The Official Game Boy Thread

[Tanooki]

Yeah and that part is the most confusing of all, selling too little to increas the value.  It's like, do they have a vault of these in cases they can peddle on the 10yr anniversary and make thousands of dollars on NOS from suckers?  It just seems wrong when you have some titles that are known BIG fish titles that they could just slap a label on, non-numbered and just to progressive runss much like ATLUS business model of re-printing games 2...3...7 times over as they sell through while not being stuck with unmoveable debt ridden tax liability in inventory.  I grabbed Shantae as I once own a real copy from a flea market a dozen years back, tried to play it twice and couldn't get into it and sold it for fair value then ($100...hah compared to now.)  When I saw this I paid the $45 since it was just $5 higher than old school GBC retail and I don't regre it, rarely touch it, but I've warmed a bit more as it feels a bit less confusing.  I wanted this, but... $60...come on??  Other GBA projects I've picked up don't go that high for similar production values.  And to remove paypal then use a dodgy purple-something preorder broker that seems to have some banks/cc companies declining their charges (which mine did) is utter shit.

 

I'll buy it, if it takes 5-10 years, off someone second hand because I've seen Shantae drop to like a no profit situation really second hand.

[r_chase]

Okay, so I'm planning a game in two phases.

PHASE ONE

Create a game in Pocket Platformer. It's probably gonna be a simple one though.

 

PHASE TWO
Make a JSON file with @haroldoop's Pocket Platformer Exporter tool and go from there using Go for making the GBA port with the TinyGo compiler.

 

Phase Two may end up being the complex one unless some miracle happens with the Exporter. So far...we're mainly testing that for making SMS games and it seems a bit harsh on the limits, even for my love for the Z80 chip on it.

Ah well. At least GBA is close to a gritty Amiga-like sound...despite being a rather strange 32-bit ARM ting.

[haroldoop]

On 4/12/2024 at 12:55 AM, r_chase said:

Okay, so I'm planning a game in two phases.

PHASE ONE

Create a game in Pocket Platformer. It's probably gonna be a simple one though.

 

PHASE TWO
Make a JSON file with @haroldoop's Pocket Platformer Exporter tool and go from there using Go for making the GBA port with the TinyGo compiler.

 

Phase Two may end up being the complex one unless some miracle happens with the Exporter. So far...we're mainly testing that for making SMS games and it seems a bit harsh on the limits, even for my love for the Z80 chip on it.

Ah well. At least GBA is close to a gritty Amiga-like sound...despite being a rather strange 32-bit ARM ting.

Yes, essentially, the exported JSON would only contain level layouts... all of the game logic would have to be written from scratch.

 

A possible way to minimize the effort would be to use the source code of an existing GBA game and then adapt it to use the JSON data.

[SlidellMan]

Stuart K Reilly on Duke Nukem Advance:

I'd like to see him review Metal Gear Solid: Ghost Babel, aka the forgotten Metal Gear game. (Or for that matter, Grandia: Parallel Trippers.)

[Tanooki]

I have no idea who that is, but damn....NICE.  Good edit for fun with the duke voice to intro into this.  This game is just a stunner on GBA, loved it, owned it since the era.  Torus made a wicked engine that worked for this and the accurate port of Doom 2 on GBA too.

[SlidellMan]

Gumby vs. The Astrobots:

 

[+atari2600land]

I played some Donkey Kong Land, this time level 2. The tornado thingys in DKL are annoying and hard as crap. And apparently I can't go back to 1-1 and save my progress all the time. I beat 2-3 then I went back to 1-1 and got the KONG letters but it wouldn't let me save the game. It said all I had done was beat 2-1. So I had to find a world in level 2 where it was easy to find all the letters. And then get them. I think you should be able to save progress on the map screen by pressing select. Or automatically like in Super Maro Land 2. That would have been nice, but nooooo.

