Game Boy Advance

The Game Boy Advance (GBA) is a 32 bit handheld manufactured and created by Nintendo and was released in 2001.

History
During the life of the Game Boy, Nintendo released models of the Game Boy that had new features, like Colours, light and making it smaller, but not revamping the console entirely, the console was shown off at SpaceWorld 2000 with a prototype design of the GBA, but the console was announced as early as August 1999. The console was launched somewhere in the middle of 2001, and had over 60 games by the end of 2001, most first parties, and some third parties. The handheld was capable of having 2-Dimensional but also "3D" gameplay, with a Mode 7 type, that was used on the SNES, for example "Mario kart Super Circuit". Some games allowed players to use there Gamecubes to link both consoles to each other, but they had to have the games for it to work.

The handheld was a success but had some problems, for one is that the screen didn't have a back-light, a common thing on older Game Boy models, except for the Game Boy Light, this can be hard to play games on, and required people to play under light, that was until 2003, when Nintendo released a more sleeker, bigger and brighter version of the GBA The Game Boy Advance SP, is a clam-shelled handheld that acted as a upgrade to the normal version, it was the first to have a backlight, which was a plus to the GBA, and Nintendo further used the SP throughout the rest of the life, the GBA and Sp had there own designs, stickers, patterns or coloured versions of the consoles, usually made for special events. In 2004 Nintendo released "Game Boy Advance Video" which had cartoons, anime and movies on the GBA, it had channels such as Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, Disney, etc, And had movie companies like DreamWorks, the line was successful and it leaded into the early life of the DS, the Video carts had a different colour to differ themselves from the games, these videos were also backwards compatible with DS models. In 2005, Nintendo released NES games on the GBA, during the 20th anniversary of the NES's release, it had first party games and third parties, in Japan they had a Famicon version, that released Japan exclusive games.

Also in 2003, Nintendo created the Game Boy Player for the Gamecube, it allowed players to not only play GBA games but also Game Boy games and GBC games to.

Later Life
When the DS was released, GBA games, video and models where still being produced, with a new model in 2005, the Game Boy Micro, a smaller version of a GBA, it could play on GBA games, no Original Game Boy, neither GBC games, also during this time, by 2005, kids games where mostly released, that only wanted money, after 2005, the Game Boy Micro was the last model Nintendo made for the Game Boy line, and as late in 2008, it was discontinued, serving most of the 2000's, at the end of it's life it sold 81 Million units, making it one of the most sold handhelds ever.

Success
The console in total sold 81 Million units, and mostly had positive reviews, with some griping the back light on the original model, there are around 1400-1500 games available on the GBA, if you'd count the video packs, double paks and etc. The handheld is still fondly remembered due to the games and the way the console sold, it is ranked 10# in most sold consoles.

Trivia

 * The console acted as a portable SNES, while the DS acted as a portable N64.
 * You couldn't play Video Carts on the GameBoy Player, the reason is that the government doesn't want bootleg recordings of TV shows or movies, another reason is that it would look crusty.
 * Even some GBC games could interact with GBA games.
 * The Sp clam-shell design was later used on the DS, a year later.
 * The SP means Special.
 * This console also suffered from shovelware, other consoles to like the Playstation 2, the Wii, and the DS.