Nintendo Game Boy Advance Video Game System (Indigo)

Other products by Nintendo

Product Features

• It features a more powerful processor than any previous portable system, for faster, smoother gameplay
• The high-resolution, full color screen makes the game jump out at you -- 50% bigger than Game Boy Color
• Two new buttons, L & R, bring you more control & game options
• Extended battery life lets you play for up to 15 hours on a pair of AA batteries
• Compact Game Paks let you store your game progress & are smaller then Game Boy Color Paks

Product Details

• ASIN: B00005B8G3
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 5.5 x 2 inches ; 9.6 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (70 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,102 in Video Games (See Bestsellers in Video Games)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

The Game Boy platform (which includes the original unit, the Game Boy Pocket, and the Game Boy Color) came to market when most video game consoles had a life expectancy of just a few years. More than a decade later, the system is still going strong. How did the Game Boy successfully compete--and in some cases bury--an onslaught of faster, more powerful handheld and home console systems? Let us count the ways: affordability, a huge library of games that consistently made the most of the hardware's limitations, smart power management that extended battery life, and uncluttered controls. But perhaps it was the system's ultraportable design that allowed devotees to play video games around their schedule, making it the must-have system for kids and adults alike.

Now the Game Boy Advance (or GBA as people are already calling it) comes to us with power that would have been unthinkable back in the day. The portable's 32-bit RISC CPU runs circles around the former's 8-bit workhorse, allowing it to process program instructions much faster. What that means to everyday gamers is more intricate visuals, more simultaneous movement on the screen, and better sound. In fact, the often-annoying beeps and boops of old-school Game Boy titles are being replaced with digitized stereo sound. The extra processing muscle also means you can even network up to four Game Boy Advance units together, via the communication cable, for multiplayer fun off of one shared cartridge. Only two Game Boy Color units could link together, and each unit had to have its own copy of the game.

What's not being replaced, however, is the wide selection of Game Boy games. Because the Game Boy Advance system is backward-compatible, it will play its own line of colorful games--including such launch titles as Super Mario Advance, F-Zero: Maximum Velocity, Army Men Advance, High Heat Major League Baseball 2002, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, and Ready 2 Rumble Boxing: Round 2--as well as all of the monochrome and color games that have already been released for the previous Game Boy systems (nearly 500 in total). Players can view the older games in their smaller, originally square dimensions, or, with the touch of the shoulder button, expand the game to fit the GBA's larger screen. We tried enlarging the screen on a Game Boy Color edition of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 and found that Mr. Hawk was much easier to see.

When you first pick up the system, you'll be amazed at how lightweight it is. At fewer than 5 ounces and a little larger than a deck of playing cards, the system easily fits into a shirt pocket without any sag. The GBA's wider shape fits better into a wider range of hands. The former design too often pushed the left and right thumb knuckles together during gameplay. The new layout should be comfortable for all ages, and the center screen orientation makes it easy to see.

Game Boy Color owners will find the GBA's larger screen somewhat darker than they're used to, but that's because the screen is outfitted with antiglare technology. Like the old Game Boy Color, the color LCD is not backlit, so you need pretty good light to play by. Unlike that system, though, you won't be craning your neck and tilting the unit to see around the hot-spot reflection of the light bulb in your screen.

But you'll also notice the graphics. Sporting what's basically a redesigned SNES technology, you'll see things on the GBA that the big consoles do, such as scaling (making objects larger or smaller) and rotation effects--technological advances that will affect the look of everything from crossing a finish line to throwing a touchdown pass to crawling through a dungeon.

