Entertainment consumers have long dreamed of carrying their favorite video material with them on small portable devices. DVD players made that possible - but at a cost of hundreds of dollars. On June 21, Nintendo offers the same capability to owners of the portable Game Boy Advance at a much lower price. No additional hardware purchase is required to view the Pokémon episodes that debut on Game Boy Advance Video.
With an MSRP of USD 19.99 per Video pak, Nintendo's Pokémon franchise will be represented initially with episodes Playing with Fire! and Johto Photo Finish on one pak and A Hot Water Bottle and For Ho-Oh The Bells Toll! on another.
The Pokémon franchise remains as popular as ever. In fact, Pokémon Colosseum, which launched on March 22 for Nintendo GameCube, sold 400,000 copies in its first month in the United States. And, with more than 300 episodes to its credit and now in its sixth season, the Pokémon animated television series remains one of the top-three-rated shows for boys ages 6 to 11.
Pokémon, published by Nintendo, joins previously announced animation titles published by Majesco based on Nickelodeon, 4Kids Entertainment and Cartoon Network original programs. The first offerings will include top-rated shows such as SpongeBob SquarePants, The Fairly Oddparents, Dora the Explorer and Codename: Kids Next Door, as well as franchise favorites like All Grown Up!, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Strawberry Shortcake and Sonic X. Typically, two to four full episodes of an animated series will be included on each Video pak.
Game Boy Advance Video initially allows up to 45 minutes of animation and fills the screen of the Game Boy Advance SP or Game Boy Advance with brilliant full-color video and audio.
The innovative Game Boy Advance cartridge-sized Video paks automatically turn the millions of Game Boy Advance and Game Boy Advance SP units in the United States into portable video players. The Video pak format contains no moving parts, thus eliminating skipping or stuttering. Playback uses DVD-style controls.
Game Boy Advance SP units are available at an MSRP of USD 99.99, while the Game Boy Advance sells at an MSRP of USD 79.99.