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Game Boy Advance BIOS
Game Boy Advance BIOS |
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Developer: Nintendo
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To do: Stuff from the source code in the 2020-07-25 Nintendo leak. |
The Game Boy Advance (GBA) was essentially the true successor to the original Game Boy line launched in 2001. It added an ARM7-based 32-bit CPU on the top of the Z80-based 8-bit CPU used by previous Game Boy models, allowing for full backwards compatibility with the entire Game Boy (GB) and Game Boy Color (GBC) software library (aside from a few games that used GB/GBC exclusive features, mind you) in addition to its own games. Due to hardware simplification, this feature would be removed in the later Game Boy Micro models though, limiting its support only to GBA cartridges (similarly, the original Nintendo DS and the Nintendo DS Lite are also limited to only GBA cartridges for their backwards compatibility).
Its BIOS was more sophisticated than previous models' bootstrap ROMs, containing a variety of routines that games could use to speed up or simplify operations.
Sub-Pages
Prototype Info |
Prerelease Info |
Developer Credit
// Coded by Kawasedo
The five keys (normal, multi, joybus, prng multiplier, and constant) are used by the GBA to decrypt multiboot images sent over the link cable. When combined, they form this message from the developer.
Kawasedo
The last two keys also appear later in the BIOS. "Kawasedo" is a nickname used by "Tomohiro Kawase", a Nintendo employee most notable for his work on official emulation projects such as the NES emulators included in Animal Crossing and Metroid Prime.
Cleanup > Pages missing date references
Cleanup > Pages missing developer references
Cleanup > Pages missing publisher references
Cleanup > To do
Games > BIOS/Firmware ROMs
Games > Games by content > Games with hidden developer credits
Games > Games by content > Games with unused code
Games > Games by developer > Games developed by Nintendo
Games > Games by platform > Game Boy Advance games
Games > Games by publisher > Games published by Nintendo
Games > Games by release date > Games released in 2001