I had one of these, I played through 70% of Megaman Battle Network with this when I was supposed to be sleeping for school in the morning. I look back on it fondly, even though it burned through batteries.Aside from the initial lack of a back-light, the GBA was the pinnacle of Nintendo handhelds and handheld gaming in general.
Worm lights sucked, but the games were great!Never did get an SP :'(
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Let's talk launches: Game Boy Advance (June 11, 2001)
- Thread starter Theslammer
- Start date
megarockexe
Member
The GBA was the first handheld my parents bought for me and it was all mine. It must have been 2001 or so. I was 12 at the time. The first game I got with it was Super Mario Advance. I played that game a lot and really enjoyed it. Then I lost the game for several years only to find it a few years ago and lose it again.
Theslammer
Member
I don't mind the look of the original, but the SP version definitely did match with the flip-phone popularity of its time and was overall a more appealing product to the eyes:
MicroByter
Member
Here's my scan archive of EGM right before the U.S. launch. This was another dream handheld for me - one that could play SNES level games on the go.
http://imgur.com/a/l9PrU
http://imgur.com/a/l9PrU
I got the Glacier system with Super Mario Advance, and F-Zero. Played both of them to pieces. My dad bought one as well and grabbed Castlevania. Between those three games, we were set.
I also played an absolute metric ton of Sonic Advance when it came out, which I seem to recall was rather early in the GBA life.
I also played an absolute metric ton of Sonic Advance when it came out, which I seem to recall was rather early in the GBA life.
Hated playing the OG Advance when there was not a lot of sun light in the room. But the launch was great. I loved that Castlevania game.
SP was perfection.
Cheap, portable, fantastic software and great battery life.
I would like to see another handheld only console that follows those principles. 99 or less.
SP was perfection.
Cheap, portable, fantastic software and great battery life.
I would like to see another handheld only console that follows those principles. 99 or less.
Skel1ingt0n
I can't *believe* these lazy developers keep making file sizes so damn large. Btw, how does technology work?
I was 12 years old - that was the very first "system" I ever got on Day One.
I remember about the October before, I was inside a Hollywood Video and there was a Nintendo Power magazine with SpaceWorld 2000 info - a huge blowout on the AGB and GCN. I was amazed. I needed that GameBoy. There was a screenshot of Golden Sun in that issue - a tiny, tiny picture - that looked so much better graphically than anything I had ever seen on a handheld.
There was a website I would visit on 56K back in the day - Nintendojo - that had said some stores were receiving GBA units early, and a few lucky readers were managing to get the system several days before it was officially released at Walmart.
I called every.single.Walmart within 50 miles - as a 12-year-old - two or three times a day for an entire weekend. Then, on some random afternoon, a handful of days before release, an older guy in electronics answers.
"Hi, I've heard you may have the GameBoy Advance in stock, can you confirm before I make the trip out there?" (I was so sneaky, lol)
"Umm... we have GameBoy systems, yeah."
"No, there's a new one called the GameBoy ADVANCE - can you make sure it's that one?"
"No problem, let me check.... .... .... .... .... .... .... yeah, looks like there's actually a box of them at the register."
"OH... OH REALLY? OKAY GREAT, CAN YOU HOLD A GLACIER ONE FOR ME?"
***
My mom was taking a nap. I vividly recall that. I stormed into my parents' room:
MOM MOM MOM MOM!!! THEY HAVE ONE! Will you plllllllllleaaaase take me to the Walmart (15 minutes away). Please! Please! It's now or never. If they guy leaves, they may not sell it to me.
Most awesome mom in the world gets out of bed, drives me to Walmart in the middle of the afternoon, and let's be blow, literally, every penny I owned from a year's worth of allowance savings on a Glacier GBA and THPS.
Great memory.
I remember about the October before, I was inside a Hollywood Video and there was a Nintendo Power magazine with SpaceWorld 2000 info - a huge blowout on the AGB and GCN. I was amazed. I needed that GameBoy. There was a screenshot of Golden Sun in that issue - a tiny, tiny picture - that looked so much better graphically than anything I had ever seen on a handheld.
There was a website I would visit on 56K back in the day - Nintendojo - that had said some stores were receiving GBA units early, and a few lucky readers were managing to get the system several days before it was officially released at Walmart.
I called every.single.Walmart within 50 miles - as a 12-year-old - two or three times a day for an entire weekend. Then, on some random afternoon, a handful of days before release, an older guy in electronics answers.
"Hi, I've heard you may have the GameBoy Advance in stock, can you confirm before I make the trip out there?" (I was so sneaky, lol)
"Umm... we have GameBoy systems, yeah."
"No, there's a new one called the GameBoy ADVANCE - can you make sure it's that one?"
"No problem, let me check.... .... .... .... .... .... .... yeah, looks like there's actually a box of them at the register."
"OH... OH REALLY? OKAY GREAT, CAN YOU HOLD A GLACIER ONE FOR ME?"
***
My mom was taking a nap. I vividly recall that. I stormed into my parents' room:
MOM MOM MOM MOM!!! THEY HAVE ONE! Will you plllllllllleaaaase take me to the Walmart (15 minutes away). Please! Please! It's now or never. If they guy leaves, they may not sell it to me.
Most awesome mom in the world gets out of bed, drives me to Walmart in the middle of the afternoon, and let's be blow, literally, every penny I owned from a year's worth of allowance savings on a Glacier GBA and THPS.
Great memory.
chaosmaster(1)
Member
I got the black and silver SP that came with Metroid Fusion. What a game to get with the system, I absolutely love that game till this day.
Lord of Ostia
Member
Never realized the life cycle of the GBA was that short. Of course, I was a kid, so 3 years was a huge amount of time and development for me back then. GBA is by far my most nostalgic system, and still my favorite today. Some really, really great games came out for it, and it is solely responsible for my love of SRPGs and JRPGs today. So many great games though...Fire Emblem, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, Golden Sun duology, Sword of Mana, Minish Cap, Advance Wars, Pokemon R/S and FR/LG. Man, such an amazing system.
sixteen-bit
Member
Awesome story. Really brought a smile to my face. Thanks for sharing.
Theslammer
Member
That's what we call delayed gratification, and it feels good, doesn't it? xD~~
Thanks for sharing.
pixelpatr0n
Banned
God bless mothers everywhere. I had almost this same exact transaction when the SNes version of SFII dropped. Didn't get it early, but I knew it was selling out everywhere and there was only one copy left at a Toys R Us....(like you had spent days calling everywhere to find a copy) and they said they'd only hold it for an hour. Mom to the rescue, damn game cost me almost 80 bucks. It was all my allowance, Christmas, and birthday money combined! Totally worth it.