This page will contain additional articles about Gameboy Advance, as they become available.Game Boy AdvanceThe Game Boy Advance (GBA) is a handheld video game console developed, manufactured and marketed by Nintendo. It is one of the latest in the Game Boy series of consoles, and the successor to the popular Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, in North America on June 11, 2001, in Europe on June 22, 2001, and in China on June 8, 2004(Not including Hong Kong). Its codename during development was Project Atlantis. HardwareClose-up of Game Boy AdvanceThe Game Boy Advance is backward compatible with most games previously released for the Game Boy or the Game Boy Color, as well as new software developed to take advantage of the new technical capabilities of the system. It is powered by two AA batteries, which give about 15–30 hours of play time, as well as an optional power supply that plugs directly into the GBA's battery bracket. ProcessorsThe GBA has a custom 32-bit 16.8-MHz ARM processor (ARM7TDMI) based on a RISC architecture, which is much more suited to the C programming language than the 8-bit Z80-like processor used in older Game Boy models. The ARM processor can run both 32-bit ARM and 16-bit "Thumb" instruction set encodings. The system also contains an 8.4-MHz Z80-like processor to provide support for legacy GB software; however, both processors cannot be active at the same time. DisplayThe 2.9" LCD is capable of a maximum of 240×160 pixels in 15-bit color (32,768 colors). This display includes more pixels than Game Boy's 160×144; when playing legacy games, the user can press the "L" or "R" button to switch the display between 160×144 with a black border and scaling to 240×144 pixels. Early games had very dark color palettes because the display in the development kits was much brighter than the one in the production units; the production display has a gamma value of 4. Newer titles use gamma correction in their palettes. If the color LCD has a fault, it is that the Game Boy Advance is lit by ambient light. Users quickly learned to tilt the device to take advantage of window or overhead illumination. An aftermarket internal lighting kit known as the Afterburner was briefly popular before the introduction of the Game Boy Advance SP, and influenced the development of the new model. GraphicsThe GBA has hardware support for simple 2D operations using graphical elements called sprites. It can scale, rotate, sum-blend, and alpha-blend sprites against a background (with one alpha value for the whole screen, not the alpha-blending of image edges seen in the PNG format), and it can change the scaling and rotation of sprites and the background on each scanline to give a pseudo-3D effect. The GBA's picture generator has six display modes (three tiled and three bitmap) and 96 KiB of dedicated RAM. In tiled display modes, the system can manage four pixel-to-pixel layers, two pixel-to-pixel layers and one affine layer, or two affine layers, and it uses 64 KiB of RAM for tile and map data and 32 KiB for sprite cel data. In bitmap modes, it can display one large 16-bit bitmap, two 8-bit bitmaps (with page flipping), or one small 16-bit bitmap (with page flipping), and it uses 80 KiB of RAM for bitmap data and 16 KiB for sprite cel data. In all modes, it can show up to 128 sprites (individually controllable small moving objects) of 8×8 up to 64×64 pixels in either 4-bit or 8-bit indexed color. Each sprite can be drawn using either direct pixel mapping or affine mapping; it's possible to fit more direct sprites on a scanline. Later games pushed the GBA to its limits with simple 3D graphics. These games include Wolfenstein 3D, Duke Nukem Advance, and Doom and Doom 2. Utilizing 2D sprites for objects and 3D graphics for architecture, these games usually achieve a passable framerate, although sometimes in large environments or with many objects onscreen the framerate will drop to a very noticeable level. Some feel that such 3D games are a logical and welcome step for the GBA, while others feel that they are overly ambitious and beyond the capabilities of the system. With the release of the DS, future 3D games for the GBA will most likely be limited. MediaThe interface from the GBA unit to the ROM cartridge includes only a 24-bit address bus multiplexed with a 16-bit data bus. (Mattel's Intellivision console had previously used a multiplexed bus.) This setup limits the directly addressable memory to 16 binary megawords (that is, 256 binary megabits or 32 binary megabytes), but bankswitching hardware on the cartridge can extend this by controlling the ROM's upper address lines from software, effectively switching other parts of the ROM into the GBA's address space. Still, as of 2005, no published GBA titles have even executed such bankswitching hardware because 32 MiB of ROM is still too expensive for the price point at which most GBA games are sold. (It would possibly have to retail for $39.99 to $49.99) By early 2002, hardware became readily available for moving user code onto the GBA. For example, in December 2001, a flash memory cartridge plus writing hardware could be had for less than $200 U.S., and a $50 device emulates a netbooting master. By April 2003, the prices had come down to under $100 for the flash cartridge and writer and $30 for the boot cable. Because of this, a homebrew