A nephew in the U.K. has a Game Boy Advance, purchased there. I'd like
to bring him Pokemon Emerald from the U.S. Will it play in his
Gameboy?

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Clarification of Question by mccook-ga on 14 Aug 2005 17:44 PDT

Cooljay136: Many thanks for your altruistic assistance! You've been
quite helpful. -- mcCook-ga.

Howdy mccook-ga,

If the Game Boy Advance (GBA) was a console system, that is, one that you
plugged into the wall and used with television or monitor, the comment by
cooljay136aolcom-ga would be correct.

However, the Game Boy Advance is a handheld system, which means the display
is built in, and it is battery powered.  Thus, any incompatability problems
with NTSC and PAL do not apply, and as Nintendo made the Game Boy series of
handhelds region free, any GBA cartridge from any country will play in any
GBA from any country.

So, yes, you can buy Pokemon Emerald here in the US and it will work on
your nephew's GBA.

From "Alf's Import Guide" on the DeafGamers' web site.
http://www.deafgamers.com/alfsimportguide.htm

"What about the Game Boy Advance?

The Game Boy, Game Color and Game Boy Advance, are unique in the fact that
they are multi-region. You can play ... US and UK games on any Game Boy, no
matter where it is bought."

The Answerbag web site's page on the GBA.
http://www.answerbag.com/c_view.php/76#q_1865

"If I imported an American ... GBA game and played it on my European Gameboy
Advance, would the game work or would I need a GBA from the corresponding
country?

The Game Boy series was a rarity. They were systems Nintendo made; yet they
did not have regional lockouts."

IGNpocket's Game Boy Advance FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) speaks to
Japanese systems and US games, but this, as shown above, also applies to US
games on a UK GBA.
http://gameboy.ign.com/articles/070/070078p1.html

"Will the Game Boy Advance released in Japan play US games, or vice-versa?

Yes. Like the Game Boy and Game Boy Color, there will not be any sort of
territory lockout -- meaning, you'll be able to import a Japanese system and
have the ability to play US-released games on it."

If you need any clarification, please feel free to ask.


Search strategy:

Google search on: "Game Boy Advance" UK "US games" play
://www.google.com/search?q=%22Game+Boy+Advance%22+UK+%22US+games%22+play

Looking Forward, denco-ga - Google Answers Researcher

Terrific help, denco-ga. I very much appreciate how sure your answer
is. I'll proceed accordingly.

Unfortunately, I believe no. US video games are "NTSC" version while
UK games are "PAL" version. As far as I know, the 2 are incompatible
with each other. I'm not an expert and I know that at least for DVD's
some programs can be used to convert the game, but I'm fairly sure
that he will need a UK version of the game. You can buy it at this
site:

http://www.gameseek.co.uk/productdetail/GBAh8sy9660vr4gx4a1/

I searched on eBay but no one is selling a PAL version. Hope this
helps. Just a friendly answer center browser hoping to help. :)  -jay

Thanks for the kind comment, 5 star rating and tip, mccook-ga.

My pleasure!

Looking Forward, denco-ga - Google Answers Researcher