Lumi

Hi there, I have an unusual collection for you all to see. Back in 2016 I made a simple challenge for myself: collect one of every GBA Video cartridge that exists. And holy crap, some of these were hard to find. Most can be found for very cheap, usually in the $5-$10 range, but as you will see, there are some major exceptions. I actually completed this collection about a year ago, but never got around to posting any pics. For those who don’t know about GBA Video, effectively what they were are special white GBA cartridges containing 45-ish minutes of incredibly low-quality video, to be viewed on the Game Boy Advance. When I say low-quality, I mean it makes old 240p YouTube videos look good by comparison. But in 2004-2006 when they were released, most people didn’t have a device in their pocket capable of playing video like we all do now. So at the time, it made sense. Nowadays they’re pretty much obsolete - better options for viewing videos on the go exist, and have existed for quite some time. Now you might be asking, why would I want to get a complete collection of an old, obscure, and obsolete video format? Simple: because I’m completely out of my mi- er, I mean a dedicated collector! I had a few of these cartridges back when they were new, so there’s an element of nostalgia to it, but mostly I did it because I've never seen someone attempt it before. Plus, I didn’t think it would be too difficult. I mean, how many of these cartridges could they possibly have made? Hoo boy. To my knowledge, there are around 35 different GBA Video cartridges that exist. I say “around 35”, and put the asterisk in the title, because I’m still not 100% sure if this is complete. I did a lot of searching with Google, trying to find a complete list of which cartridges were released, but I couldn’t find one. Each list I found was different, and they were all missing titles - even the official GBA Video website doesn’t even have half of the damn things they released listed. So I made my own list. I put a lot of effort, and a lot of hours into cataloguing every GBA Video cartridge I could find evidence of, and these are the results. Without further ado: pics! This is all of them. I’ve sorted them by series. The ultra-rare ones I keep in plastic cases at the bottom. Apologies for the glare - I’m a bad photographer. I’ve added text to indicate what they are. These are the one-offs - shows that only got one volume. And yes, I’m aware I have two copies of the Kids Next Door cart, I intended to only include one in the pic, but I’m too lazy to re-take it Okay - seriously, who asked for 6 different Cartoon Network Collection cartridges to be released? This is ridiculous. And what's with these names? It goes Volume 1, Volume 2, then Special Edition, Platinum Edition, Premium edition, and Limited Edition. And yes, they’re all different. Good lord. There were 4 Pokemon cartridges released, 2 Fairly Odd Parents, and 3 SpongeBob. The only one of these that was difficult to find was SpongeBob Volume 3 - I had to scour eBay for awhile before I found it. I don’t understand why the first two SpongeBob carts have the same exact pic while the third is different, but whatever I guess. 6 Cartoon Network Collection carts but only 3 Nicktoons Collection carts, with the third being extremely rare (I’ll show it off later)? Weird. The four on the bottom are the only movie cartridges released that I know of - and yes, they actually contain the full movies, but the video quality is horrible and at a very low framerate. Now we’re getting into the rare stuff. Super Robot Monkey Team Hyper Force Go - a show pretty much nobody has heard of, which I assume is why this cart is so rare. It has a 9/10 rarity level on NintendoAge, but I only paid about $50 for it. It was the only copy I could find on eBay at the time. I showed off both of these in a previous pic, but I’m posting them again because they were ridiculously difficult to find. The 2-in-1 cartridge, believe it or not, actually contains both full movies. To be honest I’m stunned that they fit on a single cartridge. Disney Channel Volume 2, I got from JJGames. It was out of stock for months, and when they finally got one in stock, I snapped it up as soon as possible. NintendoAge doesn’t even have a rating for it. I have never seen a copy of it on eBay. Does that mean it’s ultra-rare? To be honest, I have no idea. I’m just glad I found one. This one took a long time to get ahold of. 7/10 rarity on NintendoAge. I bought it for about $50 on eBay, but again, it was the only copy I could find so I didn’t have much choice. There are a few copies on eBay right now, and holy crap, apparently it's worth a lot more than that now. This one was a major pain. It was the final cartridge I needed to complete my collection. It took me over a year before I finally found it on eBay, and it just happened to be in a lot of games someone was selling. I convinced the seller to sell just this cartridge to me, and they only asked $25, which I was happy to pay. At the time of writing this, there are only a few copies on eBay, and they're asking an insane amount of money for them. Oddly enough, it only has a 5/10 rarity (not sure if that's accurate). It’s worth noting that there may be one more cartridge out there: a 2-in-1 movie cart containing both Shrek and Shrek 2. They definitely released both of these movies in a single package, as you can see in this pic: However, I don’t think there was ever a single cartridge containing both movies in one. I’ve seen CIB listings for this release on eBay, and rather than a single cartridge they just had the two separate cartridges in a single box, both of which I already have. I have yet to see a single piece of photographic evidence that another 2-in-1 cartridge exists, and if anyone can prove me wrong, I’ll gladly pay top dollar for it. That concludes my GBA Video adventures up to this point. Thanks for reading! Edit: Full list of released carts and their rarity: 2-in-1: Shrek and Shark Tale (movies) (Rarity: unknown) All Grown Up! Volume 1 (Rarity: 3/10) Cartoon Network Collection Limited Edition (Rarity: 4/10) Cartoon Network Collection Platinum Edition (Rarity: 4/10) Cartoon Network Collection Premium Edition (Rarity: 4/10) Cartoon Network Collection Special Edition (Rarity: 4/10) Cartoon Network Collection Volume 1 (Rarity: 4/10) Cartoon Network Collection Volume 2 (Rarity: 4/10) Codename: Kids Next Door Volume 1 (Rarity: 3/10) Disney Channel Collection Volume 1 (Rarity: 7/10) Disney Channel Collection Volume 2 (Rarity: unknown) Dora the Explorer Volume 1 (Rarity: 4/10) Dragon Ball GT Volume 1 (Rarity: 3/10) Nicktoons Collection Volume 1 (Rarity: 3/10) Nicktoons Collection Volume 2 (Rarity: 3/10) Nicktoons Collection Volume 3 (Rarity: 7/10) Pokémon Volume 1 (Rarity: 3/10) Pokémon Volume 2 (Rarity: 3/10) Pokémon Volume 3 (Rarity: 3/10) Pokémon Volume 4 (Rarity: 3/10) Shark Tale (movie) (Rarity: unknown) Shrek (movie) (Rarity: unknown) Shrek 2 (movie) (Rarity: unknown) Sonic X: A Super Sonic Hero Volume 1 (Rarity: unknown) SpongeBob SquarePants Volume 1 (Rarity: 4/10) SpongeBob SquarePants Volume 2 (Rarity: 4/10) SpongeBob SquarePants Volume 3 (Rarity: 8/10) Strawberry Shortcake Volume 1 (Rarity: 4/10) Super Robot Monkey Team Hyper Force Go! Volume 1 (Rarity: 9/10) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Things Change Volume 1 (Rarity: 4/10) The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron Volume 1 (Rarity: 4/10) The Fairly OddParents Volume 1 (Rarity: 4/10) The Fairly OddParents Volume 2 (Rarity: 4/10) The Proud Family Volume 1 (Rarity: 5/10) Yu-Gi-Oh! Yugi VS Joey Volume 1 (Rarity: 2/10)