software development community has sprung up (see gbadev.org). Nintendo, however, has a history of viewing such devices as nothing more than piracy tools, since they can be used to copy cartridges containing copyrighted software. In February of 2002, Nintendo began sending threatening letters to some United States resellers of such devices. Previous lawsuits had banned the importation of similar devices for the 8-bit Game Boy. Connectivity4-Player connection with 2 GBAs, 1 GBA SP, and 1 GameCube with a Game Boy Player attachedThe GBA also has a serial port for connecting to other GBA units in a setup similar to a token ring network over a bus physical topology. A GBA can also receive up to 256 KiB of bootstrap code through the port, even when no cartridge is present (sometimes known as multiboot or netboot). This is used for multiplayer GBA connections, where multiple GBAs can play with only one cartridge; one GBA with a cartridge sends boot code to the other cartridge-less GBAs. The serial port can (with a suitable cable) also connect to a standard RS-232 serial port for debugging purposes and (hypothetically) Internet play, although a TCP/IP stack has yet to be implemented in a GBA game. To link GBA games, a GBA link cable is required. To link regular GB or GB Color games, the older GB link cable is required, even if you're using two GBAs. A wireless adapter was released on September 7, 2004 in the U.S. It allows GBAs to be linked without cords, and with more than four players at a time. It came bundled with Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen. However, a game has to be designed with the wireless adapter in mind, and there are only a few such games. ModelsGame Boy Advance (original model)The Game Boy Advance sold at a base price of $100 USD when it was released in North America. Prior to the release of the Game Boy Advance SP, the GBA was the fastest-selling game console in history. Despite its success, many criticized the original Game Boy Advance for still not adopting a lighted screen, which Nintendo would rectify with later models. As of 2005, the original (non-lighted) model GBA has been discontinued. Game Boy Advance SPGame Boy Advance SPIn early 2003, Nintendo upgraded the Game Boy Advance giving it an internal front-light that can be turned on or off, a rechargeable lithium ion battery, as well as a folding case approximately half the size of the GBA. It was designed to address some common complaints with the original GBA. Interestingly, complaints about the original GBA screen being hard to see prompted a cottage industry of lighting solutions. This included the Afterburner Frontlighting Kit. This was a kit that sold for $30 and needed to be installed inside the original GBA. This Front-light turned out to be almost identical to Nintendo's solution to lighting the GBA SP. Around the same time as the release of the Game Boy micro, an improved version of the SP that (finally) utilized a proper backlit LCD screen was released. The switch that controls the light now toggles between "normal" (which itself is already brighter than a Nintendo DS's screen), and "bright", an intense brightness level similar to LCD television sets. The light cannot be turned off completely while the system is on. Battery life was actually improved in this new model. This new backlit model was originally available in two colors, Graphite and Pearl Blue. Nintendo quietly released these new screens so as not to confuse customers. They did, however, label the new boxes with large text reading "Now with a Brighter Backlit Screen". This new screen makes the old front-Lit GBA SP screens look dark and washed-out. Game Boy microGame Boy microIn September 2005, Nintendo released a second redesign of the Game Boy Advance. This model again goes back to the Game Boy Advance horizontal orientation, is much smaller and sleeker, and was the first Game Boy model to feature a backlight. The Game Boy micro also offers the user to switch between several colored faceplates to allow customization, a feature which Nintendo advertised heavily around the micro's launch. Unlike the previous models it does not support Game Boy or Game Boy Color titles. AccessoriesNintendo has released many add-ons for the Game Boy Advance (GBA). These include: Wireless Adapter - Released in 2004, this adapter hooks up to the back of the Game Boy Advance. It replaces link cables and allows many people to link up to each other. It markets for $20 and came included with Pokémon FireRed and Pokémon LeafGreen. Because it was released so late in the GBA's life, less than 20 games support this hardware. The adapter's usefulness is most evident in Pokémon; FireRed/LeafGreen feature a "Union Room" where up to forty people can enter to battle or trade Pokémon. The adapter itself was not backward compatible, leading to criticism that this accessory was more novel than useful, only available on a few games. A Game Boy micro version has also been released - it can interact fully with both models of the Wireless Adapter. Play-Yan - The Play-Yan is an MP3/MPEG4 player for the GBA and Nintendo DS. The cartridge is slightly bigger than normal GBA cartridge and includes a built-in headphone port as well as an SD Card slot. Music or videos that users have downloaded from the Internet can be transferred onto an SD Card and slotted into the Play-Yan device. Nintendo