Game Boy Advance

The Game Boy Advance (often shortened to GBA) is a handheld video game console developed, manufactured and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the popular Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Europe on June 22, 2001; and in China on June 8, 2004 (excluding Hong Kong). Its codename during development was Project Atlantis.

Hardware

The Game Boy Advance is backward compatible with most games previously released for the Game Boy or the Game Boy Color, as well as new software developed to take advantage of the new technical capabilities of the system. It is powered by two AA batteries, which give about 5–10 hours of play time, as well as an optional power supply that plugs directly into the GBA's battery bracket.

Processors

The GBA has a custom 32-bit 16.8-MHz ARM processor (ARM7TDMI) based on a RISC architecture, which is much more suited to the C programming language than the 8-bit Z80-like processor used in older Game Boy models. The ARM processor can run both 32-bit ARM and 16-bit "Thumb" instruction set encodings. The system also contains an 8.4-MHz Z80-like processor to provide support for legacy GB software; however, both processors cannot be active at the same time.

Dimensions

Length: 144.5 mm

Width: 24.5 mm

Height: 82 mm

Weight: 140 grams

Display

The 2.9" LCD is capable of a maximum of 240×160 pixels in 15-bit color (32,768 colors). This display includes more pixels than Game Boy's 160×144; when playing legacy games, the user can press the "L" or "R" button to switch the display between 160×144 with a black border and scaling to 240×144 pixels. Early games had very dark color palettes because the display in the development kits was much brighter than the one in the production units; the production display has a gamma value of 4. Newer titles use gamma correction in their palettes.

If the color LCD has a fault, it is that the Game Boy Advance is lit by ambient light. Users quickly learned to tilt the device to take advantage of window or overhead illumination. An aftermarket internal lighting kit known as the Afterburner was briefly popular before the introduction of the Game Boy Advance SP, and influenced the development of the new model.

Graphics

The GBA has hardware support for simple 2D operations using graphical elements called sprites. It can scale, rotate, sum-blend, and alpha-blend sprites against a background (with one alpha value for the whole screen, not the alpha-blending of image edges seen in the PNG format), and it can change the scaling and rotation of sprites and the background on each scanline to give a pseudo-3D effect.

The GBA's picture generator has six display modes (three tiled and three bitmap) and 96 KiB of dedicated RAM. In tiled display modes, the system can manage four pixel-to-pixel layers, two pixel-to-pixel layers and one affine layer, or two affine layers, and it uses 64 KiB of RAM for tile and map data and 32 KiB for sprite cel data. In bitmap modes, it can display one large 16-bit bitmap, two 8-bit bitmaps (with page flipping), or one small 16-bit bitmap (with page flipping), and it uses 80 KiB of RAM for bitmap data and 16 KiB for sprite cel data. In all modes, it can show up to 128 sprites (individually controllable small moving objects) of 8×8 up to 64×64 pixels in either 4-bit or 8-bit indexed color. Each sprite can be drawn using either direct pixel mapping or affine mapping; it's possible to fit more direct sprites on a scanline.

Later games pushed the GBA to its limits with simple 3D graphics. These games include Wolfenstein 3D, Duke Nukem Advance, Doom and Doom 2. Utilizing 2D sprites for objects and 3D graphics for architecture, these games usually achieve a passable framerate, although sometimes in large environments or with many objects onscreen the framerate will drop to a very noticeable level. Some feel that such 3D games are a logical and welcome step for the GBA, while others feel that they are overly ambitious and beyond the capabilities of the system. With the release of the DS, future 3D games for the GBA will most likely be limited.

Media

The interface from the GBA unit to the ROM cartridge includes only a 24-bit address bus multiplexed with a 16-bit data bus. (Mattel's Intellivision console had previously used a multiplexed bus.) This setup limits the directly addressable memory to 16 binary megawords (that is, 256 binary mebibits or 32 binary mebibytes), but bankswitching hardware on the cartridge can extend this by controlling the ROM's upper address lines from software, effectively switching other parts of the ROM into the GBA's address space. Still, as of 2005, no published GBA titles have ever even executed such bankswitching hardware because 32 MiB of ROM is still far too expensive for the price point at which most GBA games are sold. (It would possibly have to retail for $39.99 to $49.99, less than double to the standard-priced GBA game)

By early 2002, hardware became readily available for moving user code onto the GBA. For example, in December 2001, a flash memory cartridge and its writing hardware was selling for less than States dollar|$" target="_blank" >^*200 U.S., along with a $50 device to emulate the netbooting master. By April 2003, the prices had come down to under $100 for the flash cartridge and writer and $30 for the boot cable. Because of the drop in prices for programming equipment, a homebrew software development community has sprung up. Nintendo, however, has a history of viewing such devices as nothing more than piracy tools, since they can be used to copy cartridges containing copyrighted software. In February 2002, Nintendo began sending threatening letters to some United States resellers of such devices. Previous lawsuits had banned the importation of similar devices for the 8-bit Game Boy.

