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00:07Welcome to Mojo Plays and today we're taking a look at 20 things about the Game
00:12Boy Advance that you may not have known about before we begin we publish new
00:16videos all week long so be sure to subscribe to Mojo Plays and ring the
00:20bell to be notified about our latest videos.
00:29One of the most fascinating aspects of the GBA's history is how we could have had the
00:34system way earlier than expected. Back in the early 1990s shortly after the Game Boy launched
00:40Nintendo began researching and developing a better version of the handheld. Known as Project Atlantis
00:47this system would feature a 32-bit display and be able to render a multitude of colors
00:52more than the Game Boy. In short, it was a pocket-sized SNES made when the SNES was still a
00:58brand new
00:59machine. Unfortunately, the prototype did not meet Nintendo's internal demands and the company
01:05shelved the project for several years.
01:11Satoru Okada
01:12If there is anyone you should thank for the GBA, it is this man and his team. Satoru Okada was
01:19a major
01:20player in establishing Nintendo's dominance in handheld gaming, having designed the original
01:24Game Boy alongside Gunpei Yokoi. After Yokoi left Nintendo in 1996, Okada took over development for
01:31handhelds as general manager and would lead teams into creating the Game Boy Color, the Game Boy
01:37Advance, the Game Boy Advance SP, and the Nintendo DS. Okada remained at Nintendo until his retirement
01:44in 2012. Launch lineup
01:52The launch games available were a bit of an odd bunch not because of what games were there,
01:57but which games were available where. For instance, Japanese customers could buy from a pool of 25 games.
02:04North American customers could only purchase games from a pool of 17. European customers only saw
02:1015 games available at launch. Of the 25 total games available at the GBA's release, only 7 were
02:19available across all three regions, including Castlevania Circle of the Moon, F-Zero Maximum Velocity,
02:26Konami Crazy Racers, and Super Mario Advance. Back to the 90s.
02:34No, this is a problem. Earlier, we mentioned how Project Atlantis was planned to have the same
02:40technical capabilities as the SNES. Though it may not have worked with the first prototype,
02:45they clearly achieved that technical prowess with the final iteration of the GBA. Those who grew up
02:51during this time will recall a lot, and I mean a lot, of GBA games were ports or remasters of
02:59classic
03:00SNES games, from Super Mario World and Donkey Kong Country to Rock and Roll Racing and Mega Man and
03:06Bass. The reason why this was possible is because the GBA was made partially out of the same CPU parts
03:13that were used to make the SNES. The Game Boy and Game Boy Color also used similar CPUs,
03:19but emulating SNES-level graphics was clearly not possible with the other parts used at the time.
03:33Backlight Problems
03:36A common problem with handheld consoles in the 90s and 2000s is that you could only play them
03:42when under decent lighting. If you were in a dark environment, playing your GBA was impossible.
03:48Your only means to enjoy your games was to get a shell attachment that came with a little lamp
03:53that you could place above your screen. It wasn't until the Game Boy Advance SP got its AGS-101 model
03:59in 2005 when gamers could finally play with a built-in backlight. Since then, console manufacturers
04:06have understood the importance of this feature when designing a console with portability in mind.
04:15Movie Boy Advance
04:21At one point, it was possible to use the Game Boy Advance to watch a handful of different movies
04:27and television shows. Most products under this line were a small collection of episodes from shows seen
04:33on Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, and Disney Channel, with a few outliers like Pokemon and Sonic X.
04:40As for movies, only three were shoved into tiny GBA carts, those being Shark Tale, Shrek, and Shrek 2.
04:49Ideally, these were not exactly the greatest releases of these movies and shows, as the GBA could only
04:56render them at a severely low resolution, a drastically reduced frame rate, and a huge suffering of heavy
05:04color bleeding. Game Boy Advance video was only supported until 2007, a mere three years after its debut.
05:13Wow, you sure like to dance.
05:16Gotta pocket them all.
05:19Only in Donkey Kong Country.
05:21Leaping rhinos, giant bees, flying chimps.
05:24Sure, the GBA video line was a bit of a failure, but the GBA hype was not affected by this
05:30bump in the road in the slightest.
05:31During its journey to 80-plus million units sold, the GBA saw a wide range of colors for gamers of
05:38all kinds to purchase.
05:39You could go with the classic indigo casing, the edgelord black shell, a bright arctic white casing, fuchsia, and even
05:47a light blue.
05:49Later variants would make the GBA red, platinum, and white as well.
05:53Throughout the years, Nintendo and its partners would even put out special editions of the handheld,
05:58based on a variety of IPs, such as Hello Kitty, Pokemon, and of course, Mario.
06:03To say you had options was almost an understatement.
06:08Japan-exclusive variants.
06:10Whenever you want, wherever you want!
06:12Whoa, it's TV! Without the TV!
06:15While just about all of those aforementioned variants were available across most regions,
06:20Japan saw a few more special variants of the GBA that other regions just never knew about.
06:26For starters, there was a gold-colored GBA, as well as an orange one available at standard retail price.
06:32But the variants got more special beyond just, you know, exclusive colors.