has released several mini games for the Play-Yan that can be downloaded from their website, although Nintendo later removed all mini-game functionality through a firmware update. The Play-Yan is currently available in Japan only, but a European release has been confirmed for early 2006. Since Play-Yan did not have a U.S. release to coincide with Game Boy micro as rumored, an American release has been speculated for 2006 as well. e-Reader - The e-Reader is a rather bulky scanning device that plugs into the game cartridge slot of the Game Boy Advance. Specialized cards with codes along the side and bottom are slid through the slit, scanning the card into the Game Boy Advance. Many ideas for the e-Reader have included cards that scan classic games like Donkey Kong and Excitebike onto the handheld ready to play, as well as a collaboration with Super Mario Advance 4 to have cards that unlock content. GameCube games like Animal Crossing had cards with unlockable content as well, and the Pokémon Trading Card Game playing cards also adopted the e-Reader codes. The e-Reader works with the Game Boy Player as well as the Game Boy Advance SP, but cannot fit into the Nintendo DS's Game Boy slot. It was discontinued in America in early 2004, but is still quite popular in Japan. It was not released in Europe. Game Boy Advance Video - These highly popular cartridges contain two episodes of 30 minute cartoon programs. First released in America in May of 2004, they cost $19.99 and included cartoons such as Pokémon, SpongeBob SquarePants, Sonic X, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The movies Shrek, Shrek 2, and Shark Tale are also available for GBA Video and all three movies are in full. Unfortunately, these cartridges display an error when inserted into a GameCube via a Game Boy Player. Unofficial accessoriesGBA Movie Player - The GBAMP is a versatile gaming cartridge that allows people to play NES/Famicom games, watch movies (e.g. MPEGs), see .txt files, hear sound clips, etc. TV Tuner - Not much is known as of yet, but it does what it implies. It will most likely be what is being sold now on the Game Boy Advance, and that is to make the portable system into a portable television. Unofficial Game Boy Advance flash cartridges are also available. While they enable the distribution of homebrew applications and content, they may also facilitate the illegal distribution of copyrighted games. Sales and marketingThe Game Boy Advance, along with the Game Boy Advance SP and the Game Boy micro, has sold well. As of September 2005, the Game Boy Advance series has sold 70.04 million units worldwide.[1] GamesThe Game Boy Advance has become the modern flagship of sprite-based games. With hardware superior to the Super NES it has proven that sprite-based technology could improve and live side by side with the 3D games of today's consoles. The Game Boy Advance not only has one's typical platformers, but also a huge collection of SNES-style RPGs. It has also become a popular system for old-school gamers due to the increasing amount of games ported from various 8-bit and 16-bit systems of the previous era. Through the use of flash cartridges and emulators the Game Boy Advance can even play NES and PC Engine games, as well as AGI-based Sierra On-Line PC adventure games. Standout original titles include:
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Standout original titles include:. Generally, each series listed above will have its own set of products, although the MSiA and Gundam Models lines, such as High Grade Universal Century may extend across series. Through the use of flash cartridges and emulators the Game Boy Advance can even play NES and PC Engine games, as well as AGI-based Sierra On-Line PC adventure games. Categories of products include the Mobile Suit In Action or MSiA action figures, and Gundam Model Kits in several scales and complexity levels. It has also become a popular system for old-school gamers due to the increasing amount of games ported from various 8-bit and 16-bit systems of the previous era. Other companies produce unofficial toys, models, t-shirts, etc. The Game Boy Advance not only has one's typical platformers, but also a huge collection of SNES-style RPGs. Bandai, the primary licensee of the Gundam trademark, makes a variety of products for the Gundam fan. With hardware superior to the Super NES it has proven that sprite-based technology could improve and live side by side with the 3D games of today's consoles. Although not directly related to Gundam, these series incorporate Gundam models as part of the stories:. The Game Boy Advance has become the modern flagship of sprite-based games. There have been so many Mobile Suit units that its impossible to tell a distinct style, however generally Mobile Suits are extremely agile and have an enormous variety of different weapons. As of September 2005, the Game Boy Advance series has sold 70.04 million units worldwide.