[robotwo]

So a bit of unexpected news, but it looks like Palmer Luckey is having a go at making a FPGA Game Boy clone too. I guess we'll just have to wait and see how this one turns out, but supposedly it uses some pretty high grade materials and sports a custom display with the correct native resolution.

 

[M-S]

This has some interesting features, the official Tetris version that's bundled in being the most attractive one, but at 200$ the FPGBC seems like a better option, unless these "Chromatic" games are exclusive to this system and won't work on a GBC. I don't understand why the screen being the same resolution as the original would be a good thing.

But of course since Palmer is a big name in the hardware industry this is probably going to go mainstream and sell very well.

And it seems like someone else also woke up feeling like making a Game Boy clone. 

If you look at the bottom right you'll see a device called "GB Pocket" made by a company called Neocade. I couldn't find anything related to this console or the manufacturer other than a few pictures from this event in Thailand, if you zoom in the picture you can see the features listed in the plate, including 40 games from Piko.

[Tanooki]

I don't really know why or care exactly why Palmer is so important his ego and parts make it a $200 handheld, at that rate, just get the Analogue Pocket for a better experience.  The FPGBC kit is well placed price wise for quality, parts, and intended performance so I mean, it seems odd he wouldn't try and shoot for between the two devices for a price that makes sense.  As stated above, if he has special games for it and locks them out so you have to buy his device that would be a point of reason for buying but also incredibly slimy as well while preaching how Gameboy his FPGA gameboy is so right.

[roots.genoa]

Except for MISTer fanboys that think this Palmer Boy is awesome while the Analogue Pocket sucks, I really don't see the point. It's not much cheaper, it doesn't play GBA or any other system than the GB/C, and I don't see how the 160x144 screen is an asset given the Pocket has exactly 100x that. They did a fallacious screen comparison without using the Pocket's screen filters. 🤦‍♂️

[Video]

I would agree, just get the analog pocket, however, maybe FPGBC will actually be, you know, available. Love my analog pocket, but nearly a year to get it, after release, and the thing is still usually unavailable, as are parts and accessories. I doubt many bought the link cables, screen protectors, or the decorative storage case, but their regularly sold out too.

 

If someone makes a similar device and you could just go to a store, amazon, or even their own site and plunk down money and get it next week, it'd sell great I'm sure. AP must use the same service Atari does for 2600+ and accessories.

[+atari2600land]

Gee, am I the only one using an actual Nintendo-made Game Boy to play Game Boy games?

[Tanooki]

Unless I use the pocket I got recently on the dock I do.  They're largely modified depending, but they are the original form factor and main boards.  The DMG I have was mostly dead so it's all swapped but the board, the GBC is stock other than a modern screen, pockets I have are stock, micros are stock, original GBA was dead salvaged the board into new quality parts/screen, GBA SP I have 3 stock 001s (silver, black, nes), nes shell modern on a 101, a stock 101 graphite, a japanese GB Light that's original too, and I guess Super Gameboy should count as well.

[NE146]

3 hours ago, atari2600land said:

Gee, am I the only one using an actual Nintendo-made Game Boy to play Game Boy games?

lol pretty much?

 

To me the GBA-SP 101 used to be the "best" way to play GB/GBC/GBA. But that was supplanted by a original GBA with a new screen as "the best". But now there's no question.. there are much better ways to play. When something like Pocket has all the same GB/GBA/GBC cartridge functionality and with an amazing screen.. but you can start up SNES or Genesis or even Neo Geo on it (and the list goes on), it's an entirely different ballgame.    

 

 

Not even mentioning all the other options out there to play GB/GBC of course. We are basically spoiled for choice. Although!... I still will never get rid of ANY of my various Nintendo handhelds.. my guess is pretty much never.

[Tanooki]

Outside of the one solitary modern solution (Pocket) I'd 100% agree with that, the SP-101 "Brighter" system is the top notch best way to play using a stock GBA.  The micro has the same panel, but it's so small so if you're one who uses glasses, could cramp up using L+R, or hate it won't run 8bit Gameboy/Color stuff, it's out of the running.  Sad thing is, it was for pocketability, the system can run them, they blocked it.

