Difference between revisions of "Game Boy Advance"

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[[Image:GBA.jpg|thumb|right|260px|[[File:Gameboy advance logo.svg|180px]]]]
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| logo=Gameboy advance logo.svg
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[[Image:GBAMicro.jpg|thumb|right|260px|Game Boy Micro]]
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'''Game Boy Advance''' ('''GBA''') is a [[Handheld game console|handheld game console]] from [[Nintendo]]. It was released in [[Japan]] on March 21, 2001, in the USA on June 11, 2001, and in Europe on June 22, 2001.
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| name=
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| maker=[[Nintendo]]
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| variants=Game Boy Advance SP, Game Boy Micro
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| releases={{releasesGBA
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| gba_date_us=2001-06-11{{ref|1=https://web.archive.org/web/20010609222807/http://www.nintendo.com/news/news_articles.jsp?articleID=3950}}
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| gba_rrp_us=99.95{{ref|1=https://web.archive.org/web/20010609222807/http://www.nintendo.com/news/news_articles.jsp?articleID=3950}}
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| gba_date_eu=2001-06-22
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| gba_date_au=2001-06-22
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| gba_date_jp=2001-03-21
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}}
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}}
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The '''Game Boy Advance''' (ゲームボーイアドバンス) or '''GBA''' is a handheld video game console released by [[Nintendo]] in 2001. It is a successor to the [[Game Boy]] line of handhelds, and was Nintendo's handheld platform of choice before the release of the [[Nintendo DS]] in late 2004.
  
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==Hardware==
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==Overview==
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The Game Boy Advance stands as one of Nintendo's most successful handheld systems, remaining virtually uncontested throughout its run (competitors included the short-lived [[Neo Geo Pocket Color]] by [[SNK]] and various iterations of the WonderSwan by [[Bandai]]) thanks to then-cutting edge technical might (for a handheld, anyway) and its large array of third-party backers. The GBA is fully backwards compatible with earlier iterations of the Game Boy, though is now held sideways, has a widescreen display and adds {{L}} and {{R}} buttons.
  
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This successor to the popular [[Game Boy]] can run almost all legacy GB software (that is, software developed for [[Game Boy]] and Game Boy Color machines) and new software developed for the more advanced capabilities of the system. It has hardware support for simple 2D operations using graphical elements called [[sprite]]s. 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 you see 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.
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The Game Boy Advance was an extremely profitable venture for Nintendo, sporting high build quality, a large library of games and importantly for handhelds, a long battery life. Original models did not have backlit screens, something which was addressed in the late 2003 release of the flip-top Game Boy Advance SP, and the unsuccessful cost-cut Game Boy Micro (which cannot play older Game Boy/Game Boy Color games), released in 2005.
  
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It has a custom 32-bit 16.8 MHz ARM processor based on a [[RISC]] architecture, which is much more compatible with the C programming language than the 8-bit [[Z80]] compatible 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]] compatible processor to provide support for legacy GB software; however, both processors cannot be active at the same time.
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==Sega Support==
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Contrary to popular belief, the Game Boy Advance was not the first Nintendo console to be supported by its old rival, Sega, but the company did make a strong impact with the likes of ''[[ChuChu Rocket!]]'', ''[[Super Monkey Ball Jr.]]'' and the much anticipated ''[[Sonic Advance]]'' shortly after the system's launch. Roughly fifty games were published by Sega for the system in total, most of which were co-published by [[THQ]] in the west due to various financial and logistical issues.
  
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The LCD display is capable of a maximum of 240x160 [[pixel]]s in 15 bit color (32768 colors). This display includes more pixels than Game Boy's 160x144; when playing legacy games, the user can press the {{L}} or {{R}} button to switch the display between 160x144 with a black border and scaling to 240x144 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.
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Some of Sega's output, such as ''[[Crazy Taxi: Catch a Ride]]'', is said to have pushed the Game Boy Advance hardware to the edge, and other big properties came to the system in the form of ''[[Jet Set Radio (Game Boy Advance)|Jet Set Radio]]'', ''[[Space Channel 5: Ulala's Cosmic Attack]]'', ''[[Shining Soul]]'' and ''[[Sega Rally Championship (Game Boy Advance)|Sega Rally Championship]]''.
  
