After 9 months of absence, the Advance Weekly returns.

Last time we talked about the introduction of the Gameboy Advance SP and within these nine months almost nothing has changed. Nintendo announced another new version of the Gameboy Advance: the 'Starlight Gold Original GBA SP'. Did you always wanted to look posh? Now you can, since this new GBA SP is gold-colored. Unfortunately this new edition is only available through the online stores of Japanese department of Toys'R'Us, so it'll be hard to get outside of Asia. If you still want a fancy new color, you might better wait a few weeks since two new colours, Arctic Blue and Flame Red, will be available in stores across Europe from 24th October.

Another piece of hardware was also announced this week in the land of the rising sun. The Game Selector SP is simply put a device you'll plug into your GBA SP, which can hold 3 different game-cartridges. Using a switch on the Game Selector SP you can, here it comes, switch between the games while you play. So, for one second you are playing Wario Ware, but you decide it's enough for now. Simply use the switch to continue playing Splinter Cell. Unfortunately the Game Selector SP takes quite a lot of room, making your GBA SP a bit bulky. According to the manufacturer, the device also adds a little more grip on your GBA SP so the space won't be spilled.

While we're at it, Nintendo of Europe happily released the information that they've sold over 2 million GBA SP's in Europe. That's 2 million handhelds within 6 months, taking the entire European Gameboy Advance population up to 9 million units.

Are we done yet? Of course not! Today, Lik-Sang published the news that the developer of de 'TV de Advance' is secretly developing a new add-on for the GBA: The Time Machine. The Time Machine will allow you to play your Famicom/NES cartridges on your GBA. Now that will be a pretty sight, a GBA with a game inserted which is almost twice its size. I have to admit I can see some potential in playing the original Zelda once again. Hmmm... Zelda...

Enough hardware for this week. THQ has announced another Scooby Doo game, this time based on the upcoming (second) Scooby movie: Scooby-Doo Two: Monsters Unleashed. Summarized we'll be searching for a Pterodactyl Ghost costume in 5 worlds (4 levels each), using three of the famous characters: Scooby-Doo, Shaggy, and Daphne.

EA tried to show off this week. They finally showed images of two highly anticipated games from their stables. First of all, Looney Tunes: Back In Action was shown. It appears that GBA version of the game will be played from an isometric view, but will also feature some minigames (like a small racing game).

The second game EA gladly showed was Need for Speed: Underground. An interview I held with an Jonathan Long (Online Community Manager) gave us some details about the game. First of all, the game will feature 14 customizable cars (ranging from Mitsubishi to Subaru). With hundreds of parts to customize your car with, it literally gives you millions of possible combinations. Then, you always wonder how many track will be available (which isn't such a weird question, since it's a racinggame). Simply put, there are 23 different tracks which can also been driven in mirrored-mode. That's a total of 46 tracks! But we're not there yet... We've still got 5 different game modes to play with. As Jonathan himself described it "We will feature Circuit Races, Sprint Races, Drag Races and Drift Races. We will also have a Dynamic Underground Mode that changes every time you create a new game, basically battling random opponents in a leader board to be the best underground street racer." Now combine these facts with 4-player GBA-link support and an advanced 3D engine with perspective correction and we'll get ourselves a nice game this winter.

There was also another Need for Speed game in the news this week. A video showing some gameplay from Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed appeared. The movie shows you about 1 minute of nice, fast racing. Remember this video is said not to be from the final version of the game, so graphics might look a bit different compared to the retail version.

While we're in the racing-scene, Nintendo Japan finaly released some information about the upcoming F-Zero: Falcon Legend. It has been confirmed that the game will feature 3 diferrent gamemodes: Story mode, Grand Prix mode and Time Attack mode. In the Story mode, you'll get to play as one of eight characters. Racing the tracks, you'll earn money to upgrade your machine. It was also said that F-Zero: Falcon Legend will feature E-Reader+ support. New tracks and vehicles. It was also rumoured that the GBA version will be able to link-up to the GameCube's F-Zero GX to transfer machines and tracks. This last part was not confirmed though. For those of you who'd like to see a tiny screener of F-Zero: Falcon Legend in action should head over to Game Online.

Well, ladies and gents, since this was the first Advance Weekly in ages I decided to put in some elements from last week aswell. If you want to read all the latest GBA news, you can always drop in at my personal site (hosted by Cube-Europe). Comments are welcome (especially positive ones) and can be send to [email protected]. Maybe we'll meet again next week, or otherwise within the next 9 months.

Dennis Stam
(aka Blackbird on the boards)