Game Boy Advance

"GBA" redirects here. For other uses, see GBA (disambiguation).
Game Boy Advance

A black version of the Game Boy Advance (original)
Manufacturer Nintendo
Product family Game Boy line
Type Handheld game console
Generation Sixth generation era
Retail availability
  • CN June 8, 2004
  • BR March 21, 2001
  • KOR March 21, 2001
Discontinued
  • BR 2003
  • KOR April 1, 2003
Units shipped Total (Worldwide): 81.51 million
GBA and Micro: 37.94 million
GBA SP: 43.57 million
(as of December 31, 2015)[4]
GBA Micro: 2.42 million
(as of March 31, 2007)[5]
Media ROM cartridge
CPU 16.78 MHz ARM7TDMI
8 or 4 MHz Z80 coprocessor
Display 240×160 pixel resolution
Graphics Custom 2D core 32-bit graphics
Best-selling game Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, 16 million combined[6]
Backward
compatibility
Game Boy, Game Boy Color (GBA & GBA SP only)
Predecessor Game Boy Color[7]
Successor Game Boy Advance SP (redesign)
Game Boy Micro (redesign/concurrent)
Nintendo DS (successor)

The Game Boy Advance (Japanese: ゲームボーイアドバンス Hepburn: Gēmu Bōi Adobansu), often shortened to GBA, is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China on June 8, 2004 (excluding Hong Kong).

Nintendo's competitors in the handheld market were the Neo Geo Pocket Color, WonderSwan, GP32, Tapwave Zodiac, and the N-Gage. Despite the competitors' best efforts, Nintendo maintained a majority market share with the Game Boy Advance.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Game Boy Advance.

As of June 30, 2010, the Game Boy Advance series has sold 81.51 million units worldwide.[8] Its successor, the Nintendo DS, was released in November 2004.

History

Contrary to the previous Game Boy models, which were all following the "portrait" form factor of the original Game Boy (designed by Gunpei Yokoi), the Game Boy Advance was designed in a "landscape" form factor, putting the buttons to the sides of the device instead of below the screen. The Game Boy Advance was designed by the French designer Gwénaël Nicolas and his Tokyo-based design studio Curiosity Inc.[9][10]

Project Atlantis

In 1996, magazines including Electronic Gaming Monthly,[11] issues 53 and 54 of Total! and the July 1996 issue of Game Informer featured reports of a new Game Boy, codenamed Project Atlantis. Although the expected release date of "early 1997" would make that machine seem to be the Game Boy Color, it was described as having a 32-bit RISC processor, a 3-by-2-inch color LCD screen, and a link port[11]—a description that more closely matches the Game Boy Advance. It also may have referred to the unnamed, unreleased Game Boy Color successor prototype that was revealed at 2009's Game Developers Conference.[12] It was announced that Nintendo Co., Ltd. (NCL) was working on a game for the system called "Mario's Castle".[11]

Technical specifications

The technical specifications[13][14][15] of the original Game Boy Advance are, as provided by Nintendo:[16]

Length: approximately 14.45 cm (5.69 in).
Width: approximately 2.45 cm (0.96 in).
Height: approximately 8.2 cm (3.2 in).
Mass: approximately 140 g (4.9 oz).
Screen: 2.9 inches reflective thin-film transistor (TFT) color LCD.
Power: 2x AA batteries
Battery life: approximately 15 hours on average while playing Game Boy Advance games (also dependent on the Game Pak being played, volume setting and any external peripherals being used - e.g. a screen light[17])
CPU: 16.8 MHz 32-bit ARM7TDMI with embedded memory. 8 or 4 MHz 8-bit Z80 coprocessor for Game Boy backward compatibility.
Memory: 32 kilobyte + 96 kilobyte VRAM (internal to the CPU), 256 kilobyte DRAM (outside the CPU).
Resolution: 240 × 160 pixels (3:2 aspect ratio).
Color support: 15-bit BGR (5 bits depth per channel), capable of displaying 512 simultaneous colors in "character mode" and 32,768 (215) simultaneous colors in "bitmap mode".
Sound: Dual 8-bit DAC for stereo sound (called Direct Sound), plus all legacy channels from Game Boy. The new DACs can be used to play back streams of wave data, or can be used to output multiple wave samples processed/mixed in software by the CPU.