[1]. The games units are often separated by being "Super Robots" (powerful mecha that often have near-limitless powers and technology, but have a shorter range of movement), and "Real Robots" (mecha that are physically weak, but have a wide range of movement for the most part). The Game Boy Advance, along with the Game Boy Advance SP and the Game Boy micro, has sold well. The Mobile Suit units are considered the representing unit in the "Real Robot" type of mecha. While they enable the distribution of homebrew applications and content, they may also facilitate the illegal distribution of copyrighted games. So far, almost every single major Gundam series and then some has made at least one appearance in the series. Unofficial Game Boy Advance flash cartridges are also available. This title was the first in the series history to not have many of the standard characters that have appeared in every game to date such as Amuro. It will most likely be what is being sold now on the Game Boy Advance, and that is to make the portable system into a portable television. This changed in Super Robot Wars J for the Game Boy Advance. TV Tuner - Not much is known as of yet, but it does what it implies. Some series come and go however, but Amuro Ray, often in the RX-93 Nu Gundam, is a regular character and has actually never missed a single game. MPEGs), see .txt files, hear sound clips, etc. In fact, there hasn't been a single game which hasn't featured at least one Gundam series and characters. GBA Movie Player - The GBAMP is a versatile gaming cartridge that allows people to play NES/Famicom games, watch movies (e.g. The Gundam meta verse makes regular appearances in the Super Robot Wars series by Banpresto. Unfortunately, these cartridges display an error when inserted into a GameCube via a Game Boy Player. There is also a Half-Life 2 mod called Mech Assault Genesis( http://www.mechag.com ), based on Gundams. The movies Shrek, Shrek 2, and Shark Tale are also available for GBA Video and all three movies are in full. Some video games have been converted into comics or novels. First released in America in May of 2004, they cost $19.99 and included cartoons such as Pokémon, SpongeBob SquarePants, Sonic X, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Following the popularity of Gundam, various video games feature original characters previously not found in other media. Game Boy Advance Video - These highly popular cartridges contain two episodes of 30 minute cartoon programs. Gundam manga is also published in English in Singapore by Chuang Yi. It was not released in Europe. The manga narration of the original series is published in English in North America by a variety of companies, such as Viz Communications, Del Rey Manga, and TOKYOPOP, among others. It was discontinued in America in early 2004, but is still quite popular in Japan. See main article Gundam Manga and Novels. The e-Reader works with the Game Boy Player as well as the Game Boy Advance SP, but cannot fit into the Nintendo DS's Game Boy slot. These series are drawings and precise specifications for additional Mobile suit units not found in the original animated material. GameCube games like Animal Crossing had cards with unlockable content as well, and the Pokémon Trading Card Game playing cards also adopted the e-Reader codes. Due to the sheer popularity of the Gundam franchise, especially the Mobile Suit design, several Original Design series were published. Many ideas for the e-Reader have included cards that scan classic games like Donkey Kong and Excitebike onto the handheld ready to play, as well as a collaboration with Super Mario Advance 4 to have cards that unlock content. For the listing of the series on chronological order of the depicted events, see the individual timelines' pages. Specialized cards with codes along the side and bottom are slid through the slit, scanning the card into the Game Boy Advance. The following characteristics are distinctive (but not unique) to many Gundams:. e-Reader - The e-Reader is a rather bulky scanning device that plugs into the game cartridge slot of the Game Boy Advance. The different series have had different ways of maintaining the tradition, and the only unique feature that all Gundams have in common is the name. release to coincide with Game Boy micro as rumored, an American release has been speculated for 2006 as well. In both Gundam F91 and Victory Gundam there are hints of this as people referred to the F91 and the Victory Gundams as 'the super-machines from history', and dubbed them Gundams. Since Play-Yan did not have a U.S. Since the story takes place after the biggest time-gap in between continuities in the Universal Century, people probably forgot about the Gundams entirely. The Play-Yan is currently available in Japan only, but a European release has been confirmed for early 2006. In the G-Saviour movie there is no allusions to "Gundam" whatsoever, not even mentioning the word. Nintendo has released several mini games for the Play-Yan that can be downloaded from their website, although Nintendo later removed all mini-game functionality through a firmware update. The name is used widely outside the animation in the merchandising of Cosmic Era toys and models. Music or videos that users have downloaded from the Internet can be transferred onto an SD Card and slotted into the Play-Yan device. Most characters simply refer to these units by their names, such as Duel, Buster, Blitz, Strike, or Aegis, but a select few characters refer to them as Gundams, a trend which started with Kira Yamato and spread to a few close friends, as well as the subordinates of Neo Lorrnoke, who subconsciously remembers the term despite a form of amnesia. The cartridge is slightly bigger than normal GBA cartridge