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Super Retro Boy & other game boy clones


godslabrat

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I don't see it being very enjoyable for GBA level gaming as a lot of them used L and R and for specific comfortable uses. Games that use it for menu selection on the fly, a leaning mechanic (like in F-Zero) just will not work because you'll be doing weird thumb mechanics having to use B or A along with L and R which 2 fingers normally would do. It should be amazing comfort wise for the 8bit level stuff.

 

Oh and that comment about the micro earlier ago, I can comfortably use it except with FPS games and racing because you need the L/R to strafe or hard turn and it cramps the back of the hands pulling on the tendons too much which sucks so you play in shorter bursts. Otherwise I love to carry it around as it's a nice easy thing to use discretely. I am curious to see a pic of the Everdrive sticking out of it as it's already pretty small.

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A story of clone hardware, hot off the presses, all from this morning.

 

Part One: Ordering from China

I thought I'd poke around AliExpress and see what crazy things were available ... I found a cute GBA pirate thing that seemed like it would be a fun way to play handheld games. It has an LED light built in, which seems to be the go-to add-on tech nowadays (it used to be FM tuners on MP3 players). At the very least, it would run most NES games decently, as everything does, and there were sellers who had it for between $26 and $40. I looked a little further and found someone with more completed orders and a mostly good reputation. I ordered one for $29.45.

 

post-2410-0-17424700-1483718226_thumb.png

 

Then I got cold feet about putting payment information into this very sketchy site. I waited on it for a few minutes, and checked Amazon for a US seller of the same thing. Nope, it's too new, no one in the West seems to have it yet.

 

Immediately afterwards, I received an email from AliExpress saying that the seller has changed the price on my order. Wha?

 

Then another message saying I have a note from the seller.

 

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Yeah, they raised the price from $29.45 to $2,584.45, that's adorable. Maybe they figured I wouldn't notice? The "not in stock ...Dear friend :) " did not inspire much confidence in the whole escapade. I cancelled the order, and noted that one of the pull down choices to explain why is "seller changed the price." Figuring it would be best to shield myself from further temptation, I deleted my AliExpress account, chuckling over the fact that they have an option for "afraid of getting scammed." I'm still a little worried over giving them my actual mobile number. Derp.

 

Part Two: Not Ordering from China

So, because I have problems with impulse control related to retro-style technology, I ordered a GB Boy Colour from a US-based seller on Amazon at twice the AliExpress rate, but with free 2-day shipping instead of 30-day-slow-boat-from-China-then-hope-it's-right shipping. It seems to have a nice enough screen (if a little squashed), and a fun set of built in GameBoy games. Yarr. Maybe I'll put a GB Everdrive in it one day. :ahoy:

Conclusion

The GB Boy Colour product is three years old. One would hope that whatever Retro-Bit is doing with its custom GB ripoff will be at least as good. We should not take distribution to the West for granted. AtGames and Retro-Bit may not be perfect, but they're better than other ways to get cheap game technology.

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Oh and that comment about the micro earlier ago, I can comfortably use it except with FPS games and racing because you need the L/R to strafe or hard turn and it cramps the back of the hands pulling on the tendons too much which sucks so you play in shorter bursts. Otherwise I love to carry it around as it's a nice easy thing to use discretely. I am curious to see a pic of the Everdrive sticking out of it as it's already pretty small.

 

post-2410-0-20907200-1483720194_thumb.jpg

 

post-2410-0-30403900-1483720473_thumb.png

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Nice close up from Retro-Bit's Facebook page. Looks OK to me, hopefully it feels good too. They're talking up the grippy sides a lot.

 

attachicon.gif15822767_10154949936794588_8208352065172129372_n.jpg

It does look good. That's kind of a double-edged sword. It's easy to make a show prototype LOOK good. That's not the part I'm worried about them getting right.

 

Credit where it's due, I like what I see so far.

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I think the reality of it would be just having to see it for myself, not some second hand dynamic camera angles of it for myself within the micro. I'd be curious if it would still just barely slip into this little wetsuit like material snap case I have for mine I shove in a pocket to protect it. If it could still weasel its way in there I'd be happy given as small as the GBM is anyway a little added grip couldn't hurt I bet.

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It does look good. That's kind of a double-edged sword. It's easy to make a show prototype LOOK good. That's not the part I'm worried about them getting right.

 

Credit where it's due, I like what I see so far.

 

Same here. I'm cautiously optimistic ... but I also felt that way about the R-B Generations!

 

Black or white? I think I like the white one better, but one look at my once-lovely Sony PS3 controller makes me ponder that. It is still bright white on the bottom, but dingy yellow on the top, from being exposed to too much sun.

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Yeah. Step 1 is picking it up and having it look, sound, and play like an original Gameboy. If it fails that, the story is over.

 

Sentiment wants me to get the white one, but grown-up me wants the black one. And TBH, if it works REALLY well, I'll get one of each! But seriously, Retro-Bit, this HAS to be perfect.

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So speaking of other game boy clones, yesterday I got the gbc-styled GB Boy Colour in the mail (it took its sweet time), and have generally been pleased with its construction. I've been avoiding gbc-only games for too long, since I don't care for gbp (though upgrading the software may help), and the screen on the original system just isn't as tolerable as it was when I was a kid.

