Nintendo announces U.S. launch for new Game Boy

Nintendo's Game Boy Advance

(CNN) -- Nintendo of America Inc. has announced a mid-June U.S. launch date for its highly anticipated Game Boy Advance handheld player.

Scheduled for release on June 11, Nintendo's Game Boy Advance will be powered by a 32-bit CPU, with the potential to display 512 colors simultaneously.

According to Nintendo, the current Game Boy Color represented 47 percent of all hardware systems sold through 2000. The company reports selling more than 110 million units in total since its launch in 1989.

Game Boy Color games will be backward-compatible with the upcoming Game Boy Advance.

Beth Llewelyn, a spokesperson for Nintendo, said the company has not yet finalized how many Game Boy Advances will be available during the U.S. launch.

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She said there would be approximately 1 million units available for the Japanese launch on March 21.

A shortage of components for existing Game Boy Color players, particularly LCDs, has reportedly prevented Nintendo from increasing shipments to meet demand worldwide in the past year.

Analysts have raised concerns about Nintendo's ability to raise production of Game Boy Advance swiftly because the new console has a 50 percent bigger screen than the existing Game Boy, meaning higher LCD demand.

Nintendo officials have downplayed these concerns and say they will meet consumer expectations throughout the year.

Llewelyn also said the cost for the Game Boy Advance has not been confirmed yet either.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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