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The GBA's picture generator has six display modes (three tiled and three bitmap) and 96 KB 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 KB of RAM for tile and map data and 32 KB 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 KB of RAM for tile and map data and 16 KiB for sprite cel data. In all modes, it can show up to 128 sprites (individually controllable small moving objects) of 8x8 up to 64x64 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.
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Like most third-party publishers, Sega quickly moved to Nintendo DS development at the quickest opportunity, with support drying up entirely by late 2006/early 2007.
  
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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 megabits or 32 binary megabytes), 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 2003, no published GBA titles have such bankswitching hardware because 32 MiB of ROM is still too expensive for the price point at which most GBA games are sold.
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==List of Sega games for the Game Boy Advance==
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{{BulletPointGameList|GBA}}
  
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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.
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===By region===
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*[[List of Game Boy Advance games in Australia]]
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*[[List of Game Boy Advance games in Brazil]]
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*[[List of Game Boy Advance games in Canada]]
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*[[List of Game Boy Advance games in France]]
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*[[List of Game Boy Advance games in Germany]]
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*[[List of Game Boy Advance games in Italy]]
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*[[List of Game Boy Advance games in Japan]]
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*[[List of Game Boy Advance games in Mexico]]
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*[[List of Game Boy Advance games in Russia]]
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*[[List of Game Boy Advance games in South Korea]]
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*[[List of Game Boy Advance games in Spain]]
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*[[List of Game Boy Advance games in Taiwan]]
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*[[List of Game Boy Advance games in the United Kingdom]]
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*[[List of Game Boy Advance games in the United States]]
  
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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 you're using two GBAs.
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==Other Game Boy Advance games also released for Sega systems==
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{{NonSegaList|GBA}}
  
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A wireless adapter was released on September 7, 2004 in the US. 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. [http://www.nintendo.com/gamelist?start=1&oord=asc&osort=title&sort=&cmd=&toggle=true&query=&tf=&cf=&sf=&ef=&rf=&pf=&af=New%21+Game+Boy+Advance+Wireless+Adapter&vf=&nf= list]
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==Gallery==
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<gallery>
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File:GBASP.jpg|Game Boy Advance SP
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File:GBAMicro.jpg|Game Boy Micro
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</gallery>
  
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The GBA is powered by 2 AA batteries which give about 15 hours of play time, as well as an optional power supply that plugs directly into the GBA's battery bracket.
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==Promotional material==
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===Game Boy Advance===
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<gallery>
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NintendoSpaceworld2000PressDisc GBA BLUE&ORANGE.png
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GCGBAMediaInformation agb indigo front 03.png
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GCGBAMediaInformation agb glacier front 03.png
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GCGBAMediaInformation agb arctic front 03.png
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GCGBAMediaInformation agb fucshia front 01.png
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GCGBAMediaInformation agb platinum angle 03.png
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</gallery>
  
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By early 2002, hardware became readily available for moving user code onto GBA hardware. For example, in December 2001, a flash memory cartridge plus writing hardware could be had for less than $200US, and a $50 device emulates a 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 this, a homebrew software development community has sprung up; see ( [http://www.gbadev.org] ). Nintendo, however, has a history of viewing such devices as piracy tools, since they can be used to copy cartridges containing copyrighted software. In February of 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.
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===Game Boy Advance SP===
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<gallery>
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NintendoHolidayPressCD2003 All GBA SP Colors 1.jpg
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NintendoHolidayPressCD2003 All GBA SP Colors 2.jpg
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NintendoHolidayPressCD2003 Cobalt and Platinum GBA SP.jpg
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NintendoHolidayPressCD2003 Onyx and Flame GBA SP.jpg
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NintendoHolidayPressCD2003 Flame GBA SP 1.jpg
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NintendoHolidayPressCD2003 Flame GBA SP 2.jpg
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NintendoHolidayPressCD2003 Onyx GBA SP.jpg
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</gallery>
  
