Afterburner burns out

Afterburner, the original "front light" solution for Game Boy Advance owners in the pre-SP days, has been discontinued according to Internet reports. Despite launching a new $25 price point for the product earlier in the month, it seems manufacturer Triton Labs has now ceased production, with an Afterburner reseller commenting on the official forum that he was this week told no more would be made available.

Some would say the death of the Afterburner was inevitable after the launch of the Game Boy Advance SP last year, which effectively solved the handheld's problems up to that point (even if it managed to develop a new one in the lack of a headphone port), but nevertheless Afterburner remained cheap, and coupled with a low, low second-hand price for discarded GBAs in the original mould, it still had its fans. Eurogamer's own Mark bought one recently and his GBA is now brighter than this reporter's own SP, although he does have a few air bubbles to worry about (one of the side effects of a famously fiddly install procedure for some folks).

Whatever Triton Labs' plans for the future (with Stealth Link and other products being mooted), it seems appropriate at this point to salute the Afterburner's creator Adam Curtis, who at the very least developed the most significant Game Boy Advance peripheral in existence, and arguably played some part in convincing Nintendo to get off their arses and refine the original design. Whatever Adam does next, we'll be sure to let you know.