The Game Boy Advance SP, released in early 2003, is an upgrade to Nintendo's Game Boy Advance. The "SP" stands for "Special"—not "Special Project" as some assume.[1]

Improvements over the original Game Boy Advance include an internal light, a rechargeable lithium ion battery and a folding case which is approximately half the size of the GBA when closed and similar to Nintendo's Game Boy Color when open. The folding case design also protects the screen. Nintendo removed the headphone jack due to technical limitations, which had previously been implemented on all Game Boy models, but headphones can be used with an adapter that plugs into the same port as the charger/AC adapter.

The battery is similar to that of most mobile phones and lasts approximately 18 hours with the light off and 10 hours with it on.

Nintendo claimed that technological advances meant that it was possible for the SP to include an internal light and a rechargeable battery and launch at the same price as the original had launched at in 2001 ($99.99). An additional motivation may have been a need to respond to Triton Labs' Afterburner aftermarket internal light kit, which proved that the original GBA could support an internal light with an acceptable drop in battery life.

In September 2004, Nintendo announced that the Game Boy Advance SP's price would drop to $79.99 USD.

The GBA SP has been accompanied in the marketplace by the Nintendo DS; Nintendo has described the latter system as a "third pillar" alongside their home console line and the Game Boy range (with the GBA's marketplace successor to follow at a later date).

See also

• Game Boy
• Game Boy Color
• Nintendo DS
• Nintendo GameCube
• Game Boy Player