Connectivity

The GBA also has a serial port for connecting to other GBA units in a setup similar to a token ring network over a bus physical topology. A GBA can also receive up to 256 KiB of bootstrap code through the port, even when no cartridge is present (sometimes known as multiboot or netboot). This is used for multiplayer GBA connections, where multiple GBAs can play with only one cartridge; one GBA with a cartridge sends boot code to the other cartridge-less GBAs.

The serial port can (with a suitable cable) also connect to a standard RS-232 serial port for debugging purposes and (hypothetically) Internet play, although a TCP/IP stack has yet to be implemented in a GBA game. The release of the Nintendo DS in 2004 made this further unlikely, given the built-in Wi-Fi of that system's release.

To link GBA games, a GBA link cable is required. To link regular GB or GB Color games, the older GB link cable is required, even if two GBAs are being used.

Nintendo also introduced connectivity between the Game Boy Advance to the GameCube console through the GameCube-Game Boy Advance cable. This function could unlock data, act as a second screen, among other things. It did not catch on very well and not too many games added such connectivity.

The Game Boy Advance Wireless Adapter was released on September 7, 2004 in the United States. It allows GBAs to be linked without cords, and with more than four players at a time. It came bundled with Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen. However, a game has to be designed with the wireless adapter in mind, and there are only a few such games.

The Game Boy micro featured another port design; in order to make the system so small, the link port was shrunken. Nintendo has released a GBM-GBM and a GBM-GBA adapter to restore full multiplayer compatibility. Nintendo has also released a special Game Boy Micro Wireless Adapter for wireless play. These items are currently only sold on Nintendo.com.

Models

Game Boy Advance (original model)

The Game Boy Advance sold at a base price of $100 USD when it was released in North America. Prior to the release of the Game Boy Advance SP, the GBA was the fastest-selling game console in history. Despite its success, many criticized the original Game Boy Advance for still not adopting a lighted screen, which Nintendo would rectify with later models. As of 2005, the original (non-lighted) model GBA has been discontinued.

Game Boy Advance SP

In early 2003, Nintendo upgraded the Game Boy Advance giving it an internal front-light that can be turned on or off, a rechargeable lithium ion battery, as well as a folding case approximately half the size of the GBA. It was designed to address some common complaints with the original GBA.

Around the same time as the release of the Game Boy micro, Nintendo released a new backlit version of the SP in North America. The switch that controls the light now toggles between "normal" (which itself is already brighter than the original Nintendo DS's screen), and "bright," an intense brightness level similar to LCD television sets.

Game Boy micro

In September 2005, Nintendo released a second redesign of the Game Boy Advance. This model again goes back to the Game Boy Advance horizontal orientation and is much smaller and sleeker. The Game Boy micro also offers the user to switch between several colored faceplates to allow customization, a feature which Nintendo advertised heavily around the micro's launch. Unlike the previous models it does not support Game Boy or Game Boy Color titles.

Accessories

Nintendo has released many add-ons for the Game Boy Advance (GBA). These include:

Wireless Adapter - Released in 2004, this adapter hooks up to the back of the Game Boy Advance. It replaces link cables and allows many people to link up to each other. It markets for $20 and came included with Pokémon FireRed and Pokémon LeafGreen. Because it was released so late in the GBA's life, less than 20 games support this hardware. The adapter's usefulness is most evident in Pokémon; FireRed/LeafGreen and Emerald feature a "Union Room" where up to forty people can enter to battle or trade Pokémon. A Game Boy micro version has also been released - it can interact fully with both models of the Wireless Adapter.

