In the three TV commercials Nintendo’s been running for the GBA in Japan, they’ve been touting the “4 players on one cartridge” possibilities. After seeing EAGB’s report on the true issues about discrepancies with the possibilities of 4 players on one cartridge concept, I decided to look into this a lot further. How real is it? Well, at least for the Japanese launch titles it’s not looking too good, especially with the majority of the launch titles that have 2-4 player multiplayer options.

According to all the reports I’ve found, the only titles that have this “Four players on one cartridge” are Nintendo made games. And it’s not every multiplayer level that's offered. Just one or two levels. If everyone that is playing has the cartridge then you can play all the levels. With most third party titles you need to have multiple copies of the game. So basically this is more of a gimmick than a real possibility with every game. A tease if you will. I mean, it’s still free…but…not exactly what was promised. At least…yet.

Wait, there was one game that I read could play all the levels with only one cartridge. Ironically, it’s Chu Chu Rocket. A Sega game. Granted it’s a lot more of a simple puzzle game…but….C’mon!

Personally, I could really give a rat’s ass. If I get a taste of a game multiplayer wise and like it...I’ll probably buy it. Most of the GBA titles I’ll probably pick up anyway. What I don’t like is that Nintendo is totally promoting this feature (which I reported back at Space World), and it’s not a universal one.

This "Multiplayer One Cart Feature" that Nintendo’s been promoting could get better in the future. So don’t freak out! I think the Game Boy Advance is an amazing piece of hardware and realize this...THIS IS BARELY THE BEGINNING! But I wish Nintendo wouldn't preach a feature that wasn't pure.