The Gameboy Game Ahead Of Its Time - Advance Wars Esports

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To say that Advance Wars is not your average esports title is an understatement.
Originally released in 2001, Advance Wars is a turn-based strategy game developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo that has remarkably managed to endure the test of time and adapted to the advancement of technology thanks to the efforts of a dedicated grassroots community.
With the upcoming release of Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp putting a spotlight back on the franchise, we take a look into the Advance Wars esports scene and the community that has kept it alive.
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[@Akshonesports]

Get up to 20 free meals with HelloFresh when you use code HFAKSHON at: bit.ly/HF_AkshonEsports

[@x-49nightraven]

Can you make a video about Inazuma Eleven? The mod community is exploding in 2022 and we're starting to get competitive matches in the future.

[@francisr.7229]

fire emblem on gba next

[@seroq442]

Hey Arkshon Esports, in an episode in the future can you guys take a look at the "Super Clash of Ninja 4" fighting game? It a modded competitive fighter based on the Clash of Ninja games on the Gamecube. The community has a already gone to Combo Breaker in 2022 and will be going again this year.

[@EpilepticLobster]

Had loads of fun playing this game when I was a kid, cool to know there's an esports scene

[@ghxst-note9808]

Literally never would've known Advance Wars has an online community if Akshon didn't cover it ,that's crazy .

[@stein6861]

​@@yoh1914 Deejus Productions is very cool, too.

[@neuworldgames5006]

I was the same way with the battle network community! Love that these strategic gba games are getting the love they deserve 🙏🏿

[@echospace7347]

Every game does

[@nobodyspecial9097]

Mangs keeps it alive

[@HaxDotCombo]

Mangs is a sussy baka, even by AWBW standards

[@chickeeeh983]

Thanks for Bringing the scene onto a much bigger audience!

[@Ceipe007]

Will you guys be moving to Switch version?

[@LuLurret]

I think it will sorta be like the situation with Pokemon showdown

[@JokinAround]

@celpe007 i don't think so, considering that the switch version's multiplayer will probably be a downgrade in terms of quality

[@akirachisaka9997]

Also Nintendo please don’t nuke us! And I really wanted to play Fire Emblem By Web…

[@Go7Penguin]

Great video! Thanks for giving us the showcase :D

[@Kneefoil]

I too found the website around the time it was getting popular. I don't actually like playing AW competitively, but I do like the games and am glad to see so many enjoying them as well, so I am worried about the site catching Nintendo's attention.

[@argentum1738]

Pokémon Showdown is still up and running so AWBW might be fine.

[@masterchief2622]

Pokemon Revolution Online, Poke MMOand many other online pokemon games are also doing fine, so there shouldn't be a problem.

[@frankjoz2803]

Especially before the launch of a new iteration

[@LumaTo]

I'm there with you. It gets very samey and stalemate prone, and the optimal strategies are absolutely a bore after a while. In addition any sort of suggestion to change or rebalance things is never received positively, so I feel like the community is actively trying to keep the meta in stasis.

[@KorotasGeckoGamingCorner]

@@argentum1738 That and I feel like Advance Wars could be converted into something more legally distinct much easier then Pokémon if it was utterly necessary, especially since there's already a bunch of wholly original nations with their own sprites and lore, could convert the C.Os to look like they belong to those new nations, and of course still shuffle up the 5 nations from the main series

[@luisg2267]

I got this game as a gift when I was 6 and loved it i even still own it . Never knew there was a thriving online scene!

[@AdvanceWarrior]

I love being a part of this wonderful community

[@kingrexprime]

Truly an amazing story of success! Starting out as a project built out of love for a game, and becoming the biggest AW Community to date! Here's to more success to come!

[@Akshonesports]

Couldn't agree more!

[@jjempire6484]

Thank you guys so much for the video! 😀

[@GuyWithAnAmazingHat]

The amount of concurrent players and tournament entrees are more than most fighting games, very few fighting games even get 900 applicants at Evo

[@faradise3819]

I think accessibility is one of its greatest strength. It's free to play and can be run in practically any modern device. That's pretty much a great foundation of a live service game.

