Nintendo Unveils GameCube Game Boy Player
November 19, 2002

Nintendo fulfilled the wishes of many portable fans today with the announcement of the Nintendo GameCube Game Boy Player.  Set to ship in May 2003, the device will attach to the bottom of the Nintendo GameCube and allow gamers to play Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance games on their TV screens.  No retail price has been announced, but in Japan it's priced at about $41.

While third-parties have worked on various solutions for getting Game Boy Advance games to display on TV screens, almost all of them to this point have required internal modification of the GBA itself.  This is definitely a much easier, and safer, solution for playing GBA games on the big screen.  Another huge benefit of the device is that it instantly opens up a library of almost 1,000 Game Boy titles for GameCube owners.

"For several years, the video game industry has been pushing forward to new technical frontiers…while at the same time celebrating classic hit games of the past," says Peter MacDougall, executive vice president, sales and marketing, Nintendo of America Inc. "This new Game Boy Player actually fulfills both desires: it instantly makes your current favorite Game Boy Advance game larger-than-life, and at the same time allows you to see your favorite portable title from a decade ago in an entirely new way."

With a game plugged into the Game Boy Player, either a GameCube controller, WaveBird, or (using the GCN/GBA link cable) the GBA itself can be used to control the game.  The device also supports multiplayer games via the link cable, with one player viewing the game on TV while the others view it on their GBAs.

What no one seems to be talking about is the possibility of online play for handheld games.  Pokémon Ruby & Sapphire among a variety of other genres would be perfect candidates for online play, and technically it could easily be done since the BBA/modem use different ports than the Game Boy Player.  Nintendo may not use it for such, but you can bet that third parties will try to.

Written By: Jared Black