and includes a built-in headphone port as well as an SD Card slot. In an informal homage to other Gundam series, all of these unique mobilesuits use operating systems with complicated acronyms, and these acronyms always simplify to the word Gundam. Play-Yan - The Play-Yan is an MP3/MPEG4 player for the GBA and Nintendo DS. However, there are numerous mobile suits which share the properties of Gundams from other series. A Game Boy micro version has also been released - it can interact fully with both models of the Wireless Adapter. In the Cosmic Era works, the word Gundam is never used in an official sense, apart from in the Chinese language translations of the manga. The adapter itself was not backward compatible, leading to criticism that this accessory was more novel than useful, only available on a few games. Corin Nander was an ace pilot who was placed under suspended animation as punishment and the color scheme of the Turn A mobile suit reminds him of the Gundam mobile suits from previous eras. The adapter's usefulness is most evident in Pokémon; FireRed/LeafGreen feature a "Union Room" where up to forty people can enter to battle or trade Pokémon. In the CC (Seireki) timeline, the name Gundam is given to the White Doll/Turn A mobile suit by Corin Nander. Because it was released so late in the GBA's life, less than 20 games support this hardware. Every Gundam has a unique name that befits the nature of the suit and/or its origins, such as Wing Gundam, Gundam Heavyarms, Sandrock Gundam, Gundam Deathscythe, or Shenlong Gundam. It markets for $20 and came included with Pokémon FireRed and Pokémon LeafGreen. This alloy gives the Gundams near invincibility. It replaces link cables and allows many people to link up to each other. In the After Colony timeline, the word Gundam refers to most mobile suit constructed out of a special alloy, called Gundanium, which can only be mined and produced in space. Wireless Adapter - Released in 2004, this adapter hooks up to the back of the Game Boy Advance. For example, the Earth Federation in the Universal Century universe used "R" (Renpou, said to be the English equivalent of Federation) to designate their mobile suits, with "X" for experimental units, "GM" (Gundam Mass-producedGeneral Machine) or "GC" for production mobile suits derived from the original V-Project suits and "MS" for mass-produced mobile suits derived from One Year War-era Zeon mobile suits. These include:. All Mobile Weapons have serial numbers, usually additions to previous Mobile Weapons in its lineage. Nintendo has released many add-ons for the Game Boy Advance (GBA). II, Zeta Gundam, Victory Gundam, etc. Unlike the previous models it does not support Game Boy or Game Boy Color titles. Afterwards, many powerful mobile suits based on the Gundam's design also carry the name, such as the Gundam Mk. The Game Boy micro also offers the user to switch between several colored faceplates to allow customization, a feature which Nintendo advertised heavily around the micro's launch. In the Universal Century timeline, Gundam is the name of the Earth Federation's first experimental general-purpose mobile suit, which is incredibly powerful compared to most of the mass-produced models eventually used by either side. This model again goes back to the Game Boy Advance horizontal orientation, is much smaller and sleeker, and was the first Game Boy model to feature a backlight. Gundam is the name or nickname of several mobile suits or mobile fighters, although some works such as G-Saviour and Mobile Suit Gundam: MS IGLOO do not have units named Gundams. In September 2005, Nintendo released a second redesign of the Game Boy Advance. English-speaking fans have used "Alternate Universe" or "AU" as a nickname for the stories that do not take place within the Universal Century timeline, but this unofficial nickname is not used in Japan. This new screen makes the old front-Lit GBA SP screens look dark and washed-out. On the survey for the game that would become Gundam True Odyssey, the Cosmic Era series (including Astray) were collectively referred to as "21st Century First Gundam" (a reference to Mobile Suit Gundam, also known as First Gundam). They did, however, label the new boxes with large text reading "Now with a Brighter Backlit Screen". Bandai and Japanese-speaking fans unofficially refer to projects not directly related to the first Gundam series or its staffers (such as Gundam Sentinel and G Gundam) as "Another Gundam" stories, and to projects made after 1989 as "Heisei Gundam" stories. Nintendo quietly released these new screens so as not to confuse customers. Western calendar) to mean "Correct Century" or "Correct Calendar," but Sunrise itself has not established an English translation for "Seireki" or the English abbreviation expansion for "CC". This new backlit model was originally available in two colors, Graphite and Pearl Blue. English-speaking fans have interpreted "Seireki" (a wordplay homonym of the Japanese term for the A.D. Battery life was actually improved in this new model. Later series take place in alternate calendars or timelines, which are mostly completely unrelated to the original Universal Century calendar system. The light cannot be turned off completely while the system is on. Most early Gundam works take place in the Universal Century calendar system, which is considered the