Game Boy Advance

The Game Boy Advance, is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China on June 8, 2004 (excluding Hong Kong).

The Game Boy Advance became the successor to the ever-so-popular Game Boy Color.  What Nintendo had envisioned was an improved version of the GBC, in terms of processing power, graphics capabilities and aesthetics, which would remain backward compatible with older games. 

The system would support sprites, allowing it to produce complex 2D animation and retain more control over individual graphical elements (sprites) within games, as well as scaling and rotation modes.  Despite the bigger and brighter screen, Nintendo decided yet again not to include a built-in backlight 

Technical specifications

The technical specifications of the original Game Boy Advance are, as provided by Nintendo:

Length:	approximately 14.45 cm (5.69 in).
Width:	approximately 2.45 cm (0.96 in).
Height:	approximately 8.2 cm (3.2 in).
Mass:	approximately 140 g (4.9 oz).
Screen:	2.9 inches reflective thin-film transistor (TFT) color LCD.
Power:	2 AA batteries.
Battery life:	approximately 15 hours on average while playing Game Boy Advance games (also dependent on the Game Pak being played, volume setting and any external peripherals being used - e.g. a screen light)
CPU:	16.8 MHz 32-bit ARM7TDMI with embedded memory.
Memory:	32 kilobyte + 96 kilobyte VRAM (internal to the CPU), 256 kilobyte WRAM (outside the CPU).
Resolution:	240 × 160 pixels (3:2 aspect ratio).
Color support:	15-bit RGB (16-bit color space using 5 bits depth per channel), capable of displaying 512 simultaneous colors in "character mode" and 32,768 (215) simultaneous colors in "bitmap mode".
Sound:	Dual 8-bit DAC for stereo sound (called Direct Sound), plus all legacy channels from Game Boy. The new DACs can be used to play back streams of wave data, or can be used to output multiple wave samples processed/mixed in software by the CPU.

Backward compatibility for Game Boy and Game Boy Color games is provided by an 4/8 MHz Z80 coprocessor (Game Boy Advance software can use the audio tone generators to supplement the primary sound system), while a link port at the top of the unit allows it to be connected to other devices via use of a Nintendo Game Link cable or GameCube cable. When playing Game Boy or Game Boy Color games on the Game Boy Advance, the L and R buttons can be used to toggle between a stretched widescreen format(240×144) and the original screen ratio of the Game Boy (160×144). Game Boy games can be played using the same selectable color palettes as on the Game Boy Color. Every Nintendo handheld system following the release of the Game Boy Advance SP has included a built-in light and rechargeable battery.

Manufacturer	Nintendo
Product family	Game Boy line
Type	Handheld game console
Generation	Sixth generation era
Retail availability	JP March 21, 2001 NA June 11, 2001 PAL June 22, 2001
Discontinued	2008
Units sold	Worldwide: 81.51 million, all versions combined (as of September 30, 2010). Japan: 16.96 million Americas: 41.64 million Other: 22.91 million[citation needed]
Media	Cartridge
CPU	ARM7TDMI, 16.78 MHz
Graphics	Custom 2D core
Best-selling game	Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, 13 million combined (as of November 25, 2004)
Backward compatibility	Game Boy, Game Boy Color
Predecessor	Game Boy Color
Successor	Game Boy Advance SP (redesign/concurrent) Game Boy Micro (second redesign/concurrent) Nintendo DS (successor)