Written by Kyle Williams  on August 06, 2001

Special: When in his GBA suit, Rob is more powerful than the Wizard of Oz himself, as the Tour hits the Emerald City!

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With guys wandering around the Seattle Center wearing the same Game Boy Advance jump suits that were a hit at E3, it was evident; the Nintendo Advance Team Tour hit Seattle. The biggest difference this time is that the population at the Seattle Center doesn't primarily consist of male videogame enthusiasts in their mid 20's. Instead, families out for the day, many of who have no idea what is going on, stopped by the big booth. Grandma just doesn't know what to do when a young man comes up to her, places the Game Boy Advance in her hands, and says, Уplay with me.Ф

The Advance Team Tour has been spreading awareness of the Game Boy Advance for some time, as you may remember of original report when it hit the Philadelphia Zoo in early June. This past weekend, we [Kyle and Daniel for those of you who haven't read the credits yet] were able to meet up with the tour at its stop in Seattle, and had a chance to catch up with Rob and Keith from Nintendo. We were given the first class treatment and spent time working some Q&A session's in-between prize giveaways; and believe us, there was a lot of given away.


The primary source of prizes was the УMoney BoothФ, a transparent booth into which a lucky person stepped into for their chance to win the prize of prizes, the Game Boy Advance. Every hour 5 lucky contestants were drawn (must be present to win - you can't step into the booth if you aren't there) and were placed in the booth. That person then has 30 seconds to get as many of the УGame Boy DollarsФ as possible. The catch: a fan is swirling the money around, and it's a lot harder than it looks. The prize awarded depends on the amount of money one walks away from the booth with. A Game Boy Advance costs 75 GB Bucks, and a T-Shirt costs 15. There are various other prizes as well (such as the Game Boy Advance skateboard - 45 bucks). Rob mentioned that he awards one or two actual consoles per stop.

In between trips to the big glass booth, the two asked questions of the people in attendance and awarded smaller prizes in return. Kids 12 and under were asked questions such as; What is the capital of New York?; Who invented peanut butter?; Which is the northern most state in the United States?; Name one of the original 13 colonies. Of course Game Boy Advance questions were liberally peppered throughout as well (it helps to know the official names of the colors of the GBA). Older people were asked such trivia as the characters on Gilligan's Island, or which city Bugs Bunny always should have taken a left at. Each of us answered a Super Friends related question correctly and received a Game Boy Advance key chain. Frankly, they were a little surprised that nobody else knew which person drove an invisible jet.

The Advance Tour Team consists of 4 core guys, and each town has a rotation of 6 guys that come in to help out. Rob has been with the tour from the beginning, and remembers the week that the Game Boy Advance launched. УWe were in New York. It was odd. It was a rainy week.Ф At a Six Flags in New Jersey, the team was pretty much rained out. But that's what happens when the event is held outdoors.


а While the Advance Team Tour has been a success this summer, don't look for the same type of event to promote the Gamecube. Nintendo has different plans regarding the home console in preparation for it's launch this November. Details are sketchy at this point, but the current plan is to have a УloungeФ type setting indoors where people can come and play games. Instead of happening for a few hours outside on the weekends, the Gamecube tour will most likely hit 3 cities at once, for a week at a time. Look for more details regarding "Club Gamecube" as they become available.

Sure, the Advance Team has been sporting nine of the systems launch titles, but there were no up-and-coming titles to be found. Rob had this to say about having games that were a part of the GBA launch at the event; over a month after being available; УI don't think people knew what games we had. If we had games that weren't out yet, people might stay longer.Ф Rob in particular wished that Super Dodgeball Advance and Mario Kart Super Circuit were available at the tour, because these are the games he wants to be playing. The lack of upcoming titles is not to say people aren't turning out. Many people do show up and check it out, even if they already have a GBA.


Of course, we did work in the inevitable question regarding the Game Boy Advance and how it will work in conjunction with the upcoming Gamecube. While no official statement could be made, Rob was really excited about what Nintendo has in store. He could only say that the Game Boy Advance will act as a controller and that he was thrilled about the idea of playing with the GBA on the road, coming home, and hooking it up to his Gamecube. While there is nothing in writing yet, we will probably see our first glimpse of this interconnection at Spaceworld later this month, and we may even get to put our hands on it at "Club Gamecube."

The experience with the Advance Team and their tour has been a great one for all of us at Gaming Target and we would like to express our thanks to Rob, Keith, and the rest of the team for taking the time to help spread the good news of the Game Boy Advance. We sure are looking forward to catching up with "Club Gamecube" when it hits our town.