Nintendo reveals GBA SP Japanese launch plans

Big ship-out

The latest version of the GameBoy will launch in Japan on February 14, with 300,000 units of the hardware available at launch, retailing at 12,500 yen - approximately £68 - and fully equipped with an oft-requested internal lighting system for the screen, as revealed earlier this month.

Nintendo has also teamed up with Square to offer a limited edition GBA SP bundle with the keenly anticipated Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. 20,000 units of this bundle will be made available, and it is expected to launch on the same day as the GBA SP itself.

The GBA SP will launch in the USA and Europe just over a month after the Japanese roll-out, with a European date of March 28 currently on the cards. No allocation figures for any market other than Japan are available as yet, however.

Earlier this week it was revealed that some existing games are incompatible with GBA SP hardware - specifically, the three titles which use a tilt sensor in the cartridge as a control mechanism, like Kirby Tilt'n'Tumble. This problem occurs because the cartridge in the SP is upside down compared to the normal GBA; all future tilt-enabled games are expected to offer an option to choose the type of hardware you wish to play it on.

Obviously enough, none of them will work with the forthcoming GBA Player accessory for the GameCube. Or rather, they'll work, but waving your GameCube around the room as a control mechanism is not recommended...

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