As Santa checks his list twice this year, he defiantly won’t be putting the kiddies who ask for Grand Theft Auto Advance in the nice category. First, those youngsters have no business trying to get GTA as it’s an M-Rated game, second the goal of GTA is to steal cars, kill people, pick-up hookers and be an all around rotten egg. How could you ever get naughtier than that? Well just ask Rockstar Games who put out this supposed port of the game that kicked off the popular series. This claim alone is a reason to leave coal in their stockings as the GBA version ends up a disappointing mess of a remake.

• Grand Theft Auto Advance Review – Game Boy Advance
• Play the true GTA for free on your PC courtesy of your Computer Action Games Guide
• Review of the first blockbuster hit in the series - Grand Theft Auto 3

Packshot © Rockstar Games

Two weeks ago I posted that the Enchanted: Once Upon Andalusia GBA game scheduled to release alongside its Nintendo DS counterpart never ended up hitting store shelves on its intended release date. Well it has finally…and quietly…surfaced, but instead of being the wide release it was announced to be, the game has ended up a Target Exclusive.

Although Target’s selection of Game Boy titles are limited to sparse offering in the electronics section and a rack of budget title impulse items, it’s surprising that they made this unannounced Game Boy exclusive deal with Disney. The release of Enchanted: Once Upon Andalusia confirms it, but there is another newly released Target GBA Exclusive from Disney, High School Musical: Livin’ the Dream.

The Nintendo DS and Sony PlayStation versions of High School Musical: Livin’ the Dream got a full roll out, the Game Boy version can only be purchased through Target and their partners. With such a quiet and limited outlets, it’s no surprise that Disney never bothered announcing the releases, nor sent out copies to be reviewed. I’ll see if I can track ‘em down and let you know if these two exclusives from the house of the mouse are worth your holiday change.

• Enchanted: Once Upon Andalusia – Basic Facts
• High School Musical: Livin’ the Dream – Basic Facts
• Official Disney Interactive website.

One of the things I’m constantly preaching on this site is how gamers can be more environmentally friendly with their Game Boys by using rechargeable batteries, solar powered chargers and other alternative energy sources. It was to my utter dismay that I discovered Nintendo ranked at the very bottom of the Bad list in Greenpeace’s Guide to Greener Electronics, with a zero score in the criteria that Greenpeace uses to measure how environmentally conscious is an electronics manufacturer. Nintendo shares the Bad list with Xbox makers Microsoft who have poor policies regarding toxic chemicals elimination. PlayStation 3 and PSP owners out there should be proud to know that Sony is ranked third from the top of the Good list scoring a 7.3 out of 10.

With the low Greenpeace ranking aside, Nintendo does have some environmentally conscious programs, mostly surrounding recycling. They use at least 80% recycled paper in their shipping packaging, all of the manuals are printed on recycled paper, they use only recyclable plastics in their accessory packaging, did away with Styrofoam in Game Boy packaging and offer rechargeable batteries for the Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS and Will Controllers. It’s great that they are doing all of this, but not anything exceptional. Recycling and reusable batteries are just a start.

If you want Nintendo to start cleaning up their environmentally unfriendly act you should send them an e-mail and let them know you want to see a change!

• Greenpeace’s Guide to Greener Electronics
• Top 4 Products for the Game Boy Environmentalist
• Nintendo' Stance On The Environment

The fish out of water story Enchanted was a huge hit at the box office this past weekend. The story of a fairytale prince and princess transported to modern day New York is not just a major feature film, but is also the a highly anticipated Game Boy Advance game, Enchanted: Once Upon Andalasia...but mysteriously the game has yet to ship. Several months ago Disney Interactive announced the game, which is a prequel to the film, taking place in the fairytale land of Andalasia, they’ve released a packshot, some screenshots and even dedicated a page to it on their website. Originally the game was scheduled to release alongside the film, but never made it to retailers, plus the game's official website has had the Game Boy Advance logo removed from it, leaving only the Nintendo DS version which released last week. Keep checking back for updates as to when and if the the game will grace our Game Boys.

• Enchanted: Once Upon Andalasia - Basic Facts.
• Enchanted's Official GBA Webpage.
• Disney Princess Royal Adventure Review - Game Boy Advance.