The Most Important part of any system is its games! Learn about some of the things you'll be playing on GBA!
Will Game Boy Advance be able to play Game Boy and Game Boy Color games?
Yes, absolutely. Nintendo has stated that, like Game Boy Color before it, GBA will be able to play all older Game Boy titles. Thus far, no word has been given whether or not this will create any sort of enhancements to older games.
Will a Japanese Game Boy Advance play U.S. games?
There has been no official word from Nintendo about multi-country gaming. Previous incarnations of Game Boy (original GB, GB Pocket, and GB Color) have had no trouble playing games from other countries. Does this mean that GBA will follow suit? Not necessarily, but unless this writer hears something official to the contrary, he’ll be importing a GBA from Japan with the assumption that he can play U.S. games when they are available. What's more, with Nintendo mass producing GBAs as quickly as they can for all territories worldwide, it seems reasonable to assume that they'll keep the hardware the same for all territories.
Speaking of importing, how do I go about doing that?
A quick search on the internet with a decent search engine should provide a list of import gaming companies. If you’re too lazy to look for yourself, you can try www.buyrite.net or www.ncsx.com. PlanetGameCube hopes to have more import coverage as the system gets closer, though you can expect to pay around $150+ U.S. for your system.
What medium will GBA use for games?
GBA will use cartridges. They are durable and travel much better than most other media. Also, since Game Boy Advance is backwards compatible, a cartridge format is necessary.
How large will the cartridges be?
Physically, the cartridges are actually smaller than the original Game Boy carts. The exact dimensions are unknown, but photos from ECTS 2001 have shown that original Game Boy carts will stick out from the top of the handheld, while GBA carts fit snuggly within the system like the original carts did with GBC, GB Pocket, and the original GB. In regard to memory size, cartridge sizes may go up to 256 mb (the size of Zelda 64 and Turok 2,) but initial games are likely to be in the 64 mb (Mario 64, Wave Race 64) to 96 mb (Star Fox 64, Mario Kart 64) range.
How much will games cost?
Japanese games are expected to retail around 4500 ¥. Games in the U.S. will be priced in the $29.95 to $39.95 range. European and Australian prices have not been announced yet (as of 3/7/01).
What games will be available for the Game Boy Advance when it launches?
The list of games continues to grow and the Japanese launch list is already quite large (25 games) while the American launch list is solid too (15 games).
Japanese Launch titles:
- Advance GTA (MTO)
- All Japan GT Championship (Kemco)
- Boku Wa Koukuu Kansei-Kan ("I Am an Air System Controller") (Tam)
- Castlevania: Circle of the Moon (Konami)
- Chu Chu Rocket (Sega)
- Dodge Ball Fighters (Atlus)
- EZ Talk (Keynet)
- Fire Pro Wrestling Ace (Spike)
- F-Zero: Maximum Velocity (Nintendo)
- Golf Master: Japan Golf Tour Game (Konami)
- J-League Pocket (Konami)
- Kuru Kuru Kurin (Nintendo)
- Momotaro Festival (Hudson)
- Monster Guardians (Konami)
- Mr. Driller 2 (Namco)
- Napolean (Nintendo)
- Pinobee's Great Adventure (Hudson)
- Power Pro-kun Pocket (Konami)
- Rockman EXE (Capcom)
- Silent Hill (Konami)
- Super Mario Advance (Nintendo)
- Tweety's Hearty Party (Kemco)
- Wai Wai Racing Advance (Konami)
- Winning Post (Koei)
- Yu-gi Ou: Dungeon Monsters (Konami)
American Launch titles:
- Army Men Advance (3DO)
- ChuChu Rocket! (Sega)
- Dodge Ball Advance (Atlus)
- Fire Pro Wrestling (BAM)
- Fortress (Majesco)
- F-Zero: Maximum Velocity (Nintendo)
- High Heat Major League Baseball 2002 (3DO)
- Iridion 3D (Majesco)
- Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure (Majesco)
- Rayman (Ubi Soft)
- Ready 2 Rumble Boxing: Round 2 (Midway)
- Super Mario Advance (Nintendo)
- Tony Hawk's Pro Skater (Activision)
- Top Gear GT Championship (Kemco)
- Tweety and the Magic Jewel (Kemco)
That's great, but what can we expect after the GBA launches?
Few specific release dates have been revealed for GBA titles outside of the launch lineup, but rest assured that there will be a steady lineup of games. Nintendo has said that it expects over 60 games to be available by Christmas 2001.
So what other games are in development for the system?
There are plenty of games in development for the GBA, many of which have yet to be officially announced. According to Nintendo, over 130 developers worldwide are expected to work on GBA games. More than 70 developers attended Nintendo’s GBA Developers’ Conference last April. Expect most, if not all, Game Boy Color developers as well as some new ones to work on games for the GBA. After all, it is the heir to the most prolific console in history and as of this point, GBA looks to unchallenged as the next-generation handheld of choice.
You can also track information on these games in our Game Section.
How far along are games now?
Game Boy Advance development kits have been available to developers since at least early 2000 and real development of GBA games has probably been going on for many months now. There were several playable demos at Space World and the subsequent Tokyo Game show in the fall. Looking at the launch lineups, it's safe to say that several games are already done, and many more will be completed in the upcoming months. Of course, there are probably many other games in various stages of development but the real point is that enough games are done or nearly done to have a nice launch lineup followed by a steady stream of titles.
Will there be any Pokemon games for AGB?
Although there will definitely be Pokemon themed software for AGB, the collectible cuties may no longer hold the limelight. Hiroshi Yamauchi has stated that the main software for the Gameboy Advance "won't be Pokemon, but something different which will be able to replace it even after the popularity of Pokemon dies away." (Pokemon’s popularity dying away? Some of us only wish…)
Having said that, at Nintendo's Game Boy Advance press unveiling, has stated that the next Pokemon game is underway and should be the flagship title for the new E-Card system.
