Game Boy Advance
- Manufacturer
- Nintendo
- Production
- 2001–2010
- Generation
- Gen 6
- Type
- Handheld
- Launch price
- $99
- Units sold
- 81.5M
About Game Boy Advance
The Game Boy Advance (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console, manufactured by Nintendo, which was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, and to international markets that June. It was later released in mainland China in 2004, under the name iQue Game Boy Advance. Compared to the Game Boy Color it succeeded, the console offered a significantly more powerful ARM7 processor and improved graphics, while retaining backward compatibility with games initially developed for its predecessor.
Source: Wikipedia (text under CC BY-SA 4.0).
Library & collector facts
1,538licensed games
- North America: 733
- Japan: 773
Lineage
Release timeline
- 🇯🇵 Japan
- March 21, 2001
- 🇪🇺 Europe / PAL
- June 22, 2001
- 🇦🇺 Australia
- August 23, 2000
- Lifespan
- 9 years on market
Pricing
Launch price (2001)
- 🇺🇸 USD
- $99
Launch titles & exclusives
Super Mario Advance · F-Zero: Maximum Velocity · Castlevania: Circle of the Moon · Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 · Rayman Advance · Pinobee: Wings of Adventure · GT Advance Championship Racing · Tweety and the Magic Gems
None standard; various retailer-specific Super Mario Advance bundles
Metroid Fusion · Metroid: Zero Mission · Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow · Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance · Fire Emblem (NA debut of the series) · Fire Emblem: Sacred Stones · Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga · Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald/FireRed/LeafGreen · Mother 3 (JP-only) · Drill Dozer · WarioWare series · Golden Sun 1 & 2 · Advance Wars 1 & 2 · Sonic Advance trilogy
Final Fantasy VI Advance (2006/2007) was among the last major releases; production continued into 2008
Drill Dozer CIB (~$200+); Lufia: The Ruins of Lore CIB (~$200+); JP-only Mother 3 sealed; Pokemon Box GameCube tie-ins; Nintendo Power-distributed cartridge variants
Variants of Game Boy Advance
Hardware specs
- Cpu
- ARM7TDMI @ 16.8 MHz, Sharp SM83 @ 4.2 / 8.4 MHz
- Ram
- 288 KB RAM, 98 KB Video RAM
- Power
- 2 × AA batteries
- Display Output
- Reflective TFT LCD, 240 × 160 px
Hardware revisions
- Original GBA AGB-001(2001)
horizontal form factor, non-backlit reflective TFT (the platform's signature flaw — terrible visibility without external light)
- Game Boy Advance SP AGB-101 (NA late) / AGB-001 (frontlit early)(2003)
clamshell, rechargeable battery
⚠ AGB-001 had a frontlit screen (dim), AGB-101 had a backlit screen (gold standard for the platform)
- Game Boy Micro OXY-001(2005)
compact final revision, drops backward compatibility with original GB/GBC titles
Launch colorways & special editions
- Pokemon Center JP variants
- Hello Kitty Edition (JP)
- Tribal Edition
- Spice Orange (JP)
- GBA SP NES Classic (red/gold)
- GBA SP Famicom Classic (JP)
- GBA SP Pikachu Edition
- Mario vs Donkey Kong Edition
- Tribal SP
Modding scene
- Difficulty
- soft-mod
- Custom firmware
- N/A (ROM-based); flashcarts: EZ-Flash Omega Definitive Edition, Everdrive GBA X5
Reception & legacy
Strong — finally delivered SNES-class hardware in a handheld; criticized for terrible non-backlit launch screen, addressed years later with the AGS-101
Original AGB-001 screen visibility was so poor that third-party 'Afterburner' frontlight kits became a cottage industry — Nintendo addressed it only with the AGS-101 backlit SP
Defining handheld of the early 2000s; the GBA library is widely considered one of the strongest in handheld history; backward compatibility preserved GB/GBC playability through 2005
References
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