Game Boy Advance Video

Game Boy Advance Video

Media type	Video recording media
Capacity	32MB & 64MB
Developed by	Majesco Entertainment
Usage	Home video, feature films
Released	2004
Discontinued	2007

Game Boy Advance Video was a format for putting full color, full-motion videos onto Game Boy Advance ROM cartridges. These videos were playable using the Game Boy Advance system's screen and sound hardware. The cartridges were manufactured by Majesco Entertainment and licensed exclusively to Nintendo, 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 white for easy identification and are sold as Game Boy Advance Video Paks. The Game Boy Advance Video game paks offer the same 240×160 resolution as standard Game Boy Advance games, except for the Shrek and Shark Tale pack, which is at 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.

Copy protection

Game Boy Advance Video Paks are viewable only on Game Boy Advance, Game Boy Advance SP, Game Boy Micro, Nintendo DS, and Nintendo DS Lite systems, as the owners of copyright in the television shows requested that Majesco prevent people from using the GameCube's Game Boy Player accessory to play and record the shows onto VHS tapes or DVDs. However, the low resolution and mono sound would result in a low-quality video output on a TV regardless. Unlike Sony's PlayStation 2 and Microsoft's Xbox video game consoles, the Nintendo GameCube cannot output Macrovision gain-control copy distortion signals. 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" if they detect the Game Boy Player in use.

Disadvantages

Because of the low capacity of Game Boy Advance cartridges (normally ranging from 4 to 32 MB, though the video cartridges can reach sizes of 64 MB) and the length of the video content (generally feature-length movies and episodes), 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. The opening theme for Pokémon is also 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.

Additional information

Game Boy Advance Video Paks were the feature prize in Vol. 183 of Nintendo Power Magazine, as part of its players poll sweepstakes, in which five grand prize winners would receive a Game Boy Advance SP and twenty GBA Video Paks. Most GBA Video Paks cost US$9.95 and feature 40 to 45 minutes of video content. GBA Video Movie Paks cost US$19.99 and feature up to a 90-minute movie.

Some GBA Video Movie Paks came packaged with headphones.

List of published titles

The following titles and episodes were released in the Game Boy Advance Video:

GBA Video Movie Pak vol. 1

• Shrek

GBA Video Movie Pak vol. 2

• Shrek 2

GBA Video Movie Pak vol. 3

• Shark Tale

GBA Video Movie Pak 2-Movies-In-1!

• Shrek
• Shark Tale

GBA Video Movie Pak 2-Movies-In-1! Vol. 2

• Shrek
• Shrek 2

The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius vol. 1

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

All Grown Up! vol. 1

• "Susie Sings the Blues"
• "Coup de Ville"

Cartoon Network Collection vol. 1

• Ed, Edd 'n Eddy: "Stop, Look and Ed"
• Courage the Cowardly Dog: "Magic Tree of Nowhere"
• Johnny Bravo: "The Perfect Gift"
• The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy: "Crawling Niceness"

Cartoon Network Collection vol. 2

• Codename: Kids Next Door: "Operation T.U.R.N.I.P."
• Courage the Cowardly Dog: "Courage the Fly"
• Johnny Bravo: "Balloon Platoon"
• The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy: "Mandy the Merciless"

Cartoon Network Collection Limited Edition

• Ed, Edd 'n Eddy: "Key to My Ed"
• Courage the Cowardly Dog: "The Queen of the Black Puddle"
• Codename: Kids Next Door: "Operation M.I.N.I.G.O.L.F."
• Dexter's Laboratory: "Big Sister"

Cartoon Network Collection Platinum Edition

• Codename: Kids Next Door: "Operation T.O.M.M.Y."
• The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy: "A Grim Surprise"
• Courage the Cowardly Dog: "Cowboy Courage"
• Ed, Edd 'n Eddy: "The Luck of the Ed"