most developed. The switch that controls the light now toggles between "normal" (which itself is already brighter than a Nintendo DS's screen), and "bright", an intense brightness level similar to LCD television sets. This makes the plot more real: while in early Super Robot series, the hero and cast usually act in the same predictable manner in most episodes, in the various Gundam series the characters' personalities and actions are transformed/developed by the turn of events surrounding them (the best example of this is how the personalities of longtime rivals Amuro Ray and Char Aznable are influenced by their experiences in the Gundam saga). Around the same time as the release of the Game Boy micro, an improved version of the SP that (finally) utilized a proper backlit LCD screen was released. Finally, most of the stories are basically structured as coming-of-age dramas, where the main protagonist (and sometimes his main antagonist) and most of the cast personalities, points of view, and actions may (or may not) change dramatically as the events on the series unfold. This Front-light turned out to be almost identical to Nintendo's solution to lighting the GBA SP. Gundam also features true to life issues and clear political ideas. This was a kit that sold for $30 and needed to be installed inside the original GBA. Politics of war are always lurking in the background, as it is in real wars. This included the Afterburner Frontlighting Kit. With few exceptions, there are no absolute good guys and bad guys; all have their motives. Interestingly, complaints about the original GBA screen being hard to see prompted a cottage industry of lighting solutions. The narration is always revolving around the emotions of the characters, usually thrown into conflict without much choice and faced with death, destruction and dehumanization. It was designed to address some common complaints with the original GBA. The technology, at least that of the Universal Century, is practical and derived from true science, including Lagrange points in space, the O'Neill cylinder as a living environment, and energy production from helium-3 (Minovsky Physics). In early 2003, Nintendo upgraded the Game Boy Advance giving it an internal front-light that can be turned on or off, a rechargeable lithium ion battery, as well as a folding case approximately half the size of the GBA. they run out of energy and ammunition, they break and malfunction like all machines eventually do. As of 2005, the original (non-lighted) model GBA has been discontinued. All the machines, including the Gundams, are always depicted realistically i.e. Despite its success, many criticized the original Game Boy Advance for still not adopting a lighted screen, which Nintendo would rectify with later models. The main theme of all the various Gundam series is always the harsh depiction of the atrocities of war. Prior to the release of the Game Boy Advance SP, the GBA was the fastest-selling game console in history. Zambot 3 was an earlier program by Tomino which helped develop these ideas. The Game Boy Advance sold at a base price of $100 USD when it was released in North America. Real Robots (popularly known in English as mech, a re-borrowing of the Japanese abbreviation for the English word "mechanical") differ from their Super Robot forebearers on a few stylistic and thematic points such as attempts at realism in robot design and weaponry, as well as their thematic and ethical roles. However, a game has to be designed with the wireless adapter in mind, and there are only a few such games. Gundam is a turning point in the history of anime and manga, as it is credited for inspiring the Real Robot genre. It came bundled with Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen. Like many of the "mobile suits" appearing in the series, a Gundam is usually piloted from the torso area. It allows GBAs to be linked without cords, and with more than four players at a time. However, Gundams are not robots but more extensions of their pilots. A wireless adapter was released on September 7, 2004 in the U.S. Tomino then changed the name to the current title Gundam, suggesting that the name Gundam signifies a power wielding a gun that is strong enough to hold back enemies like a dam holds back floods. To link regular GB or GB Color games, the older GB link cable is required, even if you're using two GBAs. The collective Yatate team combined the English word Gun with last syllable of the word Freedom, Dom, to form the word Gundom. To link GBA games, a GBA link cable is required. In the early stages of production, there were numerous references to the word freedom, such as the White Base being originally named Freedom's Fortress, the Core Fighter as the Freedom Wing, and the Gunperry named the Freedom Cruiser. The serial port can (with a suitable cable) also connect to a standard RS-232 serial port for debugging purposes and (hypothetically) Internet play, although a TCP/IP stack has yet to be implemented in a GBA game. The celebrated series was originally titled Freedom Fighter Gunboy or simply Gunboy, because the title robot was armed with a gun and the target demographic was young boys. This is used for multiplayer GBA connections, where multiple GBAs can play with only one cartridge; one GBA with a cartridge sends boot code to the other cartridge-less GBAs. Mobile Suit