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The Game Boy Advance (ゲームボーイアドバンス?, often shortened to GBA) 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).

In 1996, magazines including issues 53 and 54 of Total! and the July 1996 issue of Game Informer featured reports of a new Game Boy, codenamed Project Atlantis. Although the expected release date of "early 1997" would make that machine seem to be the Game Boy Color, it was described as having "a 32-bit RISC processor" and "allowing similar to Super Nintendo Entertainment System standard games-playing to be played in the palm of your hand"—a description that more closely matches the Game Boy Advance. It also may have referred to the unnamed, unreleased Game Boy Color successor prototype that was revealed at 2009's Game Developer's Conference.[4]

The technical specifications of the original Game Boy Advance are, as provided by Nintendo:[5]

Backward compatibility for Game Boy and Game Boy Color games is provided by an 4/8 MHz Z80 coprocessor (which 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 original Game Boy Advance (SP and Micro versions of the Game Boy Advance, as well as the Nintendo DS, DS Lite, and DSi) has included a built-in light and rechargeable battery.

In early 2003, Nintendo introduced a new Game Boy Advance (model AGS-001) that looks like a pocket-size laptop, with 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 original size. It was designed to address some common issues with the original Game Boy Advance which was criticized for being somewhat uncomfortable, especially due to an overly dark screen.[citation needed] The Game Boy Advance SP also came with a new and much brighter LCD screen for improved playability.

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