 

These days since my pocket is a TV thing 90% of the time plus, I go between.  I'll fire up the GBC for 8bit since it's most accurate with its iphone quality style screen I put in but left otherwise stock.  For GBA though murky, my GBA I re-worked, that's most comfortable as it's like a SNES controller in holding it, but I prefer the shield the SP has and I use my 101 commonly I put into a KO(ABS style) NES shell just because on that one.  For a quick and dirty use I have a couple 001s i'll let my kid use or throw in a pocket for testing out and about at flea markets etc which has a fold case too.  If my space is tight, then the micro.  A gameboy for every occasion.

 

The DMG rework and the stock pockets and LIGHT are just fired up rarely just to put juice into them so they don't rot, they're displays.

 

I remembered I had some new/fairly old images of some of the handhelds I have or had.  Leading off with the fun but doomed outside Japan LIGHT.   My stock GBC is in the pic below other 2 I don't have.  You can see the big rebirth of that GBA with Sega Ral...I mean V-Rally 3 playing, and then my heavily reborn DMG from earlier this year, and a pretty recent play it now clear I got I left alone.

 

Edited June 10 by Tanooki

[Brad_from_the_80s]

On 6/9/2024 at 8:35 PM, atari2600land said:

Gee, am I the only one using an actual Nintendo-made Game Boy to play Game Boy games?

Well... I tend to play on a modded DMG a lot.  I had an original in 1990, played it for years until it developed lines in the display.  It's in a box somewhere.  By time GBC and GBA were things I was "too old" or too busy for that stuff.  I did buy a Pocket around '96 to replace my ailing DMG briefly before it was also relegated to a box.  Recently I took a scratched and beat up (but working) DMG off ebay, got a TFT display kit and a $8 Chinese shell (in red) and assembled my own "Play It Loud" model DMG.  I even put the stickers on the back.  I don't care if it isn't perfectly correct/original, I love it (I also have one in original DMG gray).  Love the form factor, the heft, how it feels to hold it, how it sounds and plays.  I simply cannot go back to original display technology - even back then I knew it was kind of terrible, and almost any LCD upgrade is about 1000X better.  With the display problem solved I play the crap out of this thing with a flash cart - all the original GB library, any backward-compatible GBC.  We only had so many game carts back then, so I still have a ton of this library to explore.

 

I say that as someone who owns an Analogue Pocket.  For GBC/GBA and any other handheld (GG, Lynx, etc) it's my goto for exploring those libraries, but to relive the Game Boy experience I fondly remember it's DMG hardware and games for me.

 

Oh, and I had a lot of fun with the Super GameBoy back when also.  Our old SNES is still around somewhere, but my "solution" these days is just loading a few SGB games on my SNES Classic for the occasional taste of that experience.

[Video]

My go to before the analog pocket was a moded gba with a backlight. I don't have a particular problem with original hardware, and Nintendo stuff is super reliable. But, doesnt play other various handhelds, and game gear and lynx are decidedly less reliable. I don't mind saying I got the AP for game gear and lynx, but hey, so far its flawless on dmg, gbc, gba games I've put in it, why not use it?

[M-S]

I mean, they are just answering to the demand, the Game Boy is cheap and a non-backwards compatible GBA (DS) also is, it's the GBC that is the price spike. And in fact a lot of people are playing their games on a modded Game Boy, but in general they are the ones that got their consoles before they became more expensive. 

If you consider that just the Tetris cartridge would be sold for more than 40$ the price isn't that bad, Palmer said that the 1:1 screen is completely unnecessary but he wanted to have it for authenticity and that he isn't looking for profit, but then I have to wonder why he didn't go all the way in and made a brand new Game Boy chip if that's the case, that would also surely lower the cost quite a lot.