<s>
VisualBoyAdvance	B-Device
(	O
commonly	O
abbreviated	O
as	O
VBA	O
)	O
is	O
a	O
free	O
emulator	B-Application
of	O
the	O
Game	B-Device
Boy	I-Device
,	O
Game	B-Device
Boy	I-Device
Color	I-Device
,	O
and	O
Game	B-Device
Boy	I-Device
Advance	I-Device
handheld	B-Application
game	I-Application
consoles	I-Application
as	O
well	O
as	O
of	O
Super	B-Device
Game	I-Device
Boy	I-Device
and	O
Super	B-Device
Game	I-Device
Boy	I-Device
2	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Besides	O
the	O
DirectX	B-Application
version	O
for	O
the	O
Windows	O
platform	O
,	O
there	O
is	O
also	O
one	O
that	O
is	O
based	O
on	O
the	O
free	O
platform	B-Operating_System
independent	I-Operating_System
graphics	B-Library
library	I-Library
SDL	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
is	O
available	O
for	O
a	O
variety	O
of	O
operating	O
systems	O
including	O
Linux	B-Application
,	O
BSD	B-Operating_System
,	O
Mac	B-Operating_System
OS	I-Operating_System
X	I-Operating_System
,	O
and	O
BeOS	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
VisualBoyAdvance	B-Device
has	O
also	O
been	O
ported	O
to	O
AmigaOS	B-Application
4	I-Application
,	O
AROS	B-Application
,	O
GameCube	B-Application
,	O
Wii	B-Operating_System
,	O
webOS	B-Operating_System
,	O
and	O
Zune	O
HD	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
VisualBoyAdvance	B-Device
project	O
was	O
started	O
by	O
a	O
developer	O
under	O
the	O
online	O
alias	O
"	O
Forgotten	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
this	O
person	O
left	O
the	O
development	O
of	O
the	O
emulator	B-Application
,	O
the	O
project	O
was	O
handed	O
over	O
to	O
a	O
team	O
named	O
"	O
VBA	O
Team	O
"	O
,	O
led	O
by	O
Forgotten	O
's	O
brother	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Development	O
on	O
the	O
original	O
VisualBoyAdvance	B-Device
stopped	O
in	O
2004	O
with	O
version	O
1.8.0	O
beta	O
3	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
forked	B-Application
versions	O
were	O
made	O
by	O
various	O
developers	O
in	O
the	O
years	O
since	O
then	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
VisualBoyAdvance-M	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
VBA	O
was	O
a	O
crucial	O
component	O
of	O
Twitch	O
Plays	O
Pokémon	O
,	O
a	O
social	O
experiment	O
in	O
which	O
thousands	O
of	O
button	O
inputs	O
collected	O
from	O
the	O
viewership	O
of	O
the	O
streaming	O
website	O
Twitch	O
were	O
fed	O
into	O
an	O
emulated	B-Application
version	O
of	O
Pokémon	B-Application
Red	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Viewers	O
typed	O
commands	O
into	O
the	O
chat	O
function	O
,	O
which	O
was	O
then	O
fed	O
into	O
the	O
VBA	O
emulator	B-Application
via	O
an	O
IRC	O
bot	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
VisualBoyAdvance-M	O
,	O
or	O
simply	O
VBA-M	O
,	O
is	O
an	O
improved	O
fork	B-Application
from	O
the	O
inactive	O
VisualBoyAdvance	B-Device
project	O
,	O
adding	O
several	O
features	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
maintaining	O
an	O
up-to-date	O
codebase	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
VisualBoyAdvance	B-Device
became	O
inactive	O
in	O
2004	O
,	O
several	O
forks	B-Application
began	O
to	O
appear	O
such	O
as	O
VBALink	O
,	O
which	O
allowed	O
users	O
to	O
emulate	O
the	O
linking	O
of	O
two	O
Game	B-Device
Boy	I-Device
devices	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Eventually	O
,	O
VBA-M	O
was	O
created	O
,	O
which	O
merged	O
several	O
of	O
the	O
forks	B-Application
into	O
one	O
codebase	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
VBA-M	O
is	O
backwards	B-General_Concept
compatible	I-General_Concept
with	O
Game	B-Device
Boy	I-Device
and	O
Game	B-Device
Boy	I-Device
Color	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
VBA-M	O
'	O
s	O
GBA	B-Device
emulation	B-Application
core	O
was	O
ported	O
into	O
RetroArch/Libretro	O
,	O
without	O
the	O
GB	O
,	O
GBC	O
and	O
SGB	O
cores	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
VBA-GX	O
is	O
a	O
port	O
of	O
VBA-M	O
to	O
Nintendo	B-Operating_System
Wii	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
enables	O
motion	B-Device
controls	I-Device
for	O
emulated	B-Application
Game	B-Device
Boy	I-Device
Advance	I-Device
games	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
VisualBoyAdvance	B-Device
became	O
the	O
most	O
popular	O
GBA	B-Device
emulator	B-Application
for	O
the	O
Unix	O
platform	O
and	O
the	O
emulator	B-Application
contributed	O
"	O
greatly	O
"	O
to	O
the	O
late	O
years	O
of	O
GBA	B-Device
game	O
development	O
by	O
providing	O
a	O
suite	O
of	O
development	O
and	O
visual	O
debugging	O
tools	O
for	O
developers	O
who	O
wanted	O
to	O
create	O
games	O
that	O
surpassed	O
even	O
Nintendo	O
's	O
own	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
port	O
from	O
VBA	O
's	O
code	O
was	O
used	O
as	O
the	O
foundation	O
of	O
the	O
Visual	O
Boy	O
Zune	O
,	O
an	O
emulator	B-Application
of	O
the	O
Zune	O
HD	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Wesley	O
Akkerman	O
from	O
the	O
Dutch	O
computer	O
magazine	O
Computer	O
!	O
Totaal	O
named	O
the	O
VisualBoyAdvance	B-Device
as	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
best	O
Game	B-Device
Boy	I-Device
emulators	B-Application
alongside	O
the	O
mGBA	O
,	O
owing	O
to	O
its	O
variety	O
of	O
features	O
and	O
customization	O
options	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
a	O
review	O
on	O
the	O
tech	O
blog	O
Techilife	O
the	O
VisualBoyAdvance	B-Device
has	O
been	O
named	O
the	O
oldest	O
and	O
most	O
reliable	O
Gameboy	B-Device
Advance	I-Device
emulator	B-Application
and	O
has	O
been	O
praised	O
for	O
its	O
ease	O
of	O
use	O
.	O
</s>
