The Play-Yan (trademarked PLAY-YAN) is a media player designed for the

Game Boy Advance SP The Game Boy Advance SP (GBA SP), released in Japan on February 14, 2003, is a sixth-generation handheld game console developed, released, and marketed by Nintendo that served as an upgraded version of the original Game Boy Advance. The "SP" in ...

and also compatible with the

Game Boy Micro The Game Boy Micro is a handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on September 13, 2005 as a smaller, lighter redesign of the Game Boy Advance. The system is the last console in the Game Boy lin ...

and

Nintendo DS The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens working in tan ...

. It uses SD

flash memory Flash memory is an electronic non-volatile computer memory storage medium that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed. The two main types of flash memory, NOR flash and NAND flash, are named for the NOR and NAND logic gates. Both us ...

to play

MP3 MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany, with support from other digital scientists in the United States and elsewhere. Origin ...

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. An updated version, the Play-Yan Micro (trademarked PLAY-YAN micro), known as the Nintendo MP3 Player in Europe, was released two days later alongside the similarly branded

, with features such as MP4 and ASF support built directly into the hardware. Play-Yan Garage Games are not supported in the Play-Yan Micro.

Overview

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 The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

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 China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

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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 The is a dual-screen handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It is the second iteration of the Nintendo DS and is slimmer, brighter, and more lightweight than the original. It was announced on January 26, 2006, more than a ...

, 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. While the original Game Boy Advance is compatible, its non-illuminated screen and the Play-Yan's high rate of power consumption do not make the Game Boy Advance a very suitable platform. The Play-Yan is also compatible with the Game Boy Player, but compressed video does not play back as nicely on a television screen as it does on a small, portable screen. Therefore, the Game Boy Player is a somewhat unsuitable platform as well, at least compared to any standard

DVD player A DVD player is a device that plays DVDs produced under both the DVD-Video and DVD-Audio technical standards, two different and incompatible standards. Some DVD players will also play audio CDs. DVD players are connected to a television to wa ...

. The adapter has its own integrated headphone port, but uses the parent console's power supply, controls, and display. The Play-Yan is advertised as offering sixteen hours of MP3 playback and four hours of MPEG-4 playback on a fully charged Game Boy Advance SP. In addition to multimedia playback, the Play-Yan offers support for mini-games, which could be downloaded from Nintendo of Japan's website.

Games

# Avoid (2005) # Bat (2005) # Credit (2005) # Fire (2005) # Fish (2005) # Insect (2005) # Jump (2005) # Keeper (2005) # Memory (2005) # Nekoroid (2005) # Nose (2005) # Triple (2005) # Wave (2005)

Play-Yan Micro

To accompany the September 13, 2005, release of the Game Boy Micro in Japan, Nintendo released an updated version of the original Play-Yan called the Play-Yan Micro for 5,000 yen. The new version is compatible with all the same systems, and it looks and works the same as the original, but there are a few noticeable differences. The Play-Yan Micro has the added functionality of MP4 and ASF playback, and it has an updated user interface and improved sound quality through its headphone port. Minigame support, however, was removed from the Play-Yan Micro. The Play-Yan Micro was only available through Nintendo of Japan's online store, and for an additional 1,000 yen, it came with a computer application on CD called "MediaStage Ver. 4.2 for Nintendo" for managing music and video files on a PC.

Appearances in the other games

The stick figure seen in the Play-Yan's interface also appears in the Japan-only GBA game '' Rhythm Tengoku'', and its arcade version, in the rhythm game ''Night Walk''. It was later used as a visualization in the

Nintendo 3DS The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo. It was announced in March 2010 and unveiled at E3 2010 as the successor to the Nintendo DS. The system features backward compatibility with Nintendo DS video games. As an eighth-generatio ...

's Sound feature. The character also made cameo appearances in ''

Rhythm Heaven ''Rhythm Heaven'', known as ''Rhythm Paradise'' in Europe and ''Rhythm World'' in Korea, is a Japanese rhythm video game developed by Nintendo SPD for the Nintendo DS. It is the second game in Nintendo's ''Rhythm Heaven'' series and the first one ...

'' and has reappeared in the Nintendo 3DS game ''

Rhythm Heaven Megamix ''Rhythm Heaven Megamix'', known in Europe and Australia as ''Rhythm Paradise Megamix'', and in Japan as and ''Rhythm World: The Best Plus'' in Korea, is a rhythm game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 3DS. It is the fourth g ...

''.

References

{{Nintendo hardware, Game Boy Advance Game Boy accessories Nintendo DS accessories