Recently I had a stroke of luck and found a Vectrex controller in near-immaculate condition. I plugged it into my system, and it felt great to use. The joystick is very tight and responsive. I'm wondering, is there a specific way I should store/use this controller to ensure the joystick remains tight? Or is it bound to degrade over time regardless? Thanks!

Hey everyone, it's been a long time since I posted here, but I just wanted to give an update. Regarding boxes, the plans have changed a bit. Originally this was going to be a cart-only release, but we've decided to make the game a full boxed release from the start! It should be available, boxed or unboxed, in the AtariAge store soon Also, the game debuted at the Portland Retro Gaming Expo this weekend! You can see what the box will look like from this pic: I attended PRGE this year, and the AtariAge booth was huge. There tons of great homebrews on display, way more than I could fit in one photo. I tried out a bunch of them - I wouldn't be able to list all of them since there were so many, but let me tell you, there's a lot of great stuff coming the AA store Thanks to everyone for an amazing experience at PRGE!

Excellent, thank you both for the info! It's very helpful!

I'm currently experimenting with developing a new 2600 game, and I'm a little confused. Basically, I'm writing a game in assembly and I want to use an 8K ROM size. I'd store important data in the first bank and level data in the second. In my research, I found this document: http://kevtris.org/files/sizes.txt Which lists different bankswitching methods. Very interesting to read, but I'm wondering, how do I specify which method I'm using to an emulator/flashcart? For example, I'm happy with just using the standard F8 method. If I start accessing $1FF8 or $1FF9 will the emulator/flashcart automatically catch on to what I'm trying to do, or is there more to this? Also, which method is used by carts from the AtariAge store? Thanks!

