Now that we’ve learned 13 things you might not have known about the original Game Boy, Did You Know Gaming takes us into the next generation of Nintendo handhelds, the Game Boy Advance. Did you know it was supposed to have a modem?
Or at least some sort of cell phone connectivity, which was a pretty progressive idea back in the late ’90s. A bit too progressive, for once the handheld got into developer and then consumer hands, there was no modem or cellular connection to be found. Perhaps Nintendo was just saving it for something with a bit more screen.
Narrated once again by Jake of Vsauce3, the second instalment of DYKGaming’s celebration of Nintendo handhelds includes many tidbits I was unaware of. Did you know:
- The Game Boy Advance was in the works as early as 1995, six years before its release?
- The Game Boy Colour was released as a means to keep brand momentum going while developers perfected the Game Boy Advance?
- The Game Boy Advance featured plenty of odd peripherals, but none quite as odd as a headset meant to help children stay calm while being sedated?
Wow. I can’t wait to see what DYKGaming has in store for the Game Boy Advance SP.
Comments
7 responses to “The Vanishing Modem And Other Surprising Game Boy Advance Trivia”
As far as I am aware, the 64DD was the first online console that allowed you to surf the internet and play online multiplayer and even Super Famicom had some sort of online capabilities. It doesn’t surprise me that they played around with the idea of installing a modem into the GBA but considering that their online attempts so far had been utter commercial failures it is understandable that they didn’t follow through.
The SNES had the Satellaview, and the Famicom had the Famicom Modem. Based on wikipedia descriptions, the Famicom Modem was not used much for games of any sort while the Satellaview was for downloading games.
I thought I read somewhere that Famicom modem allowed an online leaderboard or something.
I think it did. But I only know of it from the book “Game Over”.
From what it said, the Famicom modem was mostly for additional services like flight booking and banking. It also was used against Nintendo during the Tetris law suit because Nintendo tried to imply a computer and a console were separate devices.
Interesting
The Sega Saturn had internet capabilities, and even the Dreamcast came out in Japan a full year before the 64DD which most definitely allowed for all sorts of internet browsing, online gaming, leadersboards, ect.
Glancing at the small news thumbnail I thought the grey haired dude was Ralph Harris… Awkward.