Game Boy Advance Video

Game Boy Advance Video is a format for putting full color, full-motion videos onto Game Boy Advance ROM cartridges. These videos are playable using the Game Boy Advance system's screen and sound hardware. They were all published by Majesco, except for the Pokémon Game Boy Advance Video cartridges, which were published by Nintendo. Most cartridges were developed by DC Studios, Inc., except for the few labelled "Movie Pak" which were developed by 4Kids Entertainment's subsidiary 4Kids Technology, Inc. The video cartridges are colored light grey for easy identification and are sold as Game Boy Advance Video Paks; these offer the same 240×160 resolution as standard Game Boy Advance games, except for the Shrek and Shark Tale Video Pak, which lowers the resolution to 112p.

History

The product was originally announced as GBA-TV in 2003. Game Boy Advance Video Paks first became available in North America in May 2004. In June 2004, Majesco had expanded its Game Boy Advance Video licenses into other categories. They had also expanded the library to include shows from Nickelodeon, Nick Jr., Cartoon Network, and Funimation, in addition to the existing 4Kids cartridges. In November 2004, Majesco started to sell GBA Video Paks featuring several Disney Channel animated series, including Brandy & Mr. Whiskers, Kim Possible, Lilo & Stitch: The Series, and The Proud Family. In November 2005, Majesco began to sell GBA Video Paks featuring full-length animated films from DreamWorks Animation including Shrek 2 and Shark Tale. A special GBA Video Pak containing the films Shrek and Shark Tale combined into one cartridge was released in 2006.

Game Boy Advance Video Paks were the feature prize in the October 2004 issue of Nintendo Power as part of its players poll sweepstakes, in which five grand prize winners would receive a Game Boy Advance SP and 20 GBA Video Paks. Most GBA Video Paks contained 2-4 episodes of a Tv series, totalling about 40-45 minutes. A few contained full ~90 minute films, all by DreamWorks Animation. Standard GBA Video Paks cost US$9.95, while GBA Video Movie Paks cost US$19.99.

Copy protection

Game Boy Advance Video Paks are incompatible with the Nintendo Gamecube's Game Boy Player accessory. This was a deliberate choice made by request of copyright holders to prevent people from recording the shows onto VHS tapes or DVDs. The GBA Video Paks perform a check when inserted into the Game Boy Player, using the same logo authentication method used by Game Boy Advance games that support controller rumble, and will freeze with the message "Not compatible with Game Boy Player" in all caps if the Game Boy Player is detected. However, the low resolution and mono sound would result in a low-quality video output on a TV regardless, making it a poor choice for copying and piracy.

Disadvantages

Game Boy Advance Video cartridges have a small storage capacity, consisting of 32 MB (megabytes) for cartridges with TV episodes, and 64 MB for those with movies. The 2005 video game Strawberry Shortcake: Summertime Adventure Special Edition exceptionally uses a 16 MB cartridge, which includes both the game and one TV episode. Due to this small capacity and the length of the video content, GBA Video Paks are heavily compressed, with visual artifacts marring nearly every frame. The image quality has a similar appearance to early Cinepak compression, and the "quilting" and color bleeding effect found in other compressed video formats is also present. Credit sequences are generally replaced with text-only alternatives, while the opening theme for Pokémon is slightly shortened. Also, in cases where certain videos are available both as a 45-minute two-part episodes or a 22-minute edited version, the 22-minute version is used. The proprietary codec created by DC Studios is described in detail in the Majesco patents.

The final three Cartoon Network compilation cartridges, plus the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Yu-Gi-Oh! cartridges, were also released in a French version in Europe. In contrast to DVD and PSP UMD Video releases, which may include multiple languages on one disc, each GBA Video cartridge can only store one language. Closed captioning and subtitles are not supported on GBA Video.

List of published titles

The following titles and episodes were released on Game Boy Advance Video. Episode compilations with a ⚜️ symbol were also released in a French version.

Feature-length movies

All movies are rated PG by the MPAA. Individual movie cartridges retain the full credits sequence with music, while on compilations, credits are text only and accelerated.

Cartoon Network

Disney Channel

Lizzie McGuire The 2005 reissue of the 2004 video game Lizzie McGuire 2: Lizzie Diaries includes the episode "You're a Good Man, Lizzie McGuire" from season 2 of Lizzie McGuire. It is the season's 13th episode, and the 44th Lizzie McGuire episode overall. This edition of the game features the text "Disney's Game + TV Episode" instead of Game Boy Advance Video branding. This is the only episode that can be played on the Game Boy Advance.

Nickelodeon

The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius

• "Brobot"
• "The Big Pinch"
• "Granny Baby"
• "Time is Money"

All Grown Up!

• "Susie Sings the Blues"
• "Coup DeVille"

Dora the Explorer

• "3 Little Piggies"
• "The Big River"

The Fairly OddParents Volume 1

• "Foul Balled"
• "The Boy Who Would Be Queen"
• "Information Stupor Highway"

The Fairly OddParents Volume 2

• "Father Time"
• "Apartnership"
• "Ruled Out"
• "That's Life!"

Pokémon

Volumes 1 and 2 consist of episodes from Pokémon: Master Quest, with one exception: "A Hot Water Battle" is from Pokémon: Johto League Champions. Volumes 3 and 4 consist of episodes from Pokémon: Indigo League.

Others

Dragon Ball GT

• "A Grand Problem"
• "Pan's Gambit"

Sonic X

• "Chaos Control Freaks"
• "Sonic to the Rescue"

Strawberry Shortcake

• "Meet Strawberry Shortcake" (21:00)
• "Spring for Strawberry Shortcake"

"Meet Strawberry Shortcake" is also available in the Strawberry Shortcake: Summertime Adventure Special Edition video game, a 2005 reissue of the 2004 video game.

Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go! Volume 1

• "Depths of Fear"
• "Planetoid Q"

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Volume 1 ⚜️

• "Things Change" (French:Le déménagement)
• "A Better Mousetrap" (French:Un nouveau piège à rat)

Yu-Gi-Oh! Volume 1 ⚜️

• "Friends 'Til the End, Part 3" (French:Amis jusqu'au bout - 3e partie)
• "Friends 'Til the End, Part 4" (French:Amis jusqu'au bout - 4e partie)

Cancelled titles

The following Game Boy Advance Video titles were planned, but never released to the public.

Kirby: Right Back at Ya!

• Announced as part of original GBA-TV press release, no further details are known. Nintendo later released select Kirby: Right Back at Ya! episodes on Wii through the Kirby TV Channel in Europe and Kirby's Dream Collection in Japan and North America.

The Powerpuff Girls

• The episodes are currently unknown. This show was available on competitors VideoNow and Juice Box.

Sonic X Volume 2 On May 5, 2004, Majesco announced the release of two Sonic X video cartridges. The first volume was released on May 12, 2004, while the second volume was scheduled to be released later in 2004, but ended up being cancelled. Volume 2 would have included two episodes: "Missile Wrist Rampage" and "Chaos Emerald Chaos". "Missile Wrist Rampage" is the sole Sonic X episode to be released on competitor Juice Box.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Volume 2

• The two-part episode "The Shredder Strikes" was planned to be released on Game Boy Advance Video.

Yu-Gi-Oh! Volume 2

• The two-part episode "Noah's Final Threat" was planned to be released on Game Boy Advance Video.

Dragon Ball GT Volume 2

• The episode list is unknown.

See also

• Nintendo Video
• Juice Box
• Universal Media Disc
• VideoNow

Notes