Some might argue that Nintendo could have tried to put even more power into this Game Boy Advance. After all, the 32-bit video game had its heyday more than five years ago. Perhaps, but after handling this new handheld, we're inclined to think that Nintendo wisely struck a balance between size, price, and power consumption. And considering how well the old 8-bit system weathered the decade's technological storms, we think the Game Boy Advance is here to stay, and we're glad. --Porter B. Hall

Unit Specifications

• CPU: 32-bit RISC CPU with embedded memory
• Screen: 2.9-inch reflective TFT color LCD
• Display Size: 1.6 by 2.4 inches (40.8 by 61.2 mm)
• Resolution: 38,000 pixels in a wide-screen aspect ratio (10,000 per square inch)
• Colors: 512 simultaneous colors from a palette of 32,768
• Size: 3.2 by 5.6 by 1 inch (82 by 144.5 by 24.5 mm)
• Weight: Approximately 5 ounces (140 grams)
• Power Supply: 2 AA alkaline batteries
• Battery Life: Approximately 15 hours continuous play

Product Description

Muscular 32-bit processor. Big screen. Great multiplayer features. And it slips easily into your hip pocket. The Game Boy Advance. Welcome to the future of hand-held gaming.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gameboy Advance, Get It Today (If you can), June 14, 2001

By	Glenn Sullivan "binaryprogrammer" (Easton, PA USA) - See all my reviews

Take it from me, a Toys 'R' Us R-Zone veteran, the Gameboy Advance is the gift to give or the thing to buy for yourself. The excitement built around this incredible, 32 bit system is amazing. And, the games for the system are even more incredible. If you are still trying to decide whether to buy it or not, go to Toys 'R' Us today and try Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2. This game shows the true 3-D graphics ability of the system. Words cannot describe the reaction when one plays Tony Hawk 2 for the GBA.

And, if you are trying to decide color, the most popular is Glacier, then Indigo, and the least popular is Arctic.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars What!!! NO BACKLIGHT!!!??? Unless..., October 28, 2002

By	"jonnydanger" (Denver, CO, U.S.A.) - See all my reviews

Don't get me wrong, I love the GameBoy Advance, but seriously, WHAT WAS NINTENDO THINKING??? What was going through their minds when they decided not to have the GameBoy advance backlit. How would you feel if you bought a cell phone that wasn't backlit and the only way you could get a clear picture was in direct sunlight. I've tried EVERY aftermarket clip on light you can buy but they're not really practical. They are either not bright enough, have horrible glare, or don't light the screen evenly, and the ones that are bright enough are so heavy and bulky your GameBoy is hardly portable. It really annoys the heck out of me!

There is an aftermarket upgrade out there that fixes this problem. It's called the Afterburner and is made by Triton Labs. You must install it inside the GameBoy and it works beautifully. It completely lights up the entire screen with a brilliant, even light. But it's not perfect either. The installation takes about 4 hours and is an EXTREMELY stressful and difficult procedure. I ruined my GameBoy trying to install one.

I suggest buying a GameBoy with an Afterburner pre-installed from a PROFESSIONAL. ...Now I can play my GameBoy in complete darkness and can see every detail. It's awesome. I HAVE SEEN THE LIGHT!!!

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A step above GBC but could use a few improvements, December 26, 2001

By	R. Seccia "ronseccia" (Endicott, NY) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

My daughter received this as a gift. She had an original monochrome Game Boy (GB) that she liked so she asked for the latest version. Game Boy Advance (GBA) is leaps and bounds ahead of the orignal GB and Game Boy Color (GBC) in terms of graphics and the screen size. It is absolutely fun to play the games. However, there a few things in the design I didn't expect from the next generation GB line.

As other reviews have stated, the screen is somewhat dim. There are no controls for brightness or contrast of the display screen like there were on the original GB. I mean, the dimness of the screen isn't what I would call horrible but it would be much easier on the eyes if it were just a bit brighter. You definitely need to play the game near a light source.

Also, the horizonital orientation of the unit takes some getting used to if your accustomed to the GB and GBC units. I think Nintendo should have stuck with a design that more closely resembled the original GB and GBC units.

Even though the screen is a little dim if your trying to decide between a GBC and a GBA, then my recomendation is to go with the GBA. It will play all the other games from the original GB and GBC. Plus, the GBA games are much better with the larger screen and superior graphics.