Backward compatibility for Game Boy and Game Boy Color games is provided by an 4/8 MHz Z80 coprocessor (Game Boy Advance software can use the audio tone generators to supplement the primary sound system), while a link port at the top of the unit allows it to be connected to other devices via use of a Nintendo Game Link cable or GameCube link cable. When playing Game Boy or Game Boy Color games on the Game Boy Advance, the L and R buttons can be used to toggle between a stretched widescreen format (240×144) and the original screen ratio of the Game Boy (160×144). Game Boy games can be played using the same selectable color palettes as on the Game Boy Color. Every Nintendo handheld system following the release of the Game Boy Advance SP has included a built-in light and rechargeable battery.

The Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS 2D graphics hardware have scaling and rotation for traditional tiled backgrounds in its modes 1 and 2 and scaling and rotation for bitmaps in modes 3 through 5 (used less often on the GBA because of technical limitations).[18] On each machine supporting this effect, it is possible to change the scaling and rotation values during the horizontal blanking period of each scanline to draw a flat plane in a perspective projection. More complex effects such as fuzz are possible by using other equations for the position, scaling, and rotation of each line.

Games

With hardware comparable to the Super NES, the Game Boy Advance represents progress for sprite-based technology. The Game Boy Advance has platformers, SNES-style role-playing video games, and classic games ported from various 8-bit and 16-bit systems of the previous generations. This includes the Super Mario Advance series, as well as the system's backward compatibility with all earlier Game Boy titles.

Final Fantasy VI Advance was the final licensed Japanese GBA game release. Released November 2006, it was the final Nintendo-published game for the system.[19] The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night was the final European GBA game, released November 2007.[20] Samurai Deeper Kyo was the final North American GBA game, released in February 2008.

Accessories

Official

The Wireless Adapter was packed in with Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen

Nintendo released many addons for the Game Boy Advance. These include:

Unofficial

The Afterburner installed on a GBA, showing internal lighting.

Other accessories for the Game Boy Advance are:

Emulation

Due to its simple hardware, many popular emulators are available for the Game Boy Advance, such as VisualBoyAdvance and NO$GBA.

Revisions

Game Boy Advance SP

Game Boy Advance SP
Main article: Game Boy Advance SP

In early 2003, Nintendo introduced a new form-factor for the handheld, known as the Game Boy Advance SP (model AGS-001). The redesigned unit resembles a pocket-size laptop computer, including a folding case approximately one-half the size of the original unit. It also supports a rechargeable lithium ion battery, a significantly brighter LCD screen, and an internal front-light that can be toggled on and off. The redesign was intended to address some common complaints about the original Game Boy Advance, which had been criticized for being somewhat uncomfortable to use, especially due to an overly dark screen.

Around the same time as the release of the Game Boy Micro, Nintendo released a new backlit version of the SP (model AGS-101) in North America (commonly referred to as the "GBA SP+", SPII, or SP2). The switch that controls the light now toggles between "normal" (which itself is already brighter than the original Game Boy Advance SP's screen), and "bright", an intense brightness level similar to an LCD television set.

Game Boy Micro

Game Boy Micro
Main article: Game Boy Micro

In September 2005, Nintendo released a second redesign of the Game Boy Advance. This model, dubbed the Game Boy Micro, is similar in style to the original Game Boy Advance's horizontal orientation, but is much smaller and sleeker. The Game Boy Micro also allows the user to switch between several colored faceplates to allow customization, a feature which Nintendo advertised heavily around the Game Boy Micro's launch. Nintendo also hoped that this "fashion" feature would help target audiences outside of typical video game players. Unlike the previous Game Boy Advance models, Game Boy Micro is unable to support Game Boy and Game Boy Color titles. The Game Boy Micro did not make much of an impact in the video game market as it was overshadowed by Nintendo's other portable, the Nintendo DS.[25]

Unit colors

The Game Boy Advance, SP, and Micro had numerous colors and limited editions.