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== Game Boy Advance SP ==
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==References==
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In early 2003, the Game Boy Advance received an upgrade. Nintendo implemented an internal light, a rechargeable lithium ion battery (similar to that of most mobile phones) which lasts approximately 18 hours with the light off and 10 with it on, as well as a folding case approximately half the size of the GBA. Nintendo removed the headphone jack, which had previously been on all GB models, but headphones can be used with adapter. This folding case design is presumably to protect the screen. The new model is called the '''Game Boy Advance SP''', in which ''SP'' stands for ''special''. Nintendo moved away from a statement made before the original Game Boy Advance was released, in which they stated that the Game Boy Advance would not have an internal light or a rechargeable battery due to cost issues. Because of technological advances since the original model came out, it was possible to adapt the new version to include an internal light and a rechargeable battery and yet launch at the same price the original had launched at in 2001 ($99.99).  However, some suspect that the real motivation may have been a need to respond to Triton Labs' Afterburner aftermarket internal light kit, which proved that the original GBA could easily support an internal light without a major drop in battery life expectancy. In September 2004, [[Nintendo]] announced that the Game Boy Advance SP's price would drop to $79.99.
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<references />
  
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In September 2005, Nintendo "quietly" released a new revision of the SP with a backlit screen. The new screen offers much better contrast, albeit with slightly more blurring than the frontlit screen. The new SP can be discerned by a graphic on the box exclaiming "Now with a BRIGHTER backlit screen!"
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{{NonSegaConsoles}}
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====Game Boy Micro====
 
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GameBoy Micro was the last installment in the Gameboy family. It plays all Gameboy ADVANCE (GBA) games and comes with all GBA SP features, but the size is smaller than ever, so is the weight. Being a tiny 10 cm (4") by 5 cm (2"), and a stunning 1.7 cm (.7") thin, it's around the same size as an iPod Mini, but just two thirds of the weight. This is something that you can just slip into the pocket of your jeans, and at under 80 grams (2.8 ounces), Gameboy Micro is half the weight of a GBA SP. In a tradeoff for its new smaller size, backwards compatibility with the original Gameboy and Gameboy color cartridges was removed.
 
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==Game Boy Player==
 
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In mid-2003, Nintendo released the Game Boy Player, which allows Game Boy and Game Boy Advance games to be played on the [[Nintendo GameCube]] (NGC). It uses the same color palette as built into the cart.  The unit connects to the bottom of the GameCube.
 
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==Games==
 
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Although a large number of games have been released for the Game Boy Advance, relatively few are considered classics.  The system has developed a reputation in some quarters for poor quality games, generic [[Platform game|platformer]]s, mode 7 racers or unsuccessful attempts to push 3D onto the system.  Many of the best reviewed games are ports from [[Nintendo]]'s back catalogue.
 
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==External links==
 
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*[http://www.n-sider.com N-Sider] - Nintendo fansite database
 
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*[http://www.elook.org/games/cheats/gba/ eLook Game Boy Advance Cheats]
 
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*[http://www.consoledatabase.com Console Database] - Game Boy Advance Info and Game Cheats
 
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{{SonicAdvGames}}
 
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[[Category:Hardware]]
 
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[[Category:Nintendo]]
 

Latest revision as of 16:50, 22 February 2022

Gameboy advance logo.svg
GameBoyAdvance.png
Game Boy Advance
Manufacturer: Nintendo
Variants: Game Boy Advance SP, Game Boy Micro
Release Date RRP Code
Game Boy Advance
JP
Game Boy Advance
US 		$99.9599.95[1]
Game Boy Advance
EU
Game Boy Advance
AU

The Game Boy Advance (ゲームボーイアドバンス) or GBA is a handheld video game console released by Nintendo in 2001. It is a successor to the Game Boy line of handhelds, and was Nintendo's handheld platform of choice before the release of the Nintendo DS in late 2004.

