Game Boy Advance

The Nintendo Corporation released the Nintendo Game Boy Advance in 2001. The system was originally released in Japan, much like most the other previous Nintendo game consoles, and would soon find its way to other markets including North America and Australia and finally China by 2004.

As far back as 1996, several game industry magazines included issues speaking about the Nintendo Game Boy Advance that was known as codename Project Atlantis. Originally the expected release date of Project Atlantis was 1997, however, what they thought was the Nintendo Game Boy Advance, was only the Nintendo Game Boy Colour.

The Nintendo Game Boy Advance was backwards compatible with not only the Nintendo Game Boy games, but the Nintendo Game Boy Colour games as well. This handheld features an 8.4 MHz processor, and also was able to be connected via a link port to either another Game Boy Advance unit or the Nintendo Game Cube.

Two years after the release of the Nintendo Game Boy Advance, Nintendo would also release the Nintendo Game Boy Advance SP. This Nintendo Game Boy Advance SP featured a rechargeable lithium battery and a bright LCD screen.

Two years after the initial release of the Nintendo Game Boy Advance, Nintendo would also release the Nintendo Game Boy Micro. This micro version featured a backlit screen, rather than a front lit screen that could be seen in the Nintendo Game Boy Advance SP. This micro unit also featured a variety of wireless adapters and special release versions of the world's most popular handheld gaming console.

Although there were a lot of official accessories, there were also a lot of unofficial accessories which included items such as the Afterburner, which featured a front lighting system that can be easily removed from the handheld device. Generally, most of the unofficial accessories were available for the Nintendo Game Boy Advance, including items that had to do with the lighting of the screen. There is also an unofficial TV tuner that could be plugged into the Nintendo Game Boy Advance to allow you to watch TV through this handheld.

Much like many of the other previous Nintendo game consoles, Nintendo Game Boy Advance also had their own version of the Game Shark. The Game Shark is a cheat cartridge that fits in between the game cartridge and the handheld console itself, allowing you to cheat your way through the game.

Another device was also a digicam that could be included with the Nintendo Game Boy Advance SP. There are several different aftermarket versions of this digicam available. That included the Digicam SP and Worm Cam. Both of these units were designed to sit on top of the Nintendo Game Boy Advance and plugged directly into the link port similar to the way in which you connect headphones to the system.