quote Upwire.com

Euro release of the e-Reader confirmed
Web posted on 30/6/03 Nintendo fans weep with joy as the Big N's Game Boy Advance add-on is finally confirmed for release in Europe.
After their crackdown on the import of goods from Japan and America, Nintendo are seemingly making good on their promise to not leave Europe out of the loop when it comes to slightly less mainstream items like the GBA e-Reader.

The e-Reader is an attachment which fits into the cartridge slot, then allows you to download games onto your GBA by swiping a series of cards through it. It has been knocking around in Japan for ages, but we'll now be able to snag one when it comes out on November 7th.

Launch titles will include Donkey Kong-e, Excitebike-e, Mario Bros-e, Pokemon-e and Tennis-e. These will be followed up by Balloon Fight-e in December and Soccer-e, Urban Champion-e, Ice Hockey-e, Ice Climber-e, F1-e, Volley Ball-e, Golf-e and Pinball-e in early 2004. That's a lot of -e.

Crikey, after good news like that, you'd be forgiven for expecting the next story to be about a December release for Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles. Nah, that would just be stupid...

quote

GameBoy Successor

Nintendo developer Takeshi Kiyuna mentioned that the successor of GameBoy Advance SP will have a bigger screen.

The resolution will be at least 300 x 200 and it will have 260,000 colors.

Wow lot of colors...

Source: EAGBA.com

quote IGN Pocket

July 14, 2003 - If you've been reading the weekly IGN Japan updates over on the IGN Insider channel (to resume shortly), you'll know that this is no ordinary week. 20 years ago Tuesday (that's July 15, 1983), Nintendo launched the Family Computer to the Japanese market. This system would make it to America a couple of years later as the NES.
To celebrate this special anniversary, Nintendo has announced plans for a special edition Game Boy Advance SP themed in the ugly, ugly original colors of the system. Gamers in Japan can get themselves entered in a drawing for one of the 1000 limited edition maroon and white SP units by purchasing any of the following games: Tales of Fantasia (GBA), Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles (GCN), Tales of Symphonia (GCN), Shinyaku Seiken Densetsu (GBA), Mario Family Tour (GCN) and Starfee 2 (GBA). Each game includes a seal which much be sent in to the company to qualify for a drawing which could win you the system.



In addition to the special SP unit, Nintendo will also be giving t-shirts from Square Enix, Namco and even a special Famicom 20th anniversary shirt to 3000 winners a piece.

If we should win one of these things, you'll be sure and here about it right here!

Japanese Sales:

quote

Japanese Sales Update
Posted at 4:46 pm by John
Super Mario Bros. 3: Super Mario Advance 4 has been received well since it’s release last week in Japan and debuts as the best selling game of the week with first week sales of 106,222 units. Meanwhile Mother 1+ 2 continues to sell well moving up the charts to #3 with weekly sales of 24,613 units. The Pokémon games continue to sell with Sapphire shifting 7,518 units and Ruby selling another 6,509 taking their total sales to 2,235,898 and 2,176,988 units respectively. Additionally, Hamtaro 4 and Wario Ware have sold another 7,133 and 6,027 units each respectively. Finally, the Japanese release of Boktai has shifted 13,142 units on its first day of sale.

Some bad news -_-

quote

Masahiro Sakurai, the man who created Kirby for Nintendo, and directed the series Smash Brothers has resigned from his job yesterday, leaving HAL Laboratory alone to keep developing more titles for the Kirby series.

Reports are revealing that the reason could be one of the following:

-He decided to leave on his own will
-"Felt he wasn't able to develop the games he wanted for Nintendo, and eventually decided to go on that basis."

He also states that the future of Smash Brothers series is uncertain.

Pokemon Goes Full Tilt Celebrating Fifth Year in North America; Nintendo Delivers New Spin On Pokemon And Returns To The Place Where It All Began.

quote

REDMOND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 29, 2003--This year Nintendo of America Inc. celebrates the fifth anniversary of the Pokemon franchise by bouncing off the bumpers in Pokemon(R) Pinball: Ruby and Sapphire for Game Boy(R) Advance, the sequel to the million-selling Pokemon Pinball for Game Boy(R) Color.

Pokemon Pinball: Ruby and Sapphire is the newest installment in the video game franchise that already has sold a staggering 38 million games in North America and 110 million games worldwide.

To further commemorate the greatest kids' entertainment phenomenon of the last decade, Nintendo has partnered with Toys "R" Us to return to Topeka, Kansas on September 1 for the close of the EON Ticket Summer Tour, which has already visited more than 125 Toys "R" Us stores in 25 major markets. Better known as ToPikachu, Kansas to the locals and millions of Pokemon fans nationwide, the town hosted the introduction of Pokemon to the United States nearly five years ago.

