Game Boy Advance Video

Game Boy Advance Video is a format for putting full color, full-motion videos onto Game Boy Advance ROM cartridges. These videos are playable using the Game Boy Advance system's screen and sound hardware. These video cartridges were manufactured by Majesco Entertainment, except for the Pokémon Game Boy Advance Video cartridges, which were published by Nintendo. The cartridges themselves 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

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, Fox Zoom 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 movies like Lucky & Master, Love in Pairs, Magina, Shrek 2, JeremyToons 2, Twin, Duo, and Two and Shark Tale. A special GBA Video Pak containing the movies 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 Nintendo GameCube's 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 designed for 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. 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.

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 titles

GBA Video Movie Pak vol. 4

• East of the Sun and West of the Moon

GBA Video Movie Pak vol. 5

• Island of Parrots

GBA Video Movie Pak vol. 6

• Meredith's Journey

GBA Video Movie Pak vol. 7

• Natalia's Story

GBA Video Movie Pak vol. 8

• Magina

GBA Video Movie Pak vol. 9

• Twin, Duo, and Two

GBA Video Movie Pak vol. 10

• The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie

GBA Video Movie Pak 2-Movies-In-1! Vol. 3

• East of the Sun and West of the Moon
• Island of Parrots

GBA Video Movie Pak 2-Movies-In-1! Vol. 4

• Meredith's Journey
• Natalia's Story

GBA Video Movie Pak 2-Movies-In-1! Vol. 6

• Magina
• Twin, Duo, and Two

GBA Video Movie Pak 2-Movies-In-1! Vol. 7

• Twin, Duo, and Two
• The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie

GBA Video Movie Pak 2-Movies-In-1! Vol. 8

• Magina
• The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie

The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron vol. 1

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

All Grown Up! vol. 1

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

Dora the Explorer vol. 1

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

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

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

Nicktoons Collection vol. 2

• SpongeBob SquarePants: "Nature Pants"
• SpongeBob SquarePants: "Opposite Day"
• Nickelodeon 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"

SpongeBob SquarePants vol. 1

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

SpongeBob SquarePants vol. 2

• "Mermaidman & Barnacleboy"
• "Pickles"
• "Hall Monitor"
• "Jellyfish Jam"

SpongeBob SquarePants vol. 3 

• "Walking Small"
• "Texas"
• "Hooky"
• "Mermaidman & Barnacleboy II"