[@RK-iq9uh]

With the remake on the way, it really is the perfect time to get into the scene. I recently started playing games on AWBW and it's really fun!

[@precise213]

Signing up immediately. One of my favorites from back in the day and I had no idea this was a thing

[@stellarkym]

Goodluck on the league!

[@sherrdreamz7232]

Have fun Global League is always a fun time. I've been away for almost a year but just started playing again recently myself.

[@raphaelnavarrette8156]

Just found out this exists and it consumed my whole day….and it seems it will consume many more xD

[@dainbaril2934]

This game accompanied me through many moves, as an army brat. The GBA was a huge blessing and one of the best things about my childhood. I am so happy that this game lives on.

[@Bonaby]

I didn’t know this game had a scene. This game was so fun. Can’t wait for the switch release and stuff.

[@robertharris6092]

Oof

[@Midori_Hoshi]

1:55 isn't a link cable for connecting two Game Boy Advances, but the cable to connect one to the Gamecube.

[@kimchipho447]

I was wondering why it looked so weurd

[@docs.a.t.7161]

Thank you for making this video. Not enough of the newer gen knows just how far back Advance Wars' legacy has been, and this helps grow interest in it

[@TheSniperpal]

Thank god. Advance Wars by Web has brought a fantastic part of my childhood back and I’m glad it’s getting more attention!

[@StarlightEater]

Easily one of the most challenging tactics game out there, I still remember pre-ordering all of these early ds titles.

[@GOBZ_01]

What an incredible piece on the Advance Wars scene, I remember playing the EARLY days of AWBW when it operated seemingly like Pokemon Crater. Such a legendary series for tactics lovers

[@richardnguyen7884]

Pokémon Crater 😭 you just unlocked a childhood memory for me

[@plastered_crab]

Oh my god Pokemon Crater was so cool lmao. I was addicted to that site haha.

[@cristheojon4884]

I suck at strategy games but advance wars will always have a special place in my heart. I remember playing my gameboy advance before and after school, just playing advance wars. Thanks to this video I didn't know about the esports scene and about awbw

[@Mangs1337]

Awesome video ❤

[@dtgolden4538]

Dude I forgot about this game. I played this a bunch as a kid and totally forgot the name of this game, total blast from the past!

[@pikafreaka]

Was one of the few people that was on the original forums while the email format they talk about in the video was still in use before the awbw system came up. Basically only ever had like 2 games going at a time, maybe, because they were such a pain in the neck to actually try to play through. The forum was mainly just random chatter by and large with maybe a dozen people on the site. Amarriner had been MIA for ages (in retrospect working on the awbw system, and school in general). And then suddenly he showed up and went "hey I got this thing now, let's see how it works." Obviously it worked pretty darn well. He also tried to have a fire emblem by web at the time, but it was meant to be a multiplayer thing, and could never really get it to work on a way that felt fair, so it never went anywhere. It's insane really how much has changed since back then. Kudos to the ones that updated everything since then, especially to get rid of all the refreshes. Trying to do that on DSL back then was a nightmare.

[@mininini1451]

Bless, it's even wild to imagine awbw has had this much growth during the announcement of the reboot alone. Even Tinywars been getting some extra people, and it's uber tiny by comparison. I imagine the same can be said for Commander Wars and DefendPeace, but i haven't played those ones yet.

[@adept7497]

I hope Akshan pins ur comment

[@ER-je3fd]

Commander Wars is not even a site, lol

[@mininini1451]

ah I see

[@SeedSnatcher]

Advance Wars is one of the only games I could ramble on about from a competitive standpoint. Love that y'all have done a video about it!

[@puddingpanda3473]

Akshon talking about Advance Wars? Today is a good day!

[@yayeeters4919]

I think there's alot of people out there like me who loved playing this game as a kid, but had their experiences back in the early 2000s. If only I'd know about such a website. Thank you for using your reach to publicize this community for all those who would love to contribute.

[@ryeguy2745]

Advance Wars is really simple to learn the basics and play, but you can develop amazing strategies around different maps and COs that make it feel like a unique experience every time.

