As my daughters get older and more tech saavy, I am challenged to keep them entertained. On our last trip, I brought not one, but TWO laptops to keep the DVDs rolling on the flights. Still, we ran out of batteries.

I thought about other options and stumbled onto the GBA Movie Player. It allows you to convert video down to low bitrates, put it on an compact flash card, and play the video on your Gameboy Advance. That sounds cool, but the conversion on media seems like asking for some headaches.

Last weekend I stumbled upon Majesco Gameboy Advance Video. It looks like the conversion headache is solved. The cartridges have episodes on them and are ready to roll.

I picked up a cartridge this week and gave it a try. At $20 a pop it's comparable to a DVD, but without the expensive player.

The playback couldn't be simpler. Zoe & Mira had no trouble understanding what I was showing them and promptly ran off with it. To the kids, the quality is good and it's a dream come true. The only trouble is that the screen is just too small for two children to watch it at the same time.

I had a little free time today and made up a little video to show how it works.

Demo of Gameboy Advance Video (1.8 MB WMV file)

Demo of Gameboy Advance Video (4.6 MB MPEG file, for the WMV impaired)

You're seeing the future here folks. Just imagine in a few more years when this kind of portable video and players will be widely available.

Posted by michael at July 28, 2004 11:22 PM