Nintendo Game Boy Advance
On September 2, 1999, Nintendo Co. Ltd. formally acknowledged the
development of a 32-bit successor to its current 8-bit Game Boy,
Game Boy Pocket and Game Boy Color handheld systems. Called the
"Game Boy Advance," lest anyone get the wrong impression, the color
handheld was to feature a 32-bit RISC CPU developed by a UK-based
company named ARM Holdings, whose previous experience came from
designing CPUs for cellular phones.
In a strong departure from previous models of the Game Boy, the new
Game Boy Advance features a horizontal orientation to accomodate a
wider screen size (an estimated 50% larger than the Game Boy
Color's). Like the Game Gear and Atari Lynx portable systems, the
directional pad is positioned to the left of the screen, while two
buttons are located to the right. An additional two shoulder buttons
appear along the top edges of the handheld.
The Game Boy Advance uses the same TFT screen as the Game Boy Color.
For those unfamiliar with the TFT (Thin-Film Transistor) display, it
is a highly reflective LCD screen that can pick up light more easily
than previous versions of the system. A drawback to the TFT screen
is that a light source is needed in order to see the games, but the
technology has kept the unit under the $100 price mark (an MSRP of
$89.95). Nintendo formally announced the price of the Game Boy
Advance on March 6, 2000.
Among the notable features are the system's ability to display up to
32,000 simultaneous colors (compared to the Game Boy Color's 56 out
of a palette of 32,000) and compatibility with existing Game Boy
Color and original Game Boy titles. Also of note is a new
partnership forged between Nintendo and Konami to create games for
the Game Boy Advance and GameCube. The new developer, Mobile 21,
will initially be comprised of staff members from both Nintendo and
Konami, with new employees added later.
Fifteen titles are scheduled to launch with the system on June 11,
2000. F-Zero: Maximum Velocity and Super Mario Advance represent the
two first-party releases, while the rest are from nine third-party
publishers: The 3DO Company, Kemco, Atlus USA, Inc., bam
entertainment! Majesco, Midway, Sega, Activision, and Ubi Soft. A
total of 60 titles were planned to be available by the end of 2001.
The launch titles include Army Men Advance, High Heat Major League
Baseball 2002, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2, Super Dodge Ball Advance,
Fire Pro Wrestling, Top Gear GT Championship, Tweety and the Magic
Jewel, Fortress, Iridion 3D, Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure, ChuChu
Rocket! Ready 2 Rumble Boxing: Round 2, and Rayman Advance.
According to Nintendo, each cartridge for the system will retail
between $29.99 to $39.99.
Three colors of the Game Boy Advance were available at launch:
Arctic, Glacier, and Indigo, while a fourth color (Fuchsia) was
scheduled for release in July 2001. Multiplayer games also support
an optional link cable that allows up to four players to participate
simultaneously using a single cartridge. In addition, the Game Boy
Advance functions as a controller for the GameCube console.
And Nintendo said: "Let there be light." Finally, as of March 23,
2003, Game Boy Advance aficionados can game anytime anywhere
regardless of external lighting conditions with the SP system.
Though it doesn't sport a true backlit screen (a la Sega's Game
Gear), the Game Boy Advance SP has a light mounted inside the screen
casing just below the screen, providing luminance without need for
any add-on accessory (such as the glare-causing Worm Light).
Initially etailing at $99.99, the SP (for "special") unit cost $30
more than the standard Game Boy Advance, even though the system is
not a true upgrade (graphics and sounds are the same).
The system is backwards compatible with virtually all previous Game
Boy games, though one title in particular -- Kirby's Tilt 'n' Tumble
-- doesn't function properly because of the SP's new design, which
is smaller (though the screen size is the same) and folds out in
laptop like fashion. Regrettably, there is no built-in headphone
jack, meaning an adaptor (which fits into the AC adaptor port) must
be purchased separately. On a more positive note, the SP system
sports a rechargeable Lithium Ion battery and doesn't need standard
batteries.
— All Game Guide
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