[@abakedpotato1486]

this is crazy. I was obsessed with this game as a child.

[@berni1011]

Yes, I've been hooked to this game for about 2 years. It deserves more recognition.

[@LocalJanitor6]

My true love, so glad we're finally getting the game next month

[@drei-rg9zc]

Thank you for this. I actually was not aware of the esport side of this game, but i absolutely loved playing this game, especially AW2.

[@Barf_FaB]

I didn't know a re-boot was coming. This is my most emulated game ever

[@tronist]

This game is perfect. Period. Dont be scared of the learning curve. The game is sooo easy and elegant to learn.

[@rideakak7328]

had a gameboy advance way back in the day. advance wars is the reason i still hold on to my 2ds. i am 32 now and ive been playing the game for decades. i almost cried when the reboot got delayed indefinitely.

[@pytle]

Man I loved this game when it came out for Gameboy!

[@grinbrothers]

With Re-Boot Camp finally on it's way, it's nice to see Advance Wars get some attention through videos like this. I'm awful at SRPG's so I've never thought about Advance Wars' Esport scene (though was aware of it's competitive viability from channels I watch) but I'm sure this will be fascinating to learn about. 1:49 - Oh, so are we implying it's the first Advance Wars with an Esport scene here. I figured such a thing would be owed more to Days of Ruin entries thanks to it's online connectivity (but I suppose that entry doesn't carry over the cast of characters built up from the first three games). 4:34 - Oh my gosh; the site certainly shows it's age here. Fans were truly eager to play against each other if sending email screenshots was how they were going about it. 9:06 - I do like this bridge heavy map on screen. It was fun to just mess about with the map maker in these Advance Wars games. 15:00 - I do wonder how this web format version existing will effect Re-Boot Camp's popularity. Re-Boot Camp's announcement helped boost this Advance Wars Web, but if the Switch Re-Boot Camp has stable online, will many of those new web players migrate over to Re-Boot Camp. Supporting the official remake and potentially encouraging future Advance Wars game would obviously be a good thing, as much as this web thing is cool and great in keeping the fandom active.

[@isaiahrilles6922]

I played this game as a kid and it was my fave game in the Gameboy. I love the complexity of the game that is so easy to grasp. This gave me so much nostalgia!

[@ravenstires1747]

Ten times better vs humans than the shoddy AI and rough maps oj the GBA. Game has advanced light years on AWBW, though there's a steep AF learning curve. Come enjoy the grinder!

[@hoagie_sando]

advanced wars was one of my fav games on the GBA, seeing it alive and well and with a competitive scene such a pleasant surprise!

[@KillerChairYT]

Omg, seeing the old version of the website in this video is painfully nostalgic XD I'm really happy with how it is right now, things are so much smoother now.

[@marcusanark2541]

Bro Advance Wars was amazing! Such a fun game.

[@simon995pci]

whaaaat the was this huge community in plain sigth and i didnt know , one of my top gba games , thanks akshon esports for this awesome video like always !!

[@mondrometal]

I emulated the game last year. Such a good game and to find out that there is an esport community, it's amazing

[@LilypadOW]

the custom map editor was fantastic.

[@SirKickz]

There's a streamer/caster named Mangs who casted a game and the video popped up on my feed and like...I am FASCINATED by this e-sports scene. I don't know if I'm going to participate (I'm a little too ADD to be able to focus on playing any single game consistently for more than a month lol), but I'm happy to be a spectator!

[@MasterKnightDH]

You should check the video "Mangs & July 2020" to see what he did. It's not pretty.

[@thetactlesstactician7703]

​@@MasterKnightDH you still exist?

[@Zyyk0]

As I'm currently really enjoying replaying fire emblem 10 for the first time in years, this seems like it could become my next fixation :) Really cool, that you bring attention to smaller communities like this one!

[@jpVari]

I discovered this website through KZbin, endlessly looking for more eSports lol. You guys always help with that, and bringing this to more eyes is great! I don't think my childhood self would ever have believed we'd have melee, advance wars, Mario baseball, all being played online. Not to mention fightcade.... I love competitive gaming so much.