"The return to Topeka celebrates the wildly popular games that started it all: Pokemon Red and Pokemon Blue," says George Harrison, senior vice president, marketing and corporate communications, Nintendo of America Inc. "Five years later, those precious gems have evolved into Ruby and Sapphire. The release of Pokemon Pinball kicks off a line of great new Pokemon adventures that will be introduced in the coming months."

Pokemon Pinball: Ruby and Sapphire features more than 200 Pokemon, most of which appear in Pokemon Ruby and Pokemon Sapphire for Game Boy Advance. Released last March, those games have sold nearly 2.5 million copies combined nationwide. In Pokemon Pinball: Ruby and Sapphire, players capture wild Pokemon while playing a classic pinball game with authentic ball physics. Rounding out the game with special Pokemon power-ups and bonus areas, the franchise jumps to life in entirely new ways. Launched in North America on Aug. 25, Pokemon Pinball: Ruby and Sapphire is available now at a suggested price of $34.99.

Pokemon USA, Inc., the New York-based subsidiary of The Pokemon Company in Japan, manages and oversees the Pokemon franchise in North and Latin America, which includes licensing, merchandising, TV animation, theatrical releases, home video entertainment, the official Pokemon Web site, the Pokemon Center NY in Rockefeller Center and www.pokemoncenter.com, an e-commerce site.

Pokemon first launched for the world's best-selling Game Boy(R) video game system in Japan in 1996 and has since evolved into a global cultural phenomenon. Since bringing the franchise to North America in September 1998, Nintendo has sold more than 110 million Pokemon games worldwide. Pokemon merchandise has generated over $15 billion in worldwide retail sales since 1998. The trading card game, fueled by organized play programs in 47 countries, has spurred global sales of more than 10 billion cards to date. For more information on Pokemon games, go to www.pokemon-games.com or www.pokemon.com.

That's very interetsing. Do you know if they will do anything special in Topeka?

quote

THQ has today announced that it has entered into a Game Boy Advance copublishing agreement with Sega Europe. The deal will see THQ publishing a number of Sega GBA games in Europe, Australia, and other international territories starting this winter. The games confirmed for inclusion in the arrangement to date include the following:

Shining Force
Shining Soul II
Sonic Advance 3
Sonic Battle
Sonic Pinball Party

"Our two Sonic-branded releases, Sonic Advance and Sonic Advance 2, enjoyed sales of more than one million units at retail in North America according to NPD TRSTS," said Tim Walsh, senior vice president of international publishing, THQ. "We are delighted that our relationship with Sega has expanded to our international territories."

"We are looking forward to working together with THQ for the release of these quality games," added Mike Sherlock, executive vice president of sales and marketing, Sega Europe. "Using THQ's unparalleled know-how with the GBA platform will help us to reach our long-term goals in the shortest amount of time. This partnership not only helps us realize our commitment to expand our overseas presence, but also gives us the opportunity to further strengthen the Sega brand name in the international marketplace."

Time to start drinking up that Langers Juice people. =P

quote

KONAMI AND LANGER JUICE COMPANY ANNOUNCE PROMOTIONAL PARTNERSHIP FOR BOKTAI: THE
SUN IS IN YOUR HAND



NATIONAL SWEEPSTAKES FEATURES REVOLUTIONARY GAME BOY ADVANCE TITLE ON OVER 1 MILLION BOTTLES OF LANGERS JUICES



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE



REDWOOD CITY, CALIF. - September 22, 2003 - Leading videogame publisher Konami of America, Inc., a subsidiary of Konami Corporation (NYSE: KNM) today announced a national promotional partnership with
the Langer Juice Company Inc., in support of Boktai(tm): The Sun Is In Your Hand, the groundbreaking new game for Nintendo Game Boy® Advance. Boktai is the world's first game to incorporate natural sunlight
into gameplay via a solar-sensor located on the Game Boy Advance cartridge. In celebration of the game's unique sun-sensitive design, Langer Juice Company and Konami are inviting consumers to enter a
sweepstakes for a chance to win a trip to sunny Hawaii. The Langer-Boktai Sweepstakes will be specially marked on over 1 million Langers Juice Bottles.



Hosted at www.langers.com, the sweepstakes will run through April 2004 and will award the grand prize winner with a 7-day / 6-night trip for four to the Hawaiian Island of their choice courtesy of Hawaiian Airlines and Aston
Hotels. The grand prize winner will also receive a Nintendo Game Boy Advance SP handheld console system and a copy of Boktai to enjoy under the Hawaiian sun. In addition, the sweepstakes awards 50 first place winners with a
copy of the game and a Nintendo Game Boy Advance SP.



