Game Boy Advance

The Game Boy Advance is a handheld game system created by Nintendo. It was the fourth system in the Game Boy series. It has backwards compatibility to the Game Boy and Game Boy Color. The Game Boy Advance (all versions) have sold 81.50 million units worldwide according to Nintendo. It was discontinued in 2008.

Game Boy Advance SP
The Game Boy Advance SP was an upgraded version of the original GBA first released in 2003. It featured a new design, with a clamshell style and front-lit screen. It also came with a rechargeable battery, rather than requiring AA's. The only major drawback was the absence of a headphone jack. The "SP" stands for "Special". Later Nintendo also released a back-lit version. The two colors were Pearl Blue and Pearl Pink. The Game Boy Advance SP sold 43.55 million units worldwide. This system also had backwards compatibility to play Game Boy and Game Boy Color games.

Release Dates

 * Japan: February 14, 2003
 * North America: March 23, 2003
 * Europe: March 28, 2003
 * Austrailia: March 28, 2003
 * China: 2003

Game Boy Micro
The Game Boy Micro is the third design of the GBA that was first released in 2005. At a size of only four inches wide, two inches tall, less than an inch deep, and a weight of 2.8 ounces, it is smaller than any other system in the Game Boy line. Its screen is slightly smaller than that of the GBA and SP, but it maintains the same resolution. It is not backwards compatible. It comes with an adjustable backlight for playing in the dark. A 20th anniversary edition was released to honor the anniversary of the NES. The GBA Micro sold 2.42 million units worldwide.

Release Dates

 * Japan: September 13, 2005
 * North America: September 19, 2005
 * Austrailia: November 3, 2005
 * Europe: November 4, 2005
 * China: March 23, 2006

Game Boy Player
The Game Boy Player was not an actual system. Instead, it was an add-on accessory for the Nintendo GameCube which allowed players to play Game Boy Advance games on their televisions, much like the Super Game Boy. A few games had a rumble feature which took effect only when they were played with a standard GameCube controller. Later on though, Nintendo added a smaller version of one to the front of the Nintendo DS.

Trivia

 * In Luigi's Mansion, there's a Boo called "Game Boo Advance".
 * The Game Boy Horror SP is a parody of the Game Boy Advance SP.
 * In WarioWare: Touched!, the Game Boy Advance makes cameos in the game. One of the game handhelds was stolen by Wario, most of them were thrown by the audience at Vanessa (who was pretending to be Mona), in 9-Volt's intro cutscene and microgames, and a monitor shown during Mona's microgame stage resembled a Game Boy Advance.
 * In Wario World, one of the treasures is a Game Boy Advance.
 * In Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, a Game Boy Advance is used as the terminal at the Glitz Pit, where Mario and his party set up their matches. Additionally, Mario carries with him an e-mail device called the "Mailbox SP," which resembles a Game Boy Advance SP. A humorous in-dialogue reference is made by Pennington if Mario should ask his opinion on what Bub wants for his birthday; the Bumpty confidently assumes it is a Game Boy Advance, being "what young children his age crave above all things!"