[quote name='souljah420']better yet...
does anyone know if the next gba will be backward compatible?[/QUOTE]
Define "next." Do you mean the next generation Game Boy that is rumored? Then yes, my guess is that it will indeed be backwards compatible. Nintendo has even commented that they see this is as a prime issue. So at the least it will play GBA games like the DS, and I would imagine GBC games as well. Further back than that and I think we may start losing compatibility.