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Hardware Information

Full Specification CPU:

· Memory embedded 32-bit RISC CPU (CPU core design by ARM)
· LCD: Reflective TFT Color LCD Display
· Screen Size: 40.8mm x 61.2mm Resolution: 240 x 160 pixels
· Maximum colors to be displayed simultaneously: 511 (out of a possible 32,000)
· Size: Approximately Height 80mm / Width 135mm / Depth 25mm
· Weight: Approximately 140g
· Power Supply: 2 AA Alkaline batteries

Price:

· The manufacturers reccomended retail price will be $99.95 in America.
· In Japan it will be 9800Yen.
· In the UK the GBA will be around £80
· While the actual games will be around $29.95 to $39.95

Graphics:


The GBA has a 32-bit processor, similar to the Sony PlayStation. Unfortunately the console has no seperate 3D processor. This means the console that it will not have as good graphics as the Playstation, but this is still good for a handheld console. This means that most of the games will either be 2D or fake 3D. The GBA has a resolution of 240x160 pixels this a lot higher than the Game Boy Color's. This means that objects on screen can be far more detailed and sharper. It can dispaly 511 colors from a palette of 32,768 which is an improvement on the Game Boy Color's 56 colors from a palette of 32,000. Unfortunately the GBA does not have a backlit screen, but it has a TFT reflective screen. This in someways is better as with a backlit screen, it needs to be viewed directly from the front whereas the TFT reflective screen can be viewed from any angle.

Buttons and Control:

Unlike the Gameboy Color and Gameboy the Gameboy advance is vertically aligned. This allows two shoulder buttons to be added to the system. This has great implications, for example, on beat 'em up games on the Gameboy there were only two buttons to do moves with, but now on the GBA it has four. Also it has the two A and B buttons, start and select buttons and an eight way digital pad.

Multi-player game link-up and GameCube link-up:

The GBA can link up to three other GBA’s, so you can have a 4 player game, which is ideal for multi-player racing. The major advantage of the GBA’s link-up system is that it only needs one cartridge to play a game with 4 players.

The game cube will let the Gameboy Advance plug directly into the Gamecube controller socket. You will be able to play GBA games on a bigger screen via the GameCube. Also, for example, on racing games you will be able to use the GBA as a controller and be able to see e.g. the map of the circuit on the screen of the GBA.

Sound:

The GBA's sound system will be somewhere in between the Super Nintendo and the N64's capabilities. This means that it will be able to play a lot better sound than the old Gameboy which only had the capabilities of playing a simple tune, and with carts of up to 256Mbit which means it will be able to have lots of sampled speech. Shin'en have already released a sound demo which shows that it might even have better quality sound than the Super Nintendo. The sound will be optimised for headphones as the speaker is no bigger than that of the Gameboy's.

Other Information:

The battery life for the GBA will be 20 hours continuous play on two AA batteries, this is a 5 hour improvement over the Gameboy Color.

You can import games or the Gameboy advance from other countries and it will work whether you are in Japan, America, Australia or Europe.

The GBA uses cartridges like the original Gameboy, but they are slightly smaller.

The GBA will be able to play Gameboy and Gameboy Color games as it is backwards compatible. There have been a few problems and some Gameboy Color games will not be able to be played on the GBA.

ARM Corporation is the company responsible for the 32-bit RISC CPU in the Game Boy Advance. ARM Corporation is a UK-based company responsible for CPUs used in some cellular phones.

The GBA

All sides of the GBA