The turning of the
century brought with it a sea of promises:
Airplanes falling out of the sky, bank accounts being wiped by computer
viruses, social collapse, civil unrest, World War III, Skynet (again), and the
most terrifying of all, a boy from West Philadelphia – born and raised – wanted
to party like it was still 1999. The Willenium had arrived. Once it did,
though, we simply realized we’d woken up to yet another day. Our robot
overlords deemed it unnecessary to enslave us..yet.
Despite the let down
and lack of apocalyptic events in 2000 – I voted radioactive mutants –, on June
11, 2001 North America got its hands on a device that made millions
of gamers glad the world hadn’t ended a year before. With graphical
capabilities that rivaled the SNES, a button layout that felt natural and efficient,
and a continuing library of games that have always been the cornerstone of
Nintendo’s handheld repertoire, gamers on the move were introduced to the next
big thing; The Game Boy Advance!