What’s this about Yoshi’s Story about Game Boy Advance?
One of the demos Nintendo has used to illustrate the system’s capability featured a partial version of Yoshi’s Story (N64). It was a playable demo that showed off the system’s various features such as sprite scaling and rotating effects. It is unknown if this demo represents an actual game in development, but recent news has hinted that it may in fact be developed into a full game.
Will Square be making games for the Game Boy Advance?
Maybe, though currently Nintendo / Square relations seem a bit stormy.
At a January 2000 meeting, Final Fantasy creator Hironobi Sakaguchi commented that remakes of Final Fantasy IV, V, and VI are technically impossible on the Wonderswan Color and expressed interest in bringing remakes of these games to GBA.
Shortly after, NCL President Hiroshi Yamauchi stated that although Square might want to make games for GBA, it was unlikely Nintendo would make any agreement with the company. It is rumored that Yamauchi is playing hardball in an attempt to encourage Square to develop for NGC as well as GBA.
For more on Square, check out the Square dedicated section of the NGC FAQ.
What’s the deal with Metroid?
Officially, there is no word on Metroid. Nintendo of Europe listed the game on a release list, but they are often the least informed of Nintendo’s subsidiaries. It’s quite likely we’ll see Samus Aran on the GBA in some form, however, the details on when and how this will happen remain unknown. Because we don't know any better, we've compiled a profile on all the news on a possible "Metroid Advance" game. Check it out for more on this confusing topic.
With Metroid for NGC set to be a First Person Shooter, many wonder if a handheld 2D Metroid might be the cure to those who have been disappointed by the news.
Recent announcements have spoken about a Metroid title for the GBA, but it is unknown whether it is merely a port of Super Metroid or if it an entirely new game.
Will we see a lot of SNES ports?
There is a good possibility that we will see classic SNES games ported to Game Boy Advance. Because the handheld has many graphic features in common with the SNES such as Mode 7, ports of old SNES favorites may be an attractive way for developers to get a feel for the system before beginning development on completely new games.
During an interview with Beth Llewelyn at Space World 2000, Billy asked about SNES and N64 ports on N64. Beth had this to say: "I'm sure we'll see some. There are plenty of stable characters, and it's very easy to soup up the franchise. I think that there will be a lot of new games coming to GBA, original ideas, but primarily the technology is so close that it's easy to port from one to the other."
Will Sega make games for the GBA?
Yes. Nintendo's former rival has announce it will release Sonic Advance, Chu Chu Rocket Advance and Puyo Puyo on the GBA.
It was long speculated and rumored that Sega would develop software for the Game Boy console and with the company's departure from the hardware business this has become a reality. Sega is now platform agnostic and stands to become a major 3rd party developer for all systems.
Since Sega's only (and final) existing hardware is the Dreamcast, the company has not been in the handheld business for a long time. Therefore, the GBA has never been a direct competitor to Sega & negotiations with Nintendo seem to have been underway for some time.
Sega has already developed a Sonic game for Neo-Geo Pocket. Furthermore, given a chance to deny any Sega/Nintendo rumors in an interview with Gameweek, NOA’s Peter Main answered with a “No comment. (smiles)”
When will we see games that take advantage of the GBA/GameCube connectivity?
It’s hard to say exactly when this will happen. Although it’s possible some of the GBA titles shown at Space World have GameCube counterparts in the works. Obviously, taking full advantage of such connectivity will have to wait until Nintendo launches GameCube.
It is likely Nintendo, Konami, and Mobile 21 will lead the way in connective games as they have been at the center of GBA/GameCube connectivity. There may even be a game near GameCube’s launch from one of the previous 3 developers that showcases the unique gameplay possibilities offered by connectivity. Third party developers will probably enter the fray only after Nintendo has led the way.
What exactly will this connectivity be? What’s it going to do for gamers?
There are no definite answers for this question, though this has not stopped both idle and educated speculation. Nintendo will definitely provide some answers at Space World 2000, yet could be conservative about how much it reveals. The GBA / GameCube interaction is one of Nintendo’s trump cards in the next-generation console battle—one it may want to guard until the last minute.
Popular speculation is that the GBA will act as a personal screen similar to the VMU for Dreamcast. This would be useful in competitive games that require strategy or planning since it would allow for decisions to remain private. Another idea is that the GBA could display a radar or map in an action game, which would keep the main screen uncluttered.
Another possibility is that GBA/GameCube connectivity will be similar to what is done between the Game Boy and N64 via the transfer pak. This would allow for special items or cheats to be unlocked by connecting the two games. It could also allow game/character data to be transferred back and forth between games, though in a passive manner; meaning that it is done in a special menu, not in the actual gameplay itself. This could actually be the early approach to connectivity as it simply uses the established connective model for Game Boy and N64 and applies it to new systems.
A third possibility would allow for the two systems to actively play games together. This would require active game data transfer and would probably be the most exciting of possibilities. An example of this type of exchange would be to have a Wing Commander type space shooter game where the main game is played on the GameCube but a connected GBA would allow a person to act as a tail gunner. One player would fly the ship on the GameCube while the other would gun on the GBA and working in tandem in real-time with the pilot. Whether this will actually be possible remains to be seen, as the true nature of GBA/GameCube connectivity remains a mystery.
(Ed says: There are several developmental issues that I can think of off the top of my head for this type of interaction, but it would be very exciting to see it done.)
One confirmed aspect of interactivity is that the GBA can plug into the GameCube and be used as a controller, as discussed in the Controller section of the GameCube FAQ.