[@brenthazelton6891]

When I heard handheld stuff was coming to switch, I was sad when none of the advanced wars games were in the first wave. I never knew this site existed! Thank you Akshon!

[@Quoxz]

Aww, my heart. The amount of hours I spent on Advance Wars 1 and 2

[@adept7497]

I'm so happy you made this video. Nice to see the the history of the site. I hope more people learn about AW, you can still just play live games for fun, it's not really *that* complex.

[@Rootz2000]

I love this game. I wish there was a way to play it again on my phone.

[@zetsun0]

Nah dude, Golden Sun was ahead of its time. Both graphism, soundtrack and gameplay are amazing in that game. It's a perfect combination of zelda-esque gameplay with final fantasy, but with it's own solid identity.

[@stellarkym]

Such a treat to watch! The video is on point

[@bluciuswastaken]

Dang I got a wave of nostalgia seeing this game again, It's nice to see how far this game and the community has come!

[@R8Spike]

AWBW is such a fun game, play it!

[@madmarc0663]

I remember playing the GBA AW when I was a kid, and recently found the game at a Gameover Retro Store. I never knew that they had a website fam base going strong 20+ years. Freaking outstanding commitment.

[@gingeral253]

People are starting to see AWBW more. It’s really fun!

[@Artorigold]

Great video!

[@LanEXHikari]

I'm surprised this video was about AWBW, thank you very much! The Wars series was among my favourite Strategy games and seen Reboot Camp being close to launch fills me with hope for a competitive scene ✌🏼

[@muqmanor]

Wow! I played this game as a kid and had no idea there was this community around it, that's so cool

[@StrikerElite923]

One month till I finally get to play a GBA title I missed out on. Been waiting for a long time because of the delays happening.

[@sigurdtheblue]

Was supposed to be an easy sell, but then they had to delay it for almost a year and a half from when it was promised.

[@ivanramos1809]

Dual Strike was the pinnacle of advance wars

[@theberms03]

Advance Wars dominated my gba playtime, it was insane. 1 got me hooked, 2 got me addicted, then Dual Strike set the bar so high that Days of Ruin couldn't really follow it up. I discovered AW by web accidentally with a friend a few years ago, I couldn't believe how popular it still was! I'm so glad Advance Wars is finally making a REAL comeback

[@nenad49]

Thanks for making this video and sharing this community

[@Yutappy99]

I'm surprised Nintendo hasn't taken this site down yet.

[@datalphalion]

Holy fuck Advance Wars content *smashes like button*

[@TrueYankeeFan]

I was NOT expecting y'all to put out an Advance Wars video. But now I have to beg for a video about the similar Fire Emblem series, one of my all-time favorites, though I know it probably wouldn't be in the scope of the channel.

[@dominicsevilla1189]

Ok... Didn't know there was a eSports scene. I basically had a local one before the after school program started at my middle school. We usually has 2 pods of 4 playing at once. I love advance wars and am super excited for rebootcamp

[@whiteguysayswha]

I used to go hard on this with a dreamcast settup. Glad to know the scene is back and will def be picking it back up.

[@dannyf21]

All time favorite game to play on the go

[@vivianblue5332]

A VIDEO ON ADVANCE WARS??? LETS GO

[@ComfyBoi404]

I am so glad this website is still so alive and well today!! I remember little me coming across it when I got my first computer. It was such a cool concept but I never really got into it. Now, in 2023, with the reboot on switch- I think I'll get back into it! :D

[@alfred9805]

Akshon is the goated channel on this platform goddamn

[@TowerBooks3192]

I really wish they retained the aesthetics of AW2 but throw in the unit promotion from days of ruin. I think dual strike threw the balance out of the window and days of ruin's promotion system really makes you value every unit that you have and you got an incentive to keep your units alive and mindless throwing of units into the grinder will only mean that your opponent's unit get stronger.