Awesome job! Good luck with both switches on A!

Nice score! What settings did you use?

Well, thank you so much! I can't promise a boxed version anytime soon, but I'll look into it.

Hello everyone, thanks for all the positive feedback and discussion! As you can probably tell, we didn't plan to make this a boxed release, but I see there's a lot of demand for one. Unfortunately it is a little late in the process to change it up, but as Albert said, a run of boxes (as well as boxes only for people who've already bought the game without one) is something we could definitely explore in the future.

Wow. That guy's a total idiot. It seems like there's been a huge increase in the number of people pricing way above market value on Kijiji. Is this a trend on Craigslist in the USA too?

That's really weird. What happens if you try setting COLUBK to $00 during vertical blank and overscan?

Don't worry, that's intentional - the space between obstacles is slightly randomized to make the game less predictable. Setting the difficulty switch to B simply adds a bit more space between the obstacles.

Thank you so much, everybody! I appreciate the kind words! Oh no, really? I thought I fixed this bug a long time ago. Basically it's a problem with the RNG looping in sync with the blocks being displayed. I thought I had fixed this, I haven't experienced it in a long time... Let me tinker with the code a bit more. I'm guessing there's some way to fix this once and for all. EDIT: This update should fix the issue once and for all. I decided to incorporate adding random ROM data into the RNG function, so there's no way the RNG could loop like that now. Drive! v1.5.3 NTSC.bin Drive! v1.5.3 PAL.bin

Thank you all for the amazing support over the past few months! The label contest is now over, and the winner is Corey Kramer, who you probably know for making the label art for Wall Jump Ninja! Well done, Corey! Thanks to him, the label art and manual are now complete! Check it out! Labels Front label: End label: Instructions Front cover: Inside: Back cover:

Indeed! Excellent job, Corey!

Corey - that's absolutely beautiful! Amazing work! It's fine as it is, but if you want to include copyright info, "Nick "Lumi" Wilson" would be great! (I probably should have specified this ) Also, if I can ask a similar question, how should I name you in the credits?

Awesome! And nice score! Was that on normal mode?

Thanks, sramirez2008! However, I'm a little concerned by your description of the third stage as "reddish", because that stage is supposed to be purple. That could be happening if you're playing the NTSC ROM on a PAL console. If not, are you sure the color settings on your TV are correct? Is the third stage red for anyone else? The stages on normal mode should go: yellow/brown -> blue -> purple -> green.

Thanks a ton, guys! Your feedback has been really encouraging! I have a ton of news now. I have another update based on my conversations with Albert, v1.5.2. Here's what's new: The environment now changes color depending on the speed High score screen now says "Game Over" Fixed a bug with Speed Freak mode that only happened on real consoles, not in Stella PAL version now plays sound effects at the correct speed, making it essentially identical to the NTSC version in all aspects Playing on the lowest speed only lasts half the time it did, to make retries less painful The new versions are attached to this post, and also to the first post. What I could really use now is some help with testing! Especially looking for differences in how the game plays on actual hardware compared to Stella. If anyone is willing to try it both emulated and on an actual console and compare the two, that would be very helpful! Additionally, I have part of the manual complete! Take a look: Finally, I am running a label design contest! The winner will receive a free copy of the game, their artwork featured on the label and manual, and their name in the credits! For more information, click here: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/253231-drive-label-contest/ Thanks for the support and help, everyone! Drive! v1.5.2 NTSC.bin Drive! v1.5.2 PAL.bin

Hello, everyone! After months in development, I am ready to start a label contest for my Atari 2600 homebrew game, Drive! In this game, you are an explorer with a fancy car who steals a booby-trapped golden idol from a temple, which causes the structure to collapse. You drive down a bridge as it collapses behind you, avoiding obstacles in your path, collecting treasures, and doing everything you can to survive. Download the ROM and try the game for yourself: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/250070-drive/ Screenshots: The setting of the game is something like if Indiana Jones meets flashy red sports cars, and ideally the art would reflect this, but generally you have full creative control! The winner will get: A free copy of the game Your artwork featured on the cartridge label and the front cover of the manual Your name written in the Credits section of the manual For now, I'll set the deadline to June 20th. If necessary, I will extend it. Have fun, and good luck!

Thanks guys, I've