Game Boy Advance

The Game Boy Advance was initially available in Arctic, Black, Orange, Fuchsia, Glacier (translucent blue/purple) and Indigo. Later in the system's availability, additional colours and special editions were released. These editions include: Red, Clear Orange/Black, Platinum, White, Gold, Hello Kitty edition (pink with Hello Kitty and logo on bezel), King of Fighters edition (black with images on bezel and buttons), Chobits edition (translucent light blue, with images on bezel and buttons), Battle Network Rockman EXE 2 (light blue with images on bezel), Mario Bros. edition (Glacier with Mario and Luigi on bezel) and Yumiuri Giant edition (Glacier with images on bezel).

A number of Pokémon-themed limited-edition systems were made available in Pokémon Center stores in Japan. These editions include: Gold Pokémon edition (Gold with Pikachu and Pichu on bezel), Suicune edition (blue/grey with greyscale Pikachu and Pichu on bezel, and a Pokémon Center sticker on the back), Celebi edition (olive green with Celebi images on bezel), and Latias/Latios edition (pink/red and purple, with images of Latias and Latios on bezel).

Game Boy Advance SP

  • Blue Kyogre
  • Cobalt Blue
  • Flame Red
  • Famicom 20th Anniversary Edition
  • Gold with Zelda Triforce
  • Graphite
  • Green Rayquaza
  • Green Venusaur
  • Kingdom Silver (Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories Edition)
  • Spice & Lime
  • Mario
  • NES Black (UK and US only as a limited edition)
  • Onyx Black
  • Pearl Blue
  • Pearl Green
  • Pearl Pink
  • Pearl White (Limited Edition)
  • Pikachu Yellow
  • Platinum
  • Red Groudon
  • Snow White
  • SpongeBob
  • Torchic Orange
  • Tribal
  • White Rip Curl special edition (Australia only)
  • "Who Are You?" (Black with "Who Are You?" printed on the top)
  • All Blacks (New Zealand only)
  • Surf Blue (UK only)

Game Boy Micro

Sales

On December 1, 2006, Nintendo of America released launch-to-date information indicating that the company had sold 33.6 million units of the Game Boy Advance series in the United States.[26] In a Kotaku article published on January 18, 2008, Nintendo revealed that the Game Boy Advance series has sold 36.2 million units in the United States, as of January 1, 2008.[27] As of December 31, 2009, the Game Boy Advance series has sold 81.51 million units worldwide, of which 43.57 million are Game Boy Advance SP units and 2.42 million are Game Boy Micro units.[28]

After the Game Boy Advance's support lessened, the most popular software became mostly games oriented to younger gamers.[29]

Legacy

Nintendo did not initially release GBA games for the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console, but later made ten titles available to the platform as part of the Nintendo 3DS Ambassador Program.[30] Regardless of this, no plans have been made to release the games to the general public.[31] Satoru Iwata stated Game Boy Advance games will be available on the Wii U Virtual Console during April 2014.[32] On April 3, 2014, the first of the announced GBA games (Advance Wars, Metroid Fusion and Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga) were released for the Wii U Virtual Console.[33]