06:37Pokemon Centers sold GBAs that came in a special shade of green, similar to Celebi, the mythical psychic grass-type
06:45Pokemon.
06:45Nintendo also teamed up with Square Enix to launch GBA SPs themed around Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts.
06:52There was even a GBA variant with a clear blue casing that could only be purchased from Toys R Us
06:57stores located within Japan.
06:59Should we even mention the NES-styled SP system?
07:03Super Mario Advance. Only for Game Boy Advance.
07:08The best-selling game?
07:17Whenever we've talked about the best-selling game on a Nintendo console, it has almost always been a Mario Kart
07:23game, with very rare exceptions.
07:26Well, in the GBA's case, Mario Kart Super Circuit was only the fourth best-selling game for the system,
07:32and it was beaten by three games that all hail from the same franchise.
07:37Dare to take a guess?
07:38Pokemon Emerald was the third best-selling GBA game at 6.8 million copies sold.
07:44Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen sold a combined total of more than 12 million copies.
07:49As for Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire, those two games sold a combined grand total of 16.22 million copies.
07:59Cancelled Classics.
08:06Not only did the GBA see a number of SNES games get ported and remastered,
08:11it also saw a handful of NES and arcade classics get ported as well.
08:16For a time, Nintendo and its partners re-released several games from the NES.
08:21It wasn't just your usual gems like Bomberman, Castlevania, and Super Mario Bros. either.
08:26Some oddities like Excitebike and Ice Climber saw re-releases as well.
08:31Unfortunately, the prices were far from fair.
08:35Sure, they were cheaper than the majority of GBA games, which were typically sold anywhere between $30-$50 per
08:41game.
08:41However, even at $20, most people did not see the value in buying an old NES game,
08:48especially when bargain bins were selling older, yet bigger and arguably better games at the same price.
08:54It also didn't help that a lot of these classic NES games were already playable on Animal Crossing.
09:01Mario Kart XXL
09:08Strangely enough, there was a brief moment where we almost saw two Mario Kart games made for the same console.
09:14Shortly after Mario Kart Super Circuit, developer Intelligent Systems got to work on a potential sequel.
09:21Only this time, they wanted to take things a step further with the GBA's possible 3D capabilities.
09:27From what can be seen in the demo, Mario Kart XXL was going for a semi-top-down perspective
09:34with a camera and controls similar to a slot-car-style racing game.
09:39Nintendo shut down the project almost immediately.
09:42They were simply not interested in having yet another Mario Kart made for the GBA.
09:47Instead, they had Intelligent Systems begin work on a new Mario Kart specifically for the soon-to-be-released Nintendo
09:55DS.
09:55And that's how we got Mario Kart DS.
10:03Super Princess Peach
10:11Speaking of games initially planned for the GBA, Super Princess Peach was a game that had players confused upon its
10:18reveal.
10:18The first batch of screenshots showing off the game gave no indication about a potential second screen.
10:24The UI and aspect ratio led many to assume that this was going to be among Nintendo's last GBA games.
10:31Nintendo gave no clarity as to whether it was being made for the GBA until it specified much later that
10:38the game was coming to the newly released Nintendo DS.
10:42Even to this day, Nintendo has not given a concrete answer as to whether the GBA was the initial targeted
10:48platform or not.
10:54GTA GBA Stories
11:00For those who grew up with more aloof parents than some, you probably remember being able to play Grand Theft
11:07Auto on your Game Boy Advance.
11:09Yes, Grand Theft Auto Advance was shocking for several reasons, given the series' graphic and unadulterated demeanor.
11:16However, this was not the spin-off we were supposed to get originally.
11:20At first, Rockstar Games had been trying to release a GBA port of Grand Theft Auto 3.
11:25The port was to be developed by Crawfish Interactive, a developer known for handheld titles like Ed Ed Nettie Jawbreakers,
11:32Robot Wars Advanced Destruction, and the GBA version of Nicktoons Racing.
11:37Sadly, late payments from partners wound up forcing Crawfish to close, thus putting GTA 3's GBA version in jeopardy.
11:45Rockstar turned to Digital Eclipse to continue the project, where it would instead become a prequel to GTA 3.
11:56Only 9 M-Rated Games
12:05While we're on the subject of adult-oriented games, did you know that the Game Boy Advance only saw a
12:11total of 9 M-Rated Games released?
12:14Grand Theft Auto Advance was among them, along with a GBA version of Max Payne.
12:18There was also a cleverly designed fighting game called Duel Blades, which we've talked about a number of times here
12:24on Mojo Plays.
12:25But roughly half of these titles were mediocre at best, broken and unplayable at worst.
12:31If you want to see us go through them a bit more in-depth, be sure to check out our
12:34list of the 9 M-Rated GBA games.
12:37You gave us one hell of a ride.
12:41Take them down to Central Booking.
12:43Limited Releases
12:50Earlier in the list, we mentioned how Japan, North America, and Europe saw pretty different launch lineups for the GBA.
12:57What's even stranger is that these were the only three regions the handheld was ever released in.