[@ravenstires1747]

Funny enough that mechanic is a throwback to the older games, ie Yamamoto in Super Famicom Wars

[@aaron5364]

I was addicted to the original on GBA when I was younger, and I remember loading AWBW in a proxy from the computer lab at school hahahaha. Wow, I had no idea it was still running, let alone updated so heavily! Thank you for this video!

[@Eichro]

i didnt expect AWBW being given love but i appreciate it!

[@JustJesseOfficial]

I used to play this game for HOURS!!! I absolutely loved this game. Sucks that the new one for the Switch is being held up. Hopefully, they decide to release it soon.

[@astraea7424]

17:08 Dudeeee, that last part with the music hit me hard, the nostalgia, i remember playing this game an afwul alot when i was little, i remember a few years ago searching if it had sequels since i only played AW1, became really sad when i found out that it only had 3 (theres another one but its not from the same story)

[@PokemonTrainerChris303]

Sami ftw. Being able to take buildings at 1.5 the speed and getting an infant ray and Jeep bonus is OP. Her special let’s you take bases in 1 turn too…

[@sigurdtheblue]

I did not realize Advance Wars by Web had such a character arc with improving the site, the announcement of Reboot Camp and possibly benefitting in the time where the delay kind of destroyed hype for the actual product. I wonder why there has been no gameplay footage since the second delay. I hope that Nintendo is not hiding something bad.

[@Cali_90s]

I like the old bit look better than the new cartoony look.

[@zeroskill.]

5:45 i just watched that match hahaha. in mangs tourney

[@Xenohaste]

AWBW is really fun and I'm glad it's around, but I don't really like playing games with keyboard and mouse. It makes me feel cramped. Can't wait for reboot camp!

[@Hound028]

Thanks for the heads up on this site. Can’t wait to go in and get stomped

[@christhian0512]

over a decade ago I wanted to play online and came upon this site, but I never found out how to play due to the poor UX thought it was great but couldn't experience it, I'm glad its evolved and thriving, ill check it out soon

[@AdobadoFantastico]

Long live Advance Wars!

[@herobrineharry7698]

Hell yeah, glad to see my esports channel find the other esport I care about

[@Gu3ssWhatsN3XT]

I played the hell out of advance wars but never did i know there was some competitive scene for it

[@NertheInsane]

Wow, I deeply loved all the iterations of AW back in the day (not so much Days of Ruin...) Wish I knew about this website way back then!

[@Zantoma]

1:55 that isn't a link cable for another gameboy, that's a gameboy -> gamecube adapter

[@jonathangillourido7795]

I have such a good memories bout this game and golden sun....., game boy advance for sure was a great portable

[@clearandsweet]

Man, I S-ranked every map in AW 1, 2, and DS and Wargroove and played AWBW waaaaay back in the day for a hot minute but ya that interface was slow. Surprised you didn't mention anything about the release of reboot camp being delayed due to the invasion of Ukraine. I'm sure the community for AWBW will be even larger when that finally releases next month.

[@yayeeters4919]

The programmer in the blue shirt looks exhausted. Yet so professional and nice.

[@ravenstires1747]

So wholesome seeing so many people I've met on the site in the comments. Great video, we love new players. Enter the meat grinder, emerge a battle-hardened veteran 🤟

[@GAG091186]

This looks cool, this combined with the Advanced Wars remake for the Nintendo Switch and also the spiritual successor to Advanced Wars called Warside (still has an ongoing kickstarter).

[@marzzbar]

Awesome video! Although I wonder if ABWB ever faced any litigation from Nintendo, given how overprotective they are over their IP

[@randomstranger_3]

This game felt like if you turned the Red Alert 2 into a turn-based game.

[@achunkofbutter]

This is the advertising that the remake needed. Nice 👍

[@Rallosz]

That is so awesome! I remember playing this as a kid on the GBA. Although I didn't stick around as long as I'd like to admit due to the game's complexity for me at the time and instead opted to play more noob-friendly SRPGs like Final Fantasy Tactics and Fire Emblem. Although, I am now eagerly awaiting Rebootcamp to get back into it! Lol

[@sc3ku]

One of my holy grail favorite games- no idea there was so much online competition!