GBA News and Announcements - Page 2

quote IGNPocket

April 01, 2003 - George Foreman and Nintendo have revealed the newest addition to the Game Boy Advance SP line, the special edition Lean Mean Fat-Reducing Grilling Game Boy Advance SP system.
"I wanted a way for my kids George, George, George, George, and George to see my one and only videogame released back during my pre-grilling boxing career," said Foreman. "But I also wanted to make sure they were knocking out the fat at the same time."

The Lean Mean Fat-Reducing Grilling Game Boy Advance SP system is the combination of the two companies' technologies in a portable device that can grill up a quarter pound of meat on a single three-hour charge. The sloped design allows for drained juice to drip off the food so it's not ingested. Plus, the built-in screen allows videogame players to watch the attract mode of George Foreman KO Boxing from Acclaim.

"Because of the grill, we didn't have room for any controls," said a Nintendo representative. "But have you ever played George Foreman KO Boxing? It's crap. Trust me, you'll be thanking us."

"My current line of grills are great for huge steaks and burgers, but too much food can be bad for your health," said Foreman. "Now people can grill up nibble-sized burgers without the fuss or muss. And it knocks out the fat!"

Nintendo originally looked to pair up with Ron Popiel and his Ronco group, but ultimately decided to partner with George Foreman. "While we respect Mr. Popiel and his products, we didn't feel that his spray-on bald-spot remover or his Mr. Microphone would match up with the image we're trying to convey with the Game Boy Advance market," said a Nintendo representative.


If you think this is real, you're crazy.

While no announcement was formally made, this looks to be an on-going partnership with Nintendo. According to Foreman: "I'm looking forward to knocking out the fat with Nintendo on the new systems."

quote IGN pocket

Nintendo Makes Money
Big suprise: millions of Pokemon, hundreds of thousands of SPs in the US so far.

April 04, 2003 - Nintendo of America in an official press release today patted itself on the back for massive sales of its third-person GameCube action-adventure Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. The company also said that sales of Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire for Game Boy Advance have skyrocketed, only matched by the performance of its new handheld hardware Game Boy Advance SP.
The company said it currently has the best-selling console game, the best-selling portable games, and the best-selling portable hardware system in the US.

More than 600,000 consumers pre-ordered Nintendo's GameCube Zelda sequel Wind Waker, and Nintendo said that "retailers are quickly burning through the entire initial North American shipment of 1.1 million games." The publisher, though, did not release specific figures. As a result of demand for Zelda, Nintendo said, GameCube hardware sales have jumped 20 percent in America.

The firm was similarly choosey about its wording for sales of Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire on the home front. But it did say that the games have dominated the sales charts and that "more than 2.2 million [copies of the games] have now moved through to North American retailers, showing conclusively that Pokemon is back with an exclamation point." Again, no details on actual sell-through, but if demand for the titles in Japan -- where they have sold 4.4. million copies combined -- is any indication, the numbers should prove similarly phenomenal. Nintendo also said that it has moved more than 800,000 Game Boy Advance SPs in the US.

"While no one will know the champion of this season's college basketball tournament until next week, the winner of this spring's video game tournament is Nintendo," says Peter MacDougall, executive vice president, sales and marketing, Nintendo of America. "Game Boy Advance SP, Zelda and Pokemon represent a three point play that players and retailers dream about."

"At what is traditionally a slow time of the year for videogames, Nintendo has seized the sales initiative," says Richard Simone, video game buyer, Toys "R" Us. "With their blockbuster products Game Boy Advance SP, The Legend of Zelda and Pokemon, they're a big part of why videogames are one of the truly bright spots at retail."

Look for an updated look at sales on both platforms as official TRST data becomes available.

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According to SPONG.com, Sega and Amusement Studios are already working on the preliminary work of Super Monkey Ball 3 for Gameboy Advance. Tough they confirmed that it's not sure if there will be shown any work on E3 2003, due to a tight schedule.