13:02The reason for this is because of how certain governments treated video games in the early 2000s.
13:08Various forms of government located within South America, Africa, and many parts of Asia viewed video games as a threat
13:15to their respective cultures, religions, and or their youth.
13:19Some countries imposed high import taxes, while others banned video games from even being sold or traded.
13:25South Korea, for example, had a ban on Japanese goods entirely for several decades after Japan had turned Korea into
13:32a colony under its rule between 1910 and 1945.
13:36As a result, Nintendo simply did not bother trying to release the GBA in these territories.
13:46Game Boy Micro, The Forgotten Child
13:56Just as the Nintendo DS was taking off, the house that Mario built eked out one final iteration of the
14:03GBA, and it went largely unnoticed by the general public.
14:07In September 2005, the world was introduced to the Game Boy Micro, a GBA device shaped similar to the Game
14:14& Watch handhelds of yore before the NES came out.
14:18Again, it is worth mentioning that the Nintendo DS had just launched in November 2004.
14:25So, many were bewildered by Nintendo's decision to release yet another GBA iteration when the DS was the hot thing
14:34to get.
14:35To no one's surprise but Nintendo's, the GBA Micro did not meet the company's sales expectations,
14:40only ever reaching just a little over 2 million units sold.
14:44It was discontinued three years later.
14:46The E-Reader
14:48The game is inside the cards.
14:50New E-Reader for Game Boy Advance.
14:52Slide the cards to play some of your favorite games.
14:55Oh, sit down all you young'uns as I tell you the tale of an odd little device known as
15:00the E-Reader.
15:01Released in 2004, this was one of many failed GBA accessories where you would swipe cards that featured funny-looking
15:09barcodes on their sides.
15:11With this, you could do all sorts of fun stuff like play old NES games, fight unique trainers and Pokemon,
15:17get items and customizable UI and Mega Man Battle Network, unlock songs and animal...
15:24Okay, yeah, this actually kinda sucked.
15:26North American audiences abandoned it almost entirely as the E-Reader was discontinued less than two years after launch.
15:34Japan held onto it for a little while longer, until it was discontinued entirely in 2008.
15:40Ugh, E-Reader. I miss you, but I also do not like you.
15:45Discontinuations.
15:46You can watch new video releases of Pokemon, The Barely Odd Parents, Spongebob Squarepants, plus Codename Kids Next Door, Johnny
15:52Bravo, and more.
15:53Even with the E-Reader failing to catch on and some fumbles with the NES catalog and then, you know,
15:59all that stuff in between,
16:01the GBA was a major powerhouse in the world of handheld gaming.
16:05Like we said earlier, this device wound up selling more than 80 million units.
16:10Little consoles can do big things, and what's interesting is that it went on way longer than one might expect.
16:16The Game Boy Advance wasn't discontinued entirely until 2010, a whole nine years since launch.
16:22What's more, is that 2010 is the same year Nintendo had finally revealed the Nintendo 3DS.
16:29We were two handheld generations in at this point, and we had only just started moving on from the GBA.
16:37It's crazy.
16:38The last GBA game ever?
16:44Despite ending in 2010, the very last Game Boy Advance game ever made had already been released two years prior.
16:53In 2008, Samurai Deeper Kyo was released in North America six years after its debut in Japan.
17:00At least, this was the last game made for the GBA at that time.
17:05Technically, WayForward Technologies took the title as the last GBA game in 2025 when it released Shantae Advance, Risky Revolution.
17:15This game was initially being developed when the GBA was relevant and selling like hotcakes.
17:21However, the first Shantae being a commercial failure caused many publishers to reject the game,
17:27eventually forcing WayForward to shelve it for over 20 years and begin taking contract work.
17:32When Shantae Advance finally came out, WayForward teamed up with Limited Run Games to create special GBA cartridges
17:39so you could play the game on an actual Game Boy Advance.
17:55Before we continue, check out this single from SoundMojo's album Balance,
17:59classical music reimagined as rock, hard rock, and metal.
18:03Check out the full track and album below.
18:05Fortune calls, rise and ruin, night and noon, all are prisoners of the name.
18:18There were competitors.
18:21Plan your explosives and take that blockbuster out.
18:24Now, we've mentioned how Nintendo had a foothold on handheld gaming with the GBA and its predecessors.
18:29That isn't to say that there were never competitors, though.
18:32There were, but they did not survive long.
18:36Nokia and Bandai had attempted to break into the handheld market with their own pocket-sized consoles,
18:42the N-Gage and the Wonderswan, respectively.
18:45Bandai had tried to capitalize on its relationship with license holders
18:48by making a litany of games based on various anime and manga.
18:52Nokia made the N-Gage operate similar to their cell phones,
18:56which was not a hot idea in the grand scheme of things.
19:00But both handhelds sold a couple million units,
19:03but the sales were not enough for Bandai nor Nokia to pursue the video game market any further.
19:09Did any of these facts surprise you?
19:12What color GBA did you get when you were a kid?
19:14Let us know down in the comments, and don't forget to subscribe to Mojo Plays.
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