Although certainly not as exciting as the Gamecube revelation, Nintendo's showing of the Game Boy Advance will easily take a well deserved second place when ranked among all the nifty gaming goodies shown at this year's Spaceworld. After eleven years of Game Boy goodness throughout the world, the latest version of the Game Boy has evolved into a powerful creature almost unrecognizable from the original clunky handheld of 1989.
The 32-bit backwards-compatible Game Boy Advance showed up at Spaceworld with games-a-plenty, and has some some rather exciting RPGs scheduled for release. Titles such as Fire Emblem -- Dark Shrine Maiden, Magical Vacation, and Tactics Ogre Gaiden are all confirmed for the system and the mere mention of these should make handheld RPGamers feel all tingly inside (although no North American release announcements regarding these three have yet been made).
For all you crazy cats who wanna know what the Game Boy Advance packs under the hood, check out these kickin' specifications:
| Official Name |
GAME BOY ADVANCE |
| Screen |
Reflective TFT Color LCD |
| Screen Size |
40.8mm x 61.2mm |
| Resolution |
240 x 160 dots |
| Display Capability |
32,000 colors |
| CPU |
32 bit RISC-CPU + 8 bit CISC-CPU |
| Memory |
32 Kbyte WRAM + 96 Kbyte VRAM (in CPU) 256 Kbyte WRAM (external of CPU) |
| Sound |
Speaker, Headphone Terminal |
| Communication Function |
Multi-play by up to 4 people possible with Game Boy Advance Communication Cable |
| Power Supply |
2 AA Alkaline Batteries or special Battery Pak |
| Battery Life |
2 AA Alkaline Batteries: Approx. 15 hours Battery Pak: Approx. 10 hours |
| Power Consumption |
Approx. 0.6W |
| Dimensions |
82mm(L) x 144.5(W) x 24.5mm(D) |
| Main Unit Weight |
Approx. 140g |
| Game Pak |
Max. of 256Mbits(Game Boy Advance Only) Compatible with Game Boy/Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance Game Paks |
The Game Boy Advance has a firm Japanese release date of March 31, 2001, and the mighty handheld is set to hit North America a mere four months afterwards, in July 2001. The GBA has been given a Japanese price tag of 9800¥, which converts to approximately $91 in U.S. funds. A North American price for the unit has yet to be confirmed, although it will most probably be tagged with a similar amount. As Spaceworld continues, keep your browsers set to www.rpgamer.com for any new revelations surrounding Nintendo's new breed of handheld gaming.
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