nYko's Magni-Light Goes Under The Microscope
David A. Dodson

nYko's Magni-Light

Need an external light for your GameBoy Advance? You want the screen to seem a bit bigger? Don't want it to drain your game's batteries? Lucky for you, the folks at nYko Technologies wanted the same thing. Enter the Magni-Light, Nyko's combination game light and screen magnifier.

The Magni-Light contains a battery operated flip up light source with dual bulbs and a magnifying lens that rests over the GBA's screen. The idea here is that the double bulbs will provide optimal lighting while the lens makes the screen appear 20% larger. The big question here is, does it work?

And the answer is… Well, sort of. While the Magni-Light does deliver hands-down the best light of any external source on the market, the lens is an idea that you will wish worked better. It does magnify the screen, but because it is a lens (a light refracting curvature in glass) the glare is virtually impossible to escape. On top of that, the plastic lens casing casts a shadow over the top fifth of the screen when using the light, thus blacking out where most games display important data such as power bars, life meters, timers, etc. Though some of the glare can be "angled" out, you're stuck with the shadow if you're playing in less than perfect lighting.

Overall, this is a decent product. The light is second to none, and although the lens takes a lot of getting use to, it does magnify the screen. Another plus is that the Magni-Light runs off of its own independent power source, two AAA batteries (included), so your game time doesn't suffer. You can grab the Magni-Light for about ten bucks almost anywhere games are sold, or for fifteen at nYko.com.