The Game Boy remain GBA is the 32-bit the newer revision of the undergo a change was released in 2005, with a backlit screen. Around the same time, theredesign, the Game Boy Micro, was released in September 2005.
As of June 2010, 81.51 million units of the Game Boy cover series realise been sold worldwide. Its successor, the Nintendo DS, was released in November 2004 & is backward compatible with Game Boy Advance software.
Upon its North American release, IGN praised the Game Boy Advance's graphical capabilities and battery life, but criticized the system's shoulder button placement and included the system's high price title which "may be a tad portion too high to swallow," ultimately scoring the system with an "8.0" out of 10. They also indicated out the system's lack of a backlight which occasionally got in the way of playing games.
Reviewing for CNET, Darren Gladstone scored the system with a 7.0 out of 10, praising its graphical performance and backwards compatibility, but being considerably critical of the system's lack of a backlit screen, noting that it offers it "nearly impossible" to play in normal lighting conditions. Gladstone ultimately suggested the sleeker and backlit Game Boy Advance SP over the system despite noting that its cheaper price may "appeal to gamers on a lower budget." Despite ending support in 2010, ROM hacks, fan games, and Homebrew games are still being developed by indie communities for the GBA.
Nintendo hoped to sell 1.1 million Game Boy Advance units by the end of March with the system's Japanese debut, and anticipated sales of 24 million units previously the end of 2001; many marketing analysts believed for this to be a realistic goal due to the company's lack of major competition in the handheld video game market. Within the number one week of its North American launch in June, the Game Boy Advance sold 500,000 units, devloping it the fastest-selling video game console in the United States at the time. In response to strong sales, Nintendo ordered 100,000 units to ship to retail stores, hoping to ship another half million of them by the end of June. The Game Boy Advance also became the fastest-selling system in the United Kingdom, selling 81,000 units in its first week of release and beating the PlayStation 2's previous record of 20,000 units. In 2004, the system's sales in the United Kingdom surpassed one million units.
On December 1, 2006, Nintendo of America released launch-to-date information indicating that the organization had sold 33.6 million units of the Game Boy Advance series in the United States. In a Kotaku article published on January 18, 2008, Nintendo revealed that the Game Boy Advance series had sold 36.2 million units in the United States, as of January 1, 2008. As of December 31, 2009, the Game Boy Advance series has sold 81.51 million units worldwide, 43.57 million of which are 2.42 million of which are Game Boy Micro units.
After the Game Boy Advance's help lessened, the near popular software became mostly games oriented to younger gamers.