Gundam was developed principally by Yoshiyuki Tomino, along with a changing group of Sunrise creators who went under the collective pseudonym "Hajime Yatate". A GBA can also receive up to 256 KiB of bootstrap code through the port, even when no cartridge is present (sometimes known as multiboot or netboot). . The GBA also has a serial port for connecting to other GBA units in a setup similar to a token ring network over a bus physical topology. The name "Gundam" itself stems from a variety of theoretical sources, most commonly attributed to a need to conform with common giant robot naming conventions during the 1970s. Previous lawsuits had banned the importation of similar devices for the 8-bit Game Boy. Gundam is the collective term for the Universal Century (UC) series like Mobile Suit Gundam and series in alternative timelines, such as Gundam Wing, made by Sunrise Inc. In February of 2002, Nintendo began sending threatening letters to some United States resellers of such devices. Gundam is one of the longest running meta-series of anime featuring giant robots. Nintendo, however, has a history of viewing such devices as nothing more than piracy tools, since they can be used to copy cartridges containing copyrighted software. Frog. Because of this, a homebrew software development community has sprung up (see gbadev.org). Sgt. By April 2003, the prices had come down to under $100 for the flash cartridge and writer and $30 for the boot cable. Plamo-Wars. For example, in December 2001, a flash memory cartridge plus writing hardware could be had for less than $200 U.S., and a $50 device emulates a netbooting master. Plamo-kyo Shiro. By early 2002, hardware became readily available for moving user code onto the GBA. Genshiken. (It would possibly have to retail for $39.99 to $49.99). SEED Destiny MSV - variations from the SEED Destiny series. Still, as of 2005, no published GBA titles have even executed such bankswitching hardware because 32 MiB of ROM is still too expensive for the price point at which most GBA games are sold. SEED-MSV - variations from the SEED series. (Mattel's Intellivision console had previously used a multiplexed bus.) This setup limits the directly addressable memory to 16 binary megawords (that is, 256 binary megabits or 32 binary megabytes), but bankswitching hardware on the cartridge can extend this by controlling the ROM's upper address lines from software, effectively switching other parts of the ROM into the GBA's address space. V-MSV - variations from the Victory series. The interface from the GBA unit to the ROM cartridge includes only a 24-bit address bus multiplexed with a 16-bit data bus. F91-MSV - variations from the F-91 movie. With the release of the DS, future 3D games for the GBA will most likely be limited. Kunio Okawara's MS Collection (M-MSV) - Kunio Okawara's personal reinterpretations. Some feel that such 3D games are a logical and welcome step for the GBA, while others feel that they are overly ambitious and beyond the capabilities of the system. CCA-MSV - variations from the Char's Counterattack movie. Utilizing 2D sprites for objects and 3D graphics for architecture, these games usually achieve a passable framerate, although sometimes in large environments or with many objects onscreen the framerate will drop to a very noticeable level. ZZ-MSV - variations from the Double Zeta Gundam series. These games include Wolfenstein 3D, Duke Nukem Advance, and Doom and Doom 2. Z-MSV - variations from the Zeta Gundam series. Later games pushed the GBA to its limits with simple 3D graphics. MSX, new models for a proposed but never produced new animation series, considered to be official and canonical. Each sprite can be drawn using either direct pixel mapping or affine mapping; it's possible to fit more direct sprites on a scanline. Mobile Suit X (1984) - a.ka. In all modes, it can show up to 128 sprites (individually controllable small moving objects) of 8×8 up to 64×64 pixels in either 4-bit or 8-bit indexed color. MSV, the variations from the One-Year War, considered to be official and canonical. In bitmap modes, it can display one large 16-bit bitmap, two 8-bit bitmaps (with page flipping), or one small 16-bit bitmap (with page flipping), and it uses 80 KiB of RAM for bitmap data and 16 KiB for sprite cel data. Mobile Suit Variations (1983) - a.k.a. In tiled display modes, the system can manage four pixel-to-pixel layers, two pixel-to-pixel layers and one affine layer, or two affine layers, and it uses 64 KiB of RAM for tile and map data and 32 KiB for sprite cel data. Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny (TV: 2004). The GBA's picture generator has six display modes (three tiled and three bitmap) and 96 KiB of dedicated RAM. Mobile Suit Gundam MS IGLOO (movies: 2004; OVAs: 2006). It can scale, rotate, sum-blend, and alpha-blend sprites against a background (with one alpha value for the whole screen, not the alpha-blending of image edges seen in the PNG format), and it can change the scaling and rotation of sprites and the background on each scanline to give a pseudo-3D effect. Superior Defender Gundam Force (TV: 2003-2004). The GBA has hardware support for simple 2D operations using graphical elements called sprites. Mobile Suit Gundam SEED (TV: 2002, compilation specials: 2004). An aftermarket internal lighting kit known as the Afterburner was briefly popular before the introduction of the Game Boy Advance SP, and influenced the development of the new model. Gundam Evolve (short clips: 2001-2005). Users quickly learned to tilt the device to take advantage of window or overhead illumination. G-Saviour (live action TV movie: 2000). If the color LCD has a fault, it is that the Game Boy Advance is lit by ambient light. Turn A Gundam (TV: 1999, compilation movies: 2002). Newer titles use gamma correction in their palettes. New Mobile Report Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz (OVAs: 1997, compilation movie: 1998). Early games had very dark color palettes because the display in the development kits was much brighter than the one in the production units; the production display has a gamma value of 4. After War Gundam X (TV: 1996). This display includes more pixels than Game Boy's 160×144; when playing legacy games, the user can press the "L" or "R" button to switch the display between 160×144 with a black border and scaling to 240×144 pixels. Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team (OVAs: 1996). The 2.9" LCD is capable of a maximum of 240×160 pixels in 15-bit color (32,768 colors). New Mobile Report Gundam Wing (TV: 1995, compilation OVAs: 1996). The system also contains an 8.4-MHz Z80-like processor to provide support for legacy GB software; however, both processors cannot be active at the same time. Mobile Fighter G Gundam (TV: 1994). The ARM processor can run both 32-bit ARM and 16-bit "Thumb" instruction set encodings. Mobile Suit Victory Gundam (TV: 1993). The GBA has a custom 32-bit 16.8-MHz ARM processor (ARM7TDMI) based on a RISC architecture, which is much more suited to the C programming language than the 8-bit Z80-like processor used in older Game Boy models. Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory (OVAs: 1991; compilation movie: 1992). It is powered by two AA batteries, which give about 15–30 hours of play time, as well as an optional power supply that plugs directly into the GBA's battery bracket. Mobile Suit Gundam F91 (movie: 1991). The Game Boy Advance is backward compatible with most games previously released for the Game Boy or the Game Boy Color, as well as new software developed to take advantage of the new technical capabilities of the system. Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket (OVAs: 1989). . Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack (movie: 1988). Its codename during development was Project Atlantis. Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ (TV: 1986). It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, in North America on June 11, 2001, in Europe on June 22, 2001, and in China on June 8, 2004(Not including Hong Kong). Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (TV: 1985; compilation movies: 2005). It is one of the latest in the Game Boy series of consoles, and the successor to the popular Game Boy Color. "Gundam 0079" (a nickname derived from spinoff games and manga and primarily used by English-speaking fans) (TV: 1979; compilation movies: 1981–1982). The Game Boy Advance (GBA) is a handheld video game console developed, manufactured and marketed by Nintendo. "First Gundam" (the nickname applied by Japanese fans once sequels appeared which used the whole phrase in their titles) a.k.a. WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$. Mobile Suit Gundam - a.k.a. Pokémon Ruby / Sapphire. Superior performance, in comparison to other mobile suits/fighters. Mother 3. Yellow and/or red highlights are often added. Metroid: Zero Mission. In any given series, at least one Gundam, usually the one piloted by the hero of the story, will have a blue torso and white limbs and head. Metroid Fusion. A prominent red "chin" or goatee, initally thought to be a mere stylistic touch, but is now believed to be a heat vent. Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga. Ornament on head resembling a V-shape, sometimes units possess two V-shapes. The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap. Face with two human-like eyes, which flash when the unit is activated. Fire Emblem. Humanoid form. Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. Each story is not necessarily consistent with other stories within the Super Deformed series or stories outside them. Golden Sun. Super Deformed Gundam is a series of super deformed parodies of the Gundam metaseries. Boktai. has acted as an acronym for a variety of things, see the Mobile Suit Operation System page for details. Advance Wars. In this timeline, G.U.N.D.A.M. "Cosmic Era" refers to the years after the foundation of the first space colonies. Mobile Suit Gundam SEED and Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny take place in the Cosmic Era calendar system. Director Yoshiyuki Tomino intended this as the distant future of all previous calendar systems. ∀ Gundam takes place in the CC (正歴 Seireki) calendar system. After War Gundam X takes place in the After War calendar system; "After War" refers to the years after the conclusion of the 7th Space War, in which the Earth was devastated by massive colony drops. "After Colony" refers to the years after the foundation of the first space colony. New Mobile Report Gundam Wing takes place in the After Colony calendar system. Mobile Fighter G Gundam takes place in the Future Century calendar system. |