2002

Nintendo MP3 Player

The Play-Yan (trademarked PLAY-YAN) is a media player designed for the Game Boy Advance SP and also compatible with the Game Boy Micro and Nintendo DS. It uses SD flash memory to play MP3 audio files and H.264/MPEG-4 AVC video files. It can also play 13 bonus mini-games, all of which are available freely on the Nintendo website in Japan. Sales of the Play-Yan were discontinued on September 11, 2005.

Released: 6 August 2002
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The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Development

The Play-Yan launched in Japan on February 21, 2005 for approximately 5,000 yen (US$47.47). Nintendo originally planned to release the adapter in the United States by the end of 2005, but ultimately was not released in North America. Nintendo did, however, release the micro version in Europe as the Nintendo MP3 Player, and since the Play-Yan (and its successor the Play-Yan Micro) is region-free, it can be imported to other regions and played on any Game Boy Advance. Play-Yan was released in China by iQue under the name of MP4 Player for GBA.

It is an MP3 and MPEG-4 player add-on for the Game Boy Advance SP, Nintendo DS, DS Lite, and Game Boy Micro. Music and video files stored on an SD memory card can be loaded into a slot on the right side of the Play-Yan, which resembles a Game Boy Advance game cartridge. Due to its power requirement, use with an original Game Boy Advance system is not recommended. The Play-Yan is loaded directly into the Game Boy Advance game slot of a compatible system.