 

I am actually having fun, though the d-pad isn't the best, and the aspect ratio is a bummer. For a d-pad that fails the 'press all four directions at once' test, I will say that it's otherwise rather competent. I really like that it takes AA cells, and seems to go a good amount of time on them. I think I may purchase another one for the 'gift bin.'

 

It's not hard to imagine the retrobit clone being better than this, but it's equally easy to imagine them screwing it up in new and unexpected ways.

Edited by Reaperman
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Reaperman -- mine should arrive on Sunday. Can you tell me if you can save your progress in games like Donkey along '94?

you're not going to like this.

  • The built in dk has you pick from 3 glitched out save files and you start at board 1.
  • board 2 is the pie factory, and the expanding ladders are glitched out. I don't believe it can be beaten.
  • Selecting 'continue' or 'save and whatever' starts you at board 1. Does not appear to save.
  • while many built-in games repeat on the menu, there appears to be only one donkey kong to test
  • real dk cart works/saves fine
Edited by Reaperman
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GB Boy Color also is noted for having problems with some games. The by far more helpful review on it was done by gbatemp.net a site started ages ago documenting all the GBA rom releases, hacks, and so forth yet branched out into far more less gray area interesting stuff.

https://gbatemp.net/review/gb-boy-colour-review.92/

 

Pokemon Crystal - Working - the screen flickers when playing, but everything else works
Pokemon Yellow - Working, the screen also flickers when playing, but everything else works

Pokemon Trading Card game- Working - did not save on a 64M EMS Flashcart, but it did on the original cartridge

 

Seems it's a bit testy with some games, and others aren't happy using a flash kit entirely as that one is noted not wanting to save unless it's a real cart. I know somewhere I read a Zelda game (LA DX I think) has more serious issues. The sound is also not right in quite a few games, and again with Pokemon titles, their little digital screams when they pop up do not work at all (muted.) More on the sound from a reply about it:

  1. The unit does not operate at the exact same clock speed as the GBC, hence the pitch or timing won't be 100% accurate
  2. The unit's sample playback is fuzzy
  3. The noise channel is louder than normal
  4. For the most part pitch bends (P, L, V commands, and PU1 sweep) are completely broken and will cause the sound to cut out.

If you're not looking to play pokemon it should be fine if you don't need perfect timing or audio. A good tester or cheap carry around if you don't want to jack up a real old Gameboy since finding nicer ones is getting harder without paying up for it.

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If this thing can run SNES games from that multicart, can we assume this whole device is just a cpu running emulators? The L and R placement will make games like F-Zero, Mega Man Zero, and all the FPS games unplayable....

 

I can't say I'm disappointed because I wasn't expecting anything great, but this doesn't seem to satisfy the "Give me something that the GBA SP doesn't already do".

Even Mariokart may be difficult, ie accelerate plus release item or brake plus hop. In any game, A+L or B+R would be extremely awkward if not downright impossible.

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The skull and crossbones icon was way more effective. The yukface looks like a gradeschooler made it, and I seriously doubt it has less sinister appearance to children than the skull & crossbones. Seriously parents put a lock on the cabinets... :ponder:

 

As for the GBA Micro, it's borderline unusable anyway (at least if you have large hands), but for an actual system that puts the cart in the center, well think of the X5 as an upgrade to your GBA's booster rockets! :grin:

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It does look good. That's kind of a double-edged sword. It's easy to make a show prototype LOOK good. That's not the part I'm worried about them getting right.

 

Credit where it's due, I like what I see so far.

Still no backside shots. Is their cameraman drunk? Show us the stuff we actually want to see!

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Still no backside shots. Is their cameraman drunk? Show us the stuff we actually want to see!

It's probably not finished. Their release date isn't until August 2017. I wonder if they'll place the cartridge slot in the center of the back, so GBA stuff can fit snugly and GB/GBC/everdrive cartridges don't stick out the top?

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Now that you mention it, their case doesn't exactly look final. It's a very basic design, even compared to most other retrobit products. It seems unnecessarily bulky, and as if a lot could be done for ergonomics. There's also just a little too much flat surface underneath the screen, between the d-pad and buttons. Even if it's not remolded, there should be at least some bigger printing in that whitespace.

 

I'm guessing gb/gbc carts will overhang like they did with the gbas and will probably slot in near the top of the console, perhaps being inserted through the top panel vs sliding down the back panel. GBA games are still enough for me to buy it for, and I can't imagine the cart slot being on the bottom, like on ds/sp systems which is a worse place to have a big ol' cart hanging out.

 

A system that big could certainly handle multiple cart slots, an internal flash cart, or all kinds of fun things, but those would have been mentioned high in the feature list, I'd assume.

Edited by Reaperman
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I think you guys are looking at it the wrong way. You're approaching this device like it's some type of grotesque "goiter" sticking out of the console body or something. It isn't. Think of the GBA as a space ship. You know, when you upgrade the booster rockets, sometimes you get a little bit of extra tail pipe sticking out the back. It is totally worth it, and a thing of beauty. Just saying.

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I remember seeing the color version in stores and was not sure if it was worth it. I got a light magnafying glass at stores for original dmg years ago for 99 cents but lost it.

Edited by 0078265317
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