Game Boy Advance: The torch shall be passed...

Nintendo is set to launch its latest handheld gaming unit, the Game Boy Advance (or GBA), on June 11th, 2001, for the manufacturer's suggested retail price of $99.95. The GBA has some serious potential, as it not only has Nintendo's backing, but also has almost every major third-party publisher interested in making games for it. The system is as close to a portable Super Nintendo (or SNES) as you can get, and a few of the system's early titles (such as F-Zero: Maximum Velocity, Super Mario Advance, and Mario Kart Advance) will likely leave you with that warm and fuzzy nostalgic feeling. While there are a few concerns about the unit, such as its rather high price tag and the continued lack of a backlighting system for playing in dark areas, the system will almost undoubtedly be highly successful and may just wind up being the must-have game system this year, even more so than any of its console competitors.

Looking at the system specifications, the GBA's 32-bit CPU makes the unit the first 32-bit handheld to become available. The unit has better resolution than the Game Boy Color (meaning that the graphics will look a bit cleaner) and can display almost 10 times the amount of color simultaneously than that of the Game Boy Color. The system will run on only two AA batteries, like the Game Boy Color, but the expected battery life has been boosted by five hours, which is a nice bonus. The GBA also has backward-compatibility capability, which means that you'll be able to play most of your Game Boy Color or original Game Boy games on the new unit. Initial reports out of Japan are indicating that there are some older games that do not work properly with the GBA, but Nintendo of America has yet to release any information on this. I would advise you to monitor this situation by checking at Nintendo's website occasionally (http://www.nintendo.com) to check for possible reports of incompatibility; it's not expected to be a major issue at this time, but PlayStation 2 owners have experienced similar issues with certain well-liked older PlayStation games.

The system's initial games lineup looks to have a lot of bases covered. Aside from SNES remakes like F-Zero: Maximum Velocity and Super Mario Advance, here are the other games slated for release at launch:

Army Men Advance (Action, from 3D0)
ChuChu Rocket! (Puzzle, from Sega)
Dodge Ball Advance (Sports/Action, from Atlus)
Fire Pro Wrestling (Sports, from BAM)
Fortress (Puzzle, from Majesco)
High Heat Baseball (Sports, from 3D0)
Iridion 3D (Shooter, from Majesco)
Pitfall (Action/Adventure, from Majesco)
Rayman (Platform, from Ubi Soft)
Ready 2 Rumble Boxing (Sports, from Midway)
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater (Sports, from Activision)
Top Gear GT Championship (Racing, from Kemco)
Tweety and the Magic Jewel (Platform, from Kemco)

The future lineup also shows great promise, with a new Castlevania adventure and a Mario Kart remake on the horizon, and many other popular franchises that will likely get the GBA treatment over the coming months. With the GBA being the only new handheld unit available, developers will be working overtime to get some quality software out for it. The sky seems to be the limit, as far as software development is concerned, and as developers really get a handle on the hardware, you can expect to see some truly great things.

So is the GBA is must-buy? Yes... if you can afford it. Nintendo is charging $100 for the unit, which might not seem like much for a 32-bit handheld unit; however, the unit is selling in Japan for an average of $15 - $17 less than Nintendo will be charging here. We could be lucky that Nintendo is charging only $100; with a lack of competition in the handheld marketplace, Nintendo easily could have put a higher price tag on the GBA. The GBA's games will also cost between $30 - $40, which is a solid $10 increase over current Game Boy Color games. Yes, the games may look better, but the overall cost of the GBA may prove to be financially cumbersome for some people, especially in light of the current downward trend of the US economy. I was initially surprised by Nintendo's moves in the pricing arena, but thinking back to Nintendo's other dominant period (1986-1990) when the Nintendo Entertainment System was king, Nintendo also inflated prices at that time, too. Until Nintendo sees some kind of competition in the handheld marketplace, don't look for any price drops in the near future.

Despite its inflated price tag, the Game Boy Advance has the potential to be the biggest seller this year. The system has all of the ingredients for success; it'll have great games right away with more to come, it'll be the cheapest debuting game system available, and you can play it anywhere. While Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft fight for console bragging rights, the GBA is Nintendo's trump card and will likely be very successful this year. One least thing to keep in mind is that system supply will likely be limited at the onset, so if you decide that you want to purchase a GBA-- either for a loved one or even yourself-- make sure that you reserve one soon.