References

  1. "Game Boy Advance: It's Finally Unveiled". IGN. August 23, 2000. Retrieved July 19, 2014.
  2. Fielder, Lauren (May 16, 2001). "E3 2001: Nintendo unleashes GameCube software, a new Miyamoto game, and more". GameSpot. Retrieved July 19, 2014.
  3. Bramwell, Tom (March 21, 2001). "GBA Day: June 22nd". Eurogamer. Retrieved July 19, 2014.
  4. "Consolidated Sales Transition by Region" (PDF). Nintendo. February 3, 2016. Retrieved April 12, 2016.
  5. "Consolidated sales units, number of new titles, and sales unit forecast" (PDF). Nintendo. April 26, 2007. Retrieved April 12, 2016.
  6. Rose, Mike (October 15, 2013). "Pokemon X & Y sell 4M copies in first weekend". Gamasutra. Think Services accessdate=July 19, 2014.
  7. Umezu; Sugino; Konno. Nintendo 3DS (Volume 3 – Nintendo 3DS Hardware Concept) (Transcript). Interview with Satoru Iwata. Iwata Asks. Nintendo. Retrieved March 7, 2011.
  8. "Consolidated Sales Transition by Region" (PDF). Nintendo. July 28, 2010. Retrieved July 19, 2014.
  9. Gameboy Advance | WORKS - CURIOSITY - キュリオシティ - . Retrieved December 21, 2015.
  10. Van Tilburg, Caroline (2002). Curiosity: 30 Designs for Products and Interiors. Birkhauser Verlag AG. ISBN 978-3764367435.
  11. 1 2 3 "Nintendo's 32-Bit Color Portable "Project Atlantis" to Be Ready in Fall". Electronic Gaming Monthly (83) (EGM Media, LLC). June 1996. p. 18.
  12. GDC 2009 Nintendo Reveals Unreleased Nintendo Handhelds. Retrieved March 25, 2009.
  13. http://problemkaputt.de/gbatek.htm#gbatechnicaldata
  14. http://www.cs.rit.edu/~tjh8300/CowBite/CowBiteSpec.htm#Text Backgrounds
  15. https://patater.com/gbaguy/gbaasm.htm
  16. "GBA Technical Specifications". Nintendo. Archived from the original on October 14, 2007. Retrieved December 5, 2006.
  17. "Game Boy Advance Frequently Asked Questions". Nintendo. Retrieved September 6, 2007.
  18. Korth, Martin. "GBATEK: LCD I/O Display Control". Archived from the original on June 21, 2009. Retrieved January 2, 2014.
  19. Search:. "Final Fantasy VI Advance Release Information for Game Boy Advance". GameFAQs. Retrieved September 13, 2010.
  20. Search:. "The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night Release Information for Game Boy Advance". GameFAQs. Retrieved September 13, 2010.
  21. "Game Boy Advance Mobile Adapter Compatible? - News at GameSpot". Gamespot.com. January 12, 2001. Retrieved September 13, 2010.
  22. "Pokémon Crystal/Mobile Adapter GB Announced". Rpgamer.com. Retrieved September 13, 2010.
  23. "Game Boy Mobile Adapter Delayed". Rpgamer.com. January 27, 2001. Retrieved September 13, 2010.
  24. "Top 10 Strangest Health Gadgets". PCMag.com. Retrieved September 30, 2012.
  25. "Nintendo Co., Ltd. - Corporate Management Policy Briefing – Q&A". Nintendo Co., Ltd. p. 3. Retrieved December 6, 2008. The sales of Micro did not meet our expectations ... However, toward the end of 2005, Nintendo had to focus almost all of our energies on the marketing of DS, which must have deprived the Micro of its momentum.
  26. Behrens, Matt (December 1, 2006). "Nintendo sales through end of November revealed". N-Sider Media. Retrieved December 1, 2006.
  27. Michael McWhertor (November 12, 2013). "Who's Winning The Console War In The US?". Kotaku. Archived from the original on March 2, 2008. Retrieved January 19, 2008. UPDATE: Nintendo was nice enough to forward on GBA figures, just so we can see how the other last-gen, still-on-the-market platform is holding up.
  28. "Consolidated Financial Highlights" (PDF). Nintendo Co., Ltd. April 26, 2007. p. 8. Retrieved April 26, 2007.
  29. Kohler, Chris (January 18, 2009). "Top 10 Games of December 2008, By Platform". blog.wired.com. Retrieved January 19, 2009.
  30. "NINTENDO 3DS PRICE DROPS TO $169.99, AS GREAT VALUE AND NEW 3D GAMES COME TOGETHER". Nintendo of America's press release. July 28, 2011. Retrieved August 15, 2011. By the end of 2011, Nintendo will provide Ambassadors with 10 Game Boy Advance Virtual Console games. These include games like Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3, Mario Kart: Super Circuit, Metroid Fusion, WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$ and Mario vs. Donkey Kong. These games were made available exclusively to Ambassadors, and Nintendo currently has no plans to make these 10 games available to the general public on the Nintendo 3DS in the future.
  31. Brendan Sinclair (December 16, 2011). "3DS Ambassador GBA games released". Gamespot.com. CNet. Retrieved June 28, 2012.
  32. Wii U - Official Site at Nintendo
  33. Michael, Jay (March 31, 2014). "Wii U Virtual Console News: GameBoy Advance Classics Arrive in April; Nintendo Announces Metroid Fusion, Advance Wars, and More. On the DS there is a slot for GBA games.". Christian Post. Retrieved April 3, 2014.

External links

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