Editing Game Boy Advance (section)

=== Project Atlantis ===
When the original Game Boy launched in 1989, many questioned Nintendo’s decision to release a monochrome handheld console, when competitors like the [[Atari Lynx|Lynx]] and [[Game Gear]] had color screens. However, the rivals' color displays were criticized for their poor battery life and bulky size, while the Game Boy’s better portability and battery longevity increased its popularity.<ref name="McFarren 2016">{{Cite book |last=McFarren |first=Damien |title=Videogames Hardware Handbook |publisher=[[Imagine Publishing]] |year=2016 |isbn=978-1-78546-239-9 |edition=2nd |volume=1 |location=Bournemouth |pages=157–163}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Ryan |first=Jeff |title=Super Mario: How Nintendo Conquered America |date=2011 |publisher=Portfolio Penguin |isbn=978-1-59184-405-1 |location=New York |pages=102–105 |language=en}}</ref> 

Nintendo publicly pledged to develop a color version of the Game Boy only when the technology overcame the limitations of existing color handhelds.<ref name="Day 2016">{{Cite book |last=Day |first=Ashley |title=Videogames Hardware Handbook |publisher=[[Imagine Publishing]] |year=2016 |isbn=978-1-78546-239-9 |edition=2nd |volume=1 |location=Bournemouth |pages=236–239}}</ref> Internally, however, a team led by [[Satoru Okada]]—who had worked on the original Game Boy—was already experimenting with color screens. Their early 1990s prototype, codenamed "Project Atlantis," featured a color display and a 32-bit processor designed by [[Arm Holdings|ARM]].<ref name="NGen18">{{Cite magazine |date=June 1996 |title=Nintendo's New Color Handheld |url=https://archive.org/details/Next-Generation-1996-06/page/n21/mode/2up |magazine=[[Next Generation (magazine)|Next Generation]] |publisher=[[Imagine Media]] |page=20 |issue=18}}</ref><ref name="EGM83">{{Cite magazine |date=June 1996 |title=Nintendo's 32-Bit Color Portable "Project Atlantis" to Be Ready in Fall |url=https://retrocdn.net/images/3/39/EGM_US_083.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180916164241/https://retrocdn.net/images/3/39/EGM_US_083.pdf |archive-date=September 16, 2018 |magazine=[[Electronic Gaming Monthly]] |publisher=[[Ziff Davis]] |page=18 |issue=83}}</ref><ref name="NGen19">{{Cite magazine |date=July 1996 |title=Nintendo's Atlantis Emerges |url=https://archive.org/details/Next-Generation-1996-07/page/n17/mode/2up |magazine=Next Generation |publisher=Imagine Media |page=16 |issue=19}}</ref> Despite the promising technology, the team was not satisfied with the outcome and the project was shelved by 1997.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Satoru Okada – Interview |url=https://www.nintendo.co.jp/nom/9902/b_box/staff/index.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000529053545/https://www.nintendo.co.jp/nom/9902/b_box/staff/index.html |archive-date=May 29, 2000 |access-date=January 15, 2019 |website=Nintendo}}</ref><ref name="Kurokawa 2022">{{Cite web |last=Kurokawa |first=Fumio |date=2022 |title=Satoru Okada – 2022 Retrospective Interview |url=https://shmuplations.com/okada2022/ |access-date=April 8, 2024 |publisher=[[4gamer.net]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |date=August 1997 |title=The Lost Portable of Atlantis |url=https://retrocdn.net/images/3/3b/EGM_US_097.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727235809/https://retrocdn.net/images/3/3b/EGM_US_097.pdf |archive-date=July 27, 2020 |magazine=Electronic Gaming Monthly |publisher=Ziff Davis |page=116 |issue=97}}</ref>

However, as competitors such as the [[Neo Geo Pocket]] and [[WonderSwan]] entered the market, Nintendo decided to create a color version of the Game Boy by combining the color screen they had been testing for Project Atlantis with a faster version of the existing Game Boy's 8-bit processor.<ref name="Kurokawa 2022" /> The Game Boy Color launched in 1998.<ref name="Day 2016" />