Nintendo have released figures which demonstrate that their Game Boy Advance hand-held console may just be the surprise of this holiday season. The company has said it sold a million of the handheld consoles in 10 days in the US. Following its launch in 2001, more than nine million GBA's have been sold in the US and Nintendo expects to break the 10 million barrier by the end of this year. Similar trends have also been reported in Europe, especially in the U.K.
Nintendo must be delighted since GBA forms part of their world console domination plan. By releasing a series of products which combine their hand-held with the GameCube, Nintendo are really hoping that users of the GBA will eventually be tempted to also purchase its bigger brother. One of their most recent announcements is the Nintendo GameCube Game Boy Player, expected in May 2003. The new device will allow a library of more than 1,000 games designed for the original Game Boy, Game Boy Color and the current Game Boy Advance to be displayed on home televisions through the Nintendo GameCube console. In other words Nintendo is taunting its, already broad base of, GBA owners to follow-up by obtaining the GC in order to make the most of their gaming experience.
The success of this venture lies in the ability of the other two main console competitors, Sony and Microsoft, to convince GBA owners that their products will offer a better gaming option. The Nintendo premise however, is a simple one. You have the GBA get GameCube, it's not that expensive.
