How does GBA compare to older Nintendo's

Archived from groups: alt.games.video.nintendo.gameboy.advance (More info?)

i.e. compared to the original NES...that was 8 bit, correct? How many bits
is GBA? What console does it compare to as far as bits/technology go?

Eddie G

Archived from groups: alt.games.video.nintendo.gameboy.advance (More info?)

"Eddie G" <mickeddie(remove me)@comcast.net> wrote

> i.e. compared to the original NES...that was 8 bit, correct? How many
bits
> is GBA? What console does it compare to as far as bits/technology go?
>
> Eddie G

(Specs follow)

After everything is crunched, from a user standpoint, I'd probably compare a
GBA with a SNES.

Cheers!
-Eric

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
CPU Modes
-------------
ARM Mode ARM7TDMI 32bit RISC CPU, 16.78MHz, 32bit opcodes (GBA)
THUMB Mode ARM7TDMI 32bit RISC CPU, 16.78MHz, 16bit opcodes (GBA)
CGB Mode Z80/8080-style 8bit CPU, 4.2MHz or 8.4MHz (CGB compatibility)
DMG Mode Z80/8080-style 8bit CPU, 4.2MHz (monochrome gameboy
compatib.)

Internal Memory
----------------
BIOS ROM 16 KBytes
Work RAM 288 KBytes (32K in-chip + 256K on-board)
VRAM 96 KBytes
OAM 1 KByte (128 OBJs 3x16bit, 32 OBJ-Rotation/Scalings 4x16bit)
Palette RAM 1 KByte (256 BG colors, 256 OBJ colors)

Video
------
Display 240x160 pixels (2.9 inch TFT color LCD display)
BG layers 4 background layers
BG types Tile/map based, or Bitmap based
BG colors 256 colors, or 16 colors/16 palettes, or 32768 colors
OBJ colors 256 colors, or 16 colors/16 palettes
Effects Rotation/Scaling, alpha blending, fade-in/out, mosaic, window
OBJ size 12 types (in range 8x8 up to 64x64 dots)
OBJs/Screen max. 128 OBJs of any size (up to 64x64 dots each)
OBJs/Line max. 128 OBJs of 8x8 dots size (under best circumstances)
Priorities OBJ/OBJ: 0-127, OBJ/BG: 0-3, BG/BG: 0-3
Effects Rotation/Scaling, alpha blending, fade-in/out, mosaic, window

Sound
------
Analogue 4 channel CGB compatible
Digital 2 DMA sound channels
Output Built-in speaker, or stereo headphones

Controls
---------
Gamepad 4 Direction Keys, 6 Buttons
Communication Ports
Serial Port Various transfer modes, 4-Player Link, Single Game Pak play

External Memory
-----------------
GBA Game Pak max. 32MB ROM or flash ROM + max 64K SRAM
CGB Game Pak max. 32KB ROM + 8KB SRAM (more memory requires banking)

Power Supply
--------------
Battery Life-time approx. 15 hours
External 3.3V DC (works with somewhat 2.7V-3.3V, or maybe a bit more)