The Power of Advanced Game Boy

The Game Boy Advance reigned sovereign in the early 2000s. Sixth generation console was released to succeed Game Boy Color. The Game Boy line has been a tremendous success since it was launched in 1989, potential competitors have failed miserably to gain ground in the Nintendo-dominated handheld market. Sega with GameGear, which had a color screen but needed 6 batteries that only lasted 3 hours, SNK with the Neo Geo Pocket, which was a great handheld, superior to the Game Boy Color, but which failed perhaps largely for lack of a good marketing from SNK, and even Atari with Linx. Nintendo itself failed to launch Virtual Boy as a handheld. Without the height competitor, Game Boy was unbeatable during the 1990s. Once again Nintendo has shown that it is not super hardware with big leaps of innovation that makes a console successful.

Arriving in the 2000s, the Game Boy Advanced was released, and its mission was to continue the line’s successful legacy. PC and console hardware had already evolved a lot. Mobile phones had already become popular, but they still had few functions, say calling and texting, and the GBA came with powerful handheld hardware and no rival. The jump was great for the Game Boy line itself, and despite being a new console, you could still use the cartridges from previous versions, allowing you to play the entire Game Boy Classic and Game Boy Color library, and no region lock. Other competitors also attempted to penetrate the market during the 2000s and threaten its reign. Nokia is a prime example, with N-Gage released in 2003. N-Gage hardware was better, and it was one of the first cell phone hybrids that allowed games and applications to run, but succumbed to grotesque design errors from Nokia, and a little bit of manufacturer arrogance, in my opinion, and other factors as well.

The GBA has sold over 80 million units worldwide. Its success was due to many factors, its design, games and accessories that expanded the player experience, multiplayer connection and Game Cube connection. Three models were released, highlighting the SP model, which sold over 30 million units, had on-screen lighting and battery instead of stacks, but had no headphone jack. The Micro model, launched in 2005, is fantastic because of its small size, still running the same cartridges, but without the backward compatibility of Classic and Color, and also has a internal battery, shorter but it still makes it worth having one and using it.

Game Boy Advance ceased to be manufactured in 2006 after the launch of the even more successful Nintendo DS, being retro compatible with Game Boy Advance cartridges, but not with Color and Classic games, having a second GBA cartridge slot that could be used for some other accessories.

The history of this handheld does not fit in a nutshell, as its importance to the gaming universe, the industry and consumers is immeasurable. Talking about games also deserves another post. But I can mention the postage of SNES games, like The Legend of Zelda: The Link to The Past, The Donkey Kong Trilogy and Super Mario World, which had a considerable improvement in sound and graphics, as the GBA had a processor 32-bit and an LCD screen capable of displaying over 32,000 colors. And not only did the ports get great, the GBA received exclusive and fantastic games. Nintendo’s own franchises like Mario Kart Super Circuit, Metroid Fusion and The Legend of Zelda: Minish Cap. Thirt Party games from established franchises like Mega Man, Castlevania and unreleased franchises like Golden Sun. I don’t even have to comment on Pokémon’s success, who kept selling consoles like water.

Game Boy Advance was a consume dream for many kids and big guys in the early 2000s. Carry big games in your pocket that could only be played on PCs and desktop consoles was a wonderful thing In another opportunity, I will talk more about the games of this handheld, also a text about the competitors, and still the whole line of Game Boy, anyway, subject is not lacking.

sources and links:

https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_Boy_Advance

Game Boy Advance – 7 Jogos Indispensáveis

http://www.techtudo.com.br/platb/jogos/2011/12/11/aposentadoria-gamer-game-boy-advance

Game boy advance Completa 15 anos