We all know what the Game Boy Advance is (if you don't, why are you here?) and we all know that the screenshots released so far look utterly fantastic, but what exactly can we expect from the finished Game Boy Advance when it's released in the west this July?

The wonder machine itself!

Graphics

The GBA has a 32-bit processor, similar to that found in the Sega Saturn and, more importantly, the Sony PlayStation. Unfortunately (or is it?) the console has no seperate 3D processor. What this means is that the console, while as good as anything else on the market in 2D, only has the 3D capabilities of a SNES with a Super FX 2 chip, although this is still amazingly good for a handheld. This means the majority of games will either be 2D or use Nintendo's form of fake 3D, Mode 7, as pioneered in SNES classic F-Zero. For those who are interested, the GBA has a resolution of 240x160 pixels - considerably higher than the Game Boy Color's. This means that objects on screen can be even more detailed.

This is Napoleon. The 2D graphics look utterly fantastic...	...as do Mode 7 games like Mario Kart Advance.
Who says the GBA can't do 3D? Shin'en obviously think it can, and they're right!	By way of comparison, this is Wario Land 3 on the Game Boy Color. Looks a bit basic, doesn't it?

Sound

The GBA's sound system will be pitched somewhere in between the SNES and the N64's capabilities. This means great tunes, and with carts of up to 256Mbit, lots of sampled speech! You might want to invest in some headphones, though, as the speakers will still be just as small as the GB Color's.

Control

The Game Boy Advance will, as you probably know, have its screen rotated 90 degrees, giving it a look closer to that of the Sega Game Gear or the SNK Neo Geo Pocket than current GBs. The main implication of this is that, in addition to the standard D-pad, Start, Select, A and B buttons, the GBA will sport two shoulder buttons just like the SNES controller. The benefits of this are likely to be enormous, as one of the GB Color's main weaknesses is its lack of action buttons, which means conversions from anything post-NES often have to be simplified.

Multiplayer Games

With Mario Kart Advance confirmed, the Big N has said that the GBA will be released with a 4-way link cable, ideal for multiplayer racing, which was always Mario Kart's main strength. The genius of the link-up design, though, is that you don't need to limit yourself to four players, unlike on the restricted television screens home consoles use. Expect an 8-way link cable pretty soon, then. Perhaps even more exciting are the GBA's internet capabilities. Mobile 21, a company formed by Nintendo and Konami, are working on software which will allow you to surf the net on your GBA using a cell-phone link-up. This will, of course, mean that multiplayer games over the internet will be possible. And there's more! Thanks to a unique system, you no longer all need to have a copy of a game to link up and play it. One cartridge is enough for four players!

GameCube Link-Up

The GB Pak released along with Pokémon Stadium for the Nintendo 64 allowed players to insert their Game Boy games and download data to the big screen versions. The GBA and GameCube will go one step further, by allowing the GBA to plug directly into one of the GameCube's controller sockets. The increasing popularity of these "buddy" games (other examples include Mario Golf and Perfect Dark) will help to attract more developers to GameCube. Companies making GBA versions of games for the PlayStation 2 may decide to convert their title to GCN so that they can take advantage of the link-up. As an added bonus, you can play GBA titles on the big screen when they're plugged into a GameCube.