Nintendo Announces Multimedia Player for the GBA/DS

Looks as if Nintendo is starting to think outside that little box they\'ve been in for so many years.  Also looks as if they are taking a cue from the competition.

December 14, 2004 - Nintendo Japan today revealed a multimedia player for the Game Boy Advance system, tentatively titled the "Play-yan."



This device is actually a cartridge that plugs into the Game Boy Advance or GBA SP cartridge slot (as well as the Nintendo DS system\'s GBA slot) and enables users to listen to MP3 audio as well as view MPEG-4 encoded video via Panasonic\'s SD cards.



The device will go on sale in February 2005 in Japan, but Nintendo will have the unit on display at the Panasonic Center in Tokyo beginning December 16th.

Nintendo of America has yet to reveal any US plans regarding this multimedia device.

-- Craig Harris

>>>Link<<<

Battery life is said to be around 15 hours for MP3 playback, 4 hours for movie playback.

Rumors are already flying around about FFVII:AC being on the GBA as well as the PSP.

do you mean DS?Or a game based on FF7:AC?Because I dont think that GBA can play movies
Its funny that Nintendo said they arent trying to compete with PSP and that their aim is only gaming.
Now how about that?I dont think they would have taken that decision so soon or at all if the PSP didnt exist

Did you just skip the article?  It\'s not just an MP3 player, but a MPEG4 player as well.  

Also, there has been an add-on that plays videos on the GBA, I can\'t think of what it\'s called but it\'s been around for awhile.

yep skipped it.Dint know that sorry.

It\'s GBA Video. Just small cartoons on GBA carts. I have a couple of them that Majesco sent me...

Neat for kids, but not yet long enough to hold full features. Compression makes for questionable quality. That\'s why this new device will work with Panasonic cards instead.

-Dan

will 3rd party SD cards do ?

as i am getting a flash media MP3 player for Xmas and i could just double them up.