Overview

The Game Boy Advance stands as one of Nintendo's most successful handheld systems, remaining virtually uncontested throughout its run (competitors included the short-lived Neo Geo Pocket Color by SNK and various iterations of the WonderSwan by Bandai) thanks to then-cutting edge technical might (for a handheld, anyway) and its large array of third-party backers. The GBA is fully backwards compatible with earlier iterations of the Game Boy, though is now held sideways, has a widescreen display and adds L and R buttons.

The Game Boy Advance was an extremely profitable venture for Nintendo, sporting high build quality, a large library of games and importantly for handhelds, a long battery life. Original models did not have backlit screens, something which was addressed in the late 2003 release of the flip-top Game Boy Advance SP, and the unsuccessful cost-cut Game Boy Micro (which cannot play older Game Boy/Game Boy Color games), released in 2005.

Sega Support

Contrary to popular belief, the Game Boy Advance was not the first Nintendo console to be supported by its old rival, Sega, but the company did make a strong impact with the likes of ChuChu Rocket!, Super Monkey Ball Jr. and the much anticipated Sonic Advance shortly after the system's launch. Roughly fifty games were published by Sega for the system in total, most of which were co-published by THQ in the west due to various financial and logistical issues.

Some of Sega's output, such as Crazy Taxi: Catch a Ride, is said to have pushed the Game Boy Advance hardware to the edge, and other big properties came to the system in the form of Jet Set Radio, Space Channel 5: Ulala's Cosmic Attack, Shining Soul and Sega Rally Championship.

Like most third-party publishers, Sega quickly moved to Nintendo DS development at the quickest opportunity, with support drying up entirely by late 2006/early 2007.

List of Sega games for the Game Boy Advance

By region

Other Game Boy Advance games also released for Sega systems

Gallery

  • Game Boy Advance SP

  • Game Boy Micro

Promotional material

Game Boy Advance

  • NintendoSpaceworld2000PressDisc GBA BLUE&ORANGE.png
  • GCGBAMediaInformation agb indigo front 03.png
  • GCGBAMediaInformation agb glacier front 03.png
  • GCGBAMediaInformation agb arctic front 03.png
  • GCGBAMediaInformation agb fucshia front 01.png
  • GCGBAMediaInformation agb platinum angle 03.png

Game Boy Advance SP

  • NintendoHolidayPressCD2003 All GBA SP Colors 1.jpg
  • NintendoHolidayPressCD2003 All GBA SP Colors 2.jpg
  • NintendoHolidayPressCD2003 Cobalt and Platinum GBA SP.jpg
  • NintendoHolidayPressCD2003 Onyx and Flame GBA SP.jpg
  • NintendoHolidayPressCD2003 Flame GBA SP 1.jpg
  • NintendoHolidayPressCD2003 Flame GBA SP 2.jpg
  • NintendoHolidayPressCD2003 Onyx GBA SP.jpg

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 http://www.nintendo.com/news/news_articles.jsp?articleID=3950 (Wayback Machine: 2001-06-09 22:28)


Non-Sega consoles
Nintendo
Nintendo Entertainment System (1983) | Game Boy (1989) | Super Nintendo Entertainment System (1990) | Nintendo 64 (1996) | Game Boy Color (1998) | Game Boy Advance (2001) | Nintendo GameCube (2001) | Nintendo DS (2004) | Wii (2006) | Nintendo 3DS (2011) | Wii U (2012) | Nintendo Switch (2017)
Sony
PlayStation (1994) | PlayStation 2 (2000) | PlayStation Portable (2004) | PlayStation 3 (2006) | PlayStation Vita (2011) | PlayStation 4 (2013) | PlayStation 5 (2020)
Microsoft
Xbox (2001) | Xbox 360 (2005) | Xbox One (2013) | Xbox Series X (2020)
Mobile
iOS | Android | Windows Phone
Other
Atari 2600 (1977) | Intellivision (1979) | ColecoVision (1982) | Atari 5200 (1982) | PC Engine (1987) | CD-ROM² (1988) | Super CD-ROM² (1991) | R-Zone (1995) | Game.com (1997) | WonderSwan (1999) | Neo Geo Pocket Color (1999) | N-Gage (2003) | LeapFrog Didj (2008) | Stadia (2019)
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