Originally posted by uc pseudonym
On a note more in tune with the original question, have you considered the gba? I don't know if you have one, but there are decent games for it. Castlevania has something new coming out, I'm not sure when. The more recent rpg/action hybrids are a style I enjoy. Also, what about Golden Sun, and its sequel? They're good games (though the conversation is horribly dull at times).
The newest Castlevania you are referring to, Castlevania Aria of Sorrow is out now and I own it. It rocks! It's similar to Symphony of the Night PSX and the other two GBA castlevanias, but there are enough innovations and improvements to make it worth buying. Equipable weapons are back and so is a shop that is actually easy to find. It uses a enemy "soul" system where you can steal powers from enemies and use them as weapons.
The story takes place in the future, but the game is still in a haunted castle setting with the Castlevania style enemies, setting, and weapons. The story is still related to other Castlevania games. Hearts are used to fill the magic meter. The soul powers (some of which are the classic Castlevania subweapons) and some special skills use the magic meter. There are no Street Fighter style motions in this game. There are some nice extras for beating the game like a boss rush mode, another playable character, and a hard mode.
I played the first Golden Sun and loved it, but the game isn't groundbreaking, though it is alot of fun to play. I think the Megaman Battle Network games are more original, at least they were until they copied off themselves. I love Megaman Battle Network 2, though.
As for upcoming games, I'm looking forward to Super Mario Bros. 3, Fire Emblem, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, Sword of Mana, Megaman Zero 2, Mario and Donkey Kong (though it is an updated version of the GB Donkey Kong) and Mario and Luigi. One of them is a remake of a classic game, but I like remakes/ports and I'm actually glad to see them on GBA becuase they add some awesome games to the library.
It looks like Fire Emblem has a very good chance of coming here. It was at E3 (a trade show) with an English translation and it's on the release list of many retailers.
Mario and Luigi sounds like an interesting RPG with elements from Paper Mario N64.
I like the GBA versions of Virtua Tennis, Super Monkey Ball, and Tony Hawk. They keep a great deal of fun of the console versions and, in the case of Virtua Tennis and Tony Hawk, actually add some new stuff.
One of the newest games for GBA is Wario Ware. I heard that it's a bunch of one shot mini games with lots of wierdness and some games based on classic Nintendo titles. I haven't played it, but I heard nothing but good things about it.
Another Advance Wars game just came out for the GBA. I heard that it's very similar to the original, but with a new unit, better AI, more CO powers, new terrain, and a more varied campaign mode.
So it looks like there is alot of great stuff for the GBA.