Game Boy Advance SP now $79.99

Today Nintendo announced that its Game Boy Advance SP portable gaming system will retail for $79.99 effective almost immediately--as of Thursday, September 2. The new price point is about $20 less than the system's current price, which has remained fixed since the GBA SP's debut in March of last year.

Nintendo stated that the new pricing strategy will coincide with the launch of the company's new "Start Mayhem" marketing campaign, in which various available colors of the Game Boy Advance SP will be associated with various different types of personalities. The goal of the price drop and the campaign is to further broaden the system's audience.

The new pricing strategy arrives just days before next week's release of the highly anticipated next installments in the Pokémon franchise, Pokémon FireRed and Pokémon LeafGreen. To date, more than 20 million Game Boy Advance SP units have sold worldwide.