Game Boy Advance Infra-Red Adapter - This adapter was included with the game Ciberdrive Zoids as it is only compatible with this game. The adaptor was not sold separately. This is also currently the only GBA acessory that has not been remade for the GameBoy Micro

Play-Yan - The Play-Yan is an MP3/MPEG4 player for the GBA and Nintendo DS. The cartridge is slightly bigger than normal GBA cartridge and includes a built-in headphone port as well as an SD Card slot. Music or videos that users have downloaded from the Internet can be transferred onto an SD Card and slotted into the Play-Yan device. Nintendo has released several mini games for the Play-Yan that can be downloaded from their website, although Nintendo later removed all mini-game functionality through a firmware update. The Play-Yan is currently available in Japan only, but a European release has been confirmed for early 2006. Since Play-Yan did not have a U.S. release to coincide with Game Boy micro as rumored, an American release has been speculated for 2006 as well.

e-Reader - The e-Reader is a rather bulky scanning device that plugs into the game cartridge slot of the Game Boy Advance. Specialized cards with codes along the side and bottom are slid through the slit, scanning the card into the Game Boy Advance. Many ideas for the e-Reader have included cards that scan classic games like Donkey Kong and Excitebike onto the handheld ready to play, as well as a collaboration with Super Mario Advance 4 to have cards that unlock content. GameCube games like Animal Crossing had cards with unlockable content as well, and the Pokémon Trading Card Game playing cards also adopted the e-Reader codes. The e-Reader works with the Game Boy Player as well as the Game Boy Advance SP, but cannot fit into the Nintendo DS's Game Boy slot (it will however fit into the Nintendo DS Lite's Game Boy slot). It was discontinued in America in early 2004, but is still quite popular in Japan. It was not released in Europe.

Game Boy Advance Video - These highly popular cartridges contain two episodes of 30 minute cartoon programs. First released in America in May of 2004, they cost $19.99 and included cartoons such as Pokémon, SpongeBob SquarePants, Sonic X, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The movies Shrek, Shrek 2, and Shark Tale are also available for GBA Video and all three movies are in full. Unfortunately, these cartridges display an error when inserted into a GameCube via a Game Boy Player. They have since decreased in popularity and can be seen being sold for as low as $10.00.

Unofficial accessories

GBA Movie Player - The GBAMP is a versatile gaming cartridge that allows people to play NES/Famicom games, watch movies (e.g. MPEGs), see .txt files, hear sound clips, etc. The GBAMP does not actually play MPEGS or MP3's directly, a freeware conversion software is needed, that converts an array of formats into GBM and GBS formats that are compatible with the GBAMP.

GBA TV Tuner - It makes the portable system into a portable television. There are several versions (made by different companies) available. The most popular TV Tuner requires a cartridge in the GBA unit to start up. The TV Tuners can store up to 99 channels.

Unofficial Game Boy Advance flash cartridges are also available. While they enable the distribution of homebrew applications and content, they may also facilitate the illegal distribution of copyrighted games.

Sales and marketing

The Game Boy Advance, along with the Game Boy Advance SP and the Game Boy micro, has sold well. As of September 2005, the Game Boy Advance series has sold 74.24 million units worldwide.^*

Actual sales of Nintendo Game Boy Advance: 75.13 Million as of March 31, 2006 (Japan: 16.55, The Americas: 38.10, Other: 20.48) of which Game Boy Advance SP: 38.23 Million as of March 31, 2006 (Japan: 6.42, The Americas: 20.95, Other: 10.86) of which Game Boy Micro: 1.83 Million as of March 31, 2006 (Japan: 0.58, The Americas: 0.47, Other: 0.79)

Games

The Game Boy Advance has become the modern flagship of sprite-based games. With hardware superior to the Super NES it has proven that sprite-based technology could improve and live side by side with the 3D games of today's consoles. The Game Boy Advance not only has one's typical platformers, but also a huge collection of SNES-style RPGs. It has also become a popular system for old-school gamers due to the increasing amount of games ported from various 8-bit and 16-bit systems of the previous era. Through the use of flash cartridges and emulators the Game Boy Advance can even play NES and PC Engine games, as well as AGI-based Sierra On-Line PC adventure games.

Standout original titles include:

Advance Wars
Boktai
Aria of Sorrow
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
Fire Emblem
Golden Sun
The Minish Cap
Mario Kart Super Circuit
Superstar Saga
Mario vs. Donkey Kong
Megaman Zero
Metroid Fusion
Zero Mission
Mother 3
Pokémon Ruby / Sapphire
Inc.: Mega Microgame$" target="_blank" >^*

Emulators

Some of the most popular emulators for the Game Boy Advance are No$GBA, Rascal, and VisualBoyAdvance. No$GBA and Visual Boy Advance both support the loading of a BIOS image, but can run, albeit with lower compatibility, without one.

External links

About.com Guide to Game Boy - All things Game Boy: News, reviews, history, culture and development. Updated several times a week.
GBA Website - The official website
Pocket Gamer - Specialist handheld games news and reviews site, with dedicated GBA section.

Game Boy consoles | Sixth-generation video game consoles

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