lithium-ion battery, and the screen will offer adjustable brightness settings.

　　The unit comes in a silver color, with reflective A, B, and shoulder buttons. The front buttons are closer together, but this arrangement does not affect gameplay. The shoulder buttons are large and easier to reach than those on the Game Boy Advance SP. The front faceplates, much like the Xbox 360, will be interchangeable with different replacement faceplates. At the show, Nintendo displayed more than 30 designs, from a variety of reflective color pallets to fractal designs to popular Nintendo characters.

　　The unit will be able to play all existing Game Boy Advance titles, but it won't be able to play Game Boy or Game Boy Color games, since the unit no longer has the legacy Game Boy cartridge support. Nintendo is making no qualms about the fact that the Micro is more of a marketing design than a gaming design. The purpose behind the Micro is to reach a broader market that focuses on form over function. In a written statement, Nintendo of America senior vice president George Harrison said, "We're making the gorgeous Game Boy Micro for image-conscious folks who love video games."

　　The Game Boy Micro is set to appear this fall before the start of the holiday season. Nintendo did not release price information or detail what faceplate options will be available at launch.