Ed Shih told me he'd post this last night, though I guess he was out partying too long and forgot. You know what that means — he's FIRED! Actually, it means that I have to do it... It also means I will have to send Louie to beat up Ed and take away his medication (firing is too good for that pansy).

The news in question appeared yesterday in the Japanese paper, Nihon Keizai Shimbun and was picked up by IGN Pocket. Apparently, Nintendo is currently working on software that will allow data to be transferred from the GameCube to the Gameboy Advance via a "special memory card" that will be developed by Matsushita. No other details were given; save that the software will be finished by 2002 and that a Pokemon game will be one of the first titles to utilize this format. (This is the same Pokemon title that Kosta reported on earlier today). The only real question is, weren't the GameCube and Gameboy Advance supposed to hook up already via the NGC's controller ports?

IGN Pocket speculates that the new software will allow the GBA (not just the NGC,) to utilize Matsushita's rewritable SD cards. However, it may require a cartridge for the GBA for the SD Card to plug into, similar to the Rumble Cartridge used for Pokemon Pinball on the GBC. Not only does this create another aspect of connectivity, it opens the possibility of rewritablility to GBA games. This bodes well for GBA/NGC games that interact, as whatever you accomplished in such a GBA could faithfully affect what happens in its NGC counterpart. Pretty cool, huh? It sounds like Nintendo are definitely serious about this interconnectivity between systems!

We'll keep our eyes peeled to see how this develops. In the meantime, feel free to share your thoughts on this as I go sharpen Louie's claws... (Louie just loves torturing Ed!)