"Boktai is the first and only game to incorporate natural sunlight into gameplay and what better place to take advantage of the sun than in Hawaii," said Geoff Mulligan, Chief Operating Officer, Konami of America.
"Thanks to Langer Juice Company, we have an opportunity to promote this innovative game on a national level and offer one lucky winner the prize of a lifetime."



Promotional activities to maximize exposure for the sweepstakes include radio support in the top 50 markets including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and San Francisco. Langers Juices is distributed nationwide
to major supermarkets including Safeway, Ralph's, Albertson's, Stater Bros, Jewel, Pathmark, Shaws, ShopRite and Smart & Final.



Participants can enter the sweepstakes at: http://www.langers.com. Rules and information about the contest are also located on the website. Additional information can be found on the 1 million bottles of Langers Juices that feature
Boktai: The Sun Is In Your Hand.



Boktai is available in stores now at an SRP of $34.99. Learn more about the game at: http://www.konami.com/boktai

quote

No Sweat GBA, Check out N-Gage's Poor Scores.


10.09.03


The Following Scores are from GameRankings.com

These scores are scores averaged from various sites.


Game Scores: (Total Possible 100%)

Puzzle Bobble VS - 20.4%
MLB Slam! - 35.0%
Super Monkey Ball - 65.2%
Pandemonium - 59.0%
SonicN - 50.4%
Tomb Raider - 47.5%
Puyo Pop - 47.5%
Virtua Tennis - 46.7%

With low quality games like this...Do you honestly think that the Nokia will N-Gage enough N-Gaging momentum to knock down or let alone put a small dent in the Giant Empire of the Nintendo GameBoy? I don't think so. Over the years, many have tried to do that, all have failed. Atari with the Atari Lynx, Sega with the Sega GameGear and many others like SNK and now Nokia. Not a chance, Nintendo has well-established their domain in this field. Nokia, maybe you'll achieve larger success if you put the N-Gage in the cell phone department.

Posted: Karthik

Those scores completely suck.Theres no way Nokia will beat Nintendo with games like that.None of those game scored more than 70% that is very low.

N-Gage is sure making good commercials... I think their preety funny but it sure won't make me get it because its too much >_<

quote

GBA...Three Cartridges at Once!


10.11.03


GameTech, a Japanese game peripheral manufacturer has announced plans for a new peripheral for the GBA called the "Game Selector S."


This awesome device is scheduled for December, and will allow 3 cartridges to fit into their GBA unit at the same time. You will be able to switch between cartridges with the press of a button. However you will need to buy the GameBoy Advance SP to use this device. It will not work for the Original GameBoy Advance. The Cost of this Device is set to 1480 yen ($12). Not Bad I say.

No news of this coming outside of Japan. We'll have more on this device as it comes.

Posted by: Karthik

Quote - IGN Pocket
-------------------------
October 24, 2003 - Several weeks ago in Japan, Nintendo announced its Club Nintendo promotion where players can earn points and send them away for special goodies. They can also purchase specific games that feature sweepstakes entries to win special limited edition prizes. But Nintendo has offered a little tease with its prize giveaway on its website, hinting at the availability of the original Super Mario Bros. title on the Game Boy Advance.
From November 7th, 2003 to January 15th, 2004, in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the original Famicom system in Japan, Nintendo will be giving away 3000 special edition Famicom-designed Game Boy Advance SP systems along with Super Mario Bros. for the Game Boy Advance. Not Super Mario Advance, but Super Mario Bros. The original Super Mario Bros. has not been made available for the GBA yet, not even in Japan. The closest thing is Super Mario Bros. Deluxe released on the Game Boy Color several years ago.

This is pure speculation, but it's possible that the game is simply a basic emulation of the original NES/Famicom version of Super Mario Bros., as Nintendo has already proven that it has a capable NES emulator on the Game Boy Advance used in the e-Reader as well as within Animal Crossing on the GameCube. It would be a very quick and easy cartridge for Nintendo to create specifically for this promotion.

It's also possible that Nintendo has done to Super Mario Bros. what the company did with the past Super Mario titles on the Game Boy Advance: update them to GBA standards. But this would go against the "retro" style that Nintendo's going for with this Famicom anniversary. We like our first theory better.

Whether or not the game will be released to retail is another story, as it's something that's not confirmed on the Club Nintendo site. But we'll keep you informed about the possibility.

-- Craig Harris
-------------------------

quote Killhawkfox2003

N-Gage is sure making good commercials... I think their preety funny but it sure won't make me get it because its too much >_<