Cartoon Network Collection Premium Edition

• Dexter's Laboratory: "Double Trouble"
• Courage the Cowardly Dog: "The Shadow of Courage"
• Johnny Bravo: "Cookie Crisis"
• Ed, Edd 'n Eddy: "A Glass of Warm Ed"

Cartoon Network Collection Special Edition

• Ed, Edd 'n Eddy: "Oath to an Ed"
• Johnny Bravo: "Beach Blanket Bravo"
• The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy: "Billy and the Bully"
• Dexter's Laboratory: "Dexter's Rival"

Codename: Kids Next Door vol. 1

• "Operation R.E.P.O.R.T."
• "Operation N.O.-P.O.W.U.H."
• "Operation B.R.I.E.F."
• "Operation D.O.G.F.I.G.H.T."

Disney Channel Collection vol. 1

• Lilo & Stitch: "Slushy"
• Kim Possible: "Ron the Man"

Disney Channel Collection vol. 2

• Lilo & Stitch: "Poxy"
• Kim Possible: "Rufus in Show"
• Brandy & Mr. Whiskers: "To The Moon Mr. Whiskers"

Dora the Explorer vol. 1

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

Dragon Ball GT vol. 1

• "A Grand Problem"
• "Pan's Gambit"

The Fairly OddParents vol. 1

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

The Fairly OddParents vol. 2

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

Nicktoons Collection vol. 1

• SpongeBob SquarePants: "Pizza Delivery"
• The Fairly OddParents: "The Big Problem"
• All Grown Up!: "Chuckie's In Love"

Nicktoons Collection vol. 2

• SpongeBob SquarePants: "Nature Pants"
• SpongeBob SquarePants: "Opposite Day"
• Rocket Power: "The Big Air Dare"
• The Fairly OddParents: "Odd Ball"

Nicktoons Collection vol. 3

• SpongeBob SquarePants: "Squeaky Boots"
• The Fairly OddParents: "Tim Visible"
• Danny Phantom: "Attack of the Killer Garage Sale"

Pokémon vol. 1

• "For Ho Oh The Bells Toll"
• "A Hot Water Battle"

Pokémon vol. 2

• "Playing with Fire"
• "Johto Photo Finish"

Pokémon vol. 3

• "Pokémon, I Choose You!"
• "Here Comes the Squirtle Squad"

Pokémon vol. 4

• "Beach Blank-Out Blastoise"
• "Go West Young Meowth"

The Proud Family vol. 1

• "Twins to Teens"
• "Tween Town"

Sonic X vol. 1

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

SpongeBob SquarePants vol. 1

• "Bubblestand"
• "Ripped Pants"
• "Jellyfishing"
• "Plankton!"

SpongeBob SquarePants vol. 2

• "Mermaid Man & Barnacle Boy"
• "Pickles"
• "Hall Monitor"
• "Jellyfish Jam"

SpongeBob SquarePants vol. 3

• "Walking Small"
• "Texas"
• "Hooky"
• "Mermaid Man & Barnacle Boy II"

Strawberry Shortcake vol. 1

• "Meet Strawberry Shortcake"
• "Spring for Strawberry Shortcake"

Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go! vol. 1

• "Depths of Fear"
• "Planetoid Q"

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles vol. 1

• "Things Change"
• "A Better Mousetrap"

Yu-Gi-Oh! vol. 1

• "Friends Until the End Part 3"
• "Friends Until the End Part 4"

Cancelled titles

The following Game Boy Advance Video titles were planned but never saw a public release.

Sonic X vol. 2

• "Missile Wrist Rampage"
• "Chaos Emerald Chaos"

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles vol. 2

• "The Shredder Strikes Part 1"
• "The Shredder Strikes Part 2"

Yu-Gi-Oh! vol. 2

• "Noah's Final Threat Part 1"
• "Noah's Final Threat Part 2"

In addition, titles containing episodes of Kirby: Right Back At Ya! and Bewitched were planned, but what the episodes would've been are unknown.

See also

• Nintendo Video
• Juice Box
• VideoNow