Video on the Go!

by Jesse Exum

MY APOLOGIES. SOME OF THE ITEMS MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE ARE NO LONGER AVAILABLE, AND ALL ARE HARD TO FIND!

Are you about to buy a portable video game system but having trouble deciding between a Nintendo DS and a Sony PSP? Do you like the Nintendo-exclusive Mario, Metroid, Pokémon and Zelda series but also want to be able to watch video on the go (a prominent feature of the PSP)? Then get a DS! Although the video quality isn’t as good as that of Universal Media Discs on a PSP, Game Boy Advance Video Paks let you watch video on your GBA, GBA SP, GBA micro, or DS! You can’t watch them on your TV using a Nintendo GameCube with a Game Boy Player accessory, but even if you could, the video quality would be terrible. You also can’t save video to the system like you can with UMDs on a PSP, but a lot more TV shows are available on GBA Video than on UMD. (However, a lot more movies are available on UMD than on GBA Video, so it kind of evens out.)

More than 20 different TV shows (all of them cartoons, except for one computer-animated show) have at least one episode available on GBA Video, and some of them aren’t even available on DVD or VHS! TV shows available on GBA Video Paks include The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius; All Grown Up; Brandy & Mr. Whiskers; Codename: Kids Next Door; Courage the Cowardly Dog; Danny Phantom; Dora the Explorer; Dragon Ball GT; Ed, Edd n' Eddy; The Fairly OddParents; The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy; Johnny Bravo; Kim Possible; Lilo & Stitch: The Series; Pokémon; The Proud Family; Rocket Power; Sonic X; SpongeBob SquarePants; Strawberry Shortcake; Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go; Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles; Yu-Gi-Oh; and even three feature-length computer-animated movies (all rated PG): Shark Tale, Shrek and Shrek 2! Can’t pick just one? Some GBA Video Paks contain episodes from multiple TV shows! In fact, some of the shows listed above are ONLY available on GBA Video Paks with episodes from multiple TV shows on them!

There are more than 30 different GBA Video Paks. They usually cost $10 or $20 each. If you look for GBA Video Paks online, note that some websites (including the official GBA Video website and even Nintendo.com) don’t list all of the GBA Video Paks. So if you don’t see any you like, try searching somewhere else!