GBA isn't dead yet - Fils-Aime

By Tom Bramwell Published 30 November, 2006

It's just resting?

Nintendo of America boss Reggie Fils-Aime reckons the Game Boy Advance has "at least one more holiday season left in it" before they pack it off to eternal playground in the sky, where the sun's always shining from every direction so Castlevania's playable.

"We think that Game Boy Advance certainly has at least one more holiday season left in it," was what he said, in case you wanted every word. He was speaking at the Reuters Media Summit in New York, as part of his tour to promote the recently launched Nintendo Wii.

But why Reggie? Why give it another year? Because it's a "gateway console" apparently. "For us, it continues to be a great stepping stone for five, six, seven year old consumers to have their first great handheld gaming experience and then transition right into DS," he explained.

The DS? With two screens? It'll never work.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (23) Latest comment 5 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • ArcMonkey #1 5 years ago

    Baby steps Reggie...
    He's right about it being a transitional console for younger gamers, parents get a simpler, cheaper option than the DS "phat"

  • Blerk #2 5 years ago

    Of course it's dead, Reggie - you killed it with the DS! Almost immediately after you said you wouldn't.

  • Talha #3 5 years ago

    Two quote Metallica: Shoot me again I ain't dead yet.

    Perhaps with a DS Lite Advanced??

  • Machiavel #4 5 years ago

    That's right, the DS was a 'third way'. Not meant to get in the way of the cherished GBA lineage. But oh, the sound of ringing tills...

  • Steroyd #5 5 years ago

    Yes reggie it's not as dead as the gamecube is it?

  • #6 5 years ago

    BUT DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT IT MEANS, RICO

    DO YOU BELIEVE IT

  • dbeamish #7 5 years ago

    aye.. The DS was suppsoed to be a mini experimental almost type of project and play second fiddle to the GBA - not replace it. I thought they were going to make a GBA2 and the DS was just a small project to see what would happen..

  • [maven] #8 5 years ago

    Drill Dozer and Rhythm Tengoku still MIA in Europe, not to forget Bit Generations... :(

  • KingOfSpain #9 5 years ago

    The GBA had to die sometime. It has been around for a while and it could never have gone up against the PSP.

    Systems die, it happens.

  • Muddtallica #10 5 years ago

    I keep thinking that the GBA was somehow a disappointment sales wise, because it seems to be going out now without having been around for that long...then I remember it's been out five years, and has been hugely successful. I guess I'm just comparing it to the ludicrous longevity of the original Game Boy. It'll be a shame when it does go, though...end of the Game Boy era, sniff. :( Nintendo need to hang on to that name, it's one of the most iconic in gaming...

  • Nova5lag #11 5 years ago

    It is very sad and yes they simply must keep hold of "Game boy" as a brand name it is iconic and probably the only thing that kept Nintendos bank accounts looking healthy for quite a few years.

    The money they make on the Wii should be used for nextgen handheld... keep the GC arcitecture for ease of development again but make it all tiny and fit in a SP sized package... could you imagine! Swoon.

  • playgen #12 5 years ago

    Its a shame Nintendo gave up making games for it, infact they never really supported the GBA as much as id have liked them too. Most of the games they put out were ports, all those mario games sold seperatly - that were on one snes cart (mario allstars), pokemon was just the old gameboy version with pretty graphics etc
    There wernt enough new great games on it

  • Psi #13 5 years ago

    i love my gb sp and micro famicom edition is the sexiest portable EVER. it just oozes pure sex.

  • chupachups #14 5 years ago

    "aye.. The DS was suppsoed to be a mini experimental almost type of project and play second fiddle to the GBA - not replace it. I thought they were going to make a GBA2 and the DS was just a small project to see what would happen.."

    Nintendo only spun it like that before the DS launched because they were terrified of having another Virtual Boy on their hands.

    When they saw the DS was a huge success, the plans for a GBA2 were quietly dropped because it'd be crazy to split their market by releasing two incompatible handhelds.
    Edited by 1 at 30/11/06 @ 11:51

  • technofranki #15 5 years ago

    It's been a long time since a bought a GBA game. When they launched the DS, Nintendo said that it was their "third pillar". Well, it wasn't. The DS have been the first pillar since it launched. And I don't think that we will ever see a GBA 2.

    But who knows, Nintendo may suprise us all.

  • chupachups #16 5 years ago

    If the DS had flopped, they would have quickly abandoned it and done a more conventional new Game Boy, but it didn't...

    It's easy to forget how sceptical the gaming world was about the DS before it launched, but everyone was proved wrong, I think even Nintendo were surprised.

  • rogermellie #17 5 years ago

    The console was flawed anyway. I bought one and soon regretted it as the screen was too dark.

    I'm much happier with the DS.

  • Matsuo #18 5 years ago

    It's sad to see the Game Boy line go. It's been with us for 17 years now. I bet they'll resurrect it in 2009 when it's 20th anniversary of the Game Boy.

    It was bound to happen, seeing the DS' success. It wouldnt make sense to support both markets and split your resources. I'd rather have one speedy horse than two average horses.

  • Mr_Brown #19 5 years ago

    GBA isn't dead. In Japan its still going strong. Theres some great games coming out for it and the back catalogue of games for it dwarfs even playstations. It'll be a few more years before the GBA officially dies. I still regularly play GBA games even though I have a DS. Mainly because I'm trying to keep up with all the great games I missed.

    There will be another Gameboy. Without a doubt. The DS is an extra product to sit inbetween the Wii and the next Gameboy. The simple fact is that the Gameboy name is just too big to drop. It would be like Sony abandonning the Playstation brand name for something new.
    Edited by 1 at 30/11/06 @ 17:01

  • CitizenGeek #20 5 years ago

    I don't think the GBA is dead yet either. FFVI and FFV look a lot more appealing than anything on DS..

  • Muddtallica #21 5 years ago

    Now that I think about it, I'm sure the Game Boy name will be back. To be honest, the DS is the new Game Boy in all but name...my guess is that Nintendo felt they got dangerously close to devaluing the Game Boy brand name with the Virtual Boy, so they held off bestowing the name on the potentially risky DS, and sent up a smokescreen with that "third pillar" gibberish. If Nintendo had known then what it knows now, the DS would be called the Game Boy DS (or something similar), no doubt about it, and I'm willing to put money on their next handheld being a successor to the DS, but with the Game Boy name. Mark my words...
    Edited by 1 at 30/11/06 @ 17:12

  • AOFanboi #22 5 years ago

    In addition to the FF* games, there are other new releases like the Pokémon dungeon title and some of the movie/cartoon tie-ins released for it. And the Micro is the definition of portable gaming - better suited even than the DS Lite.

    It ain't over 'til it's over.
    Edited by 1 at 30/11/06 @ 17:22

  • Royal Fool #23 5 years ago

    The worldwide install base for the GBA is close to 80 million, if it's not already gone beyond that point.

    It's still a big name and a huge market. I suppose that Nintendo might very well combine the might of the Game Boy and DS in the future for a new handheld that would be compatible with GBA games, DS cards and whatever new format will become the next standard.

    Whatever the case, Nintendo will have to think long and hard on what they want to create next. There's honestly not a lot of features that needs to be added, except widescreen.

  • Redeye #24 5 years ago

    Reggie in "please go and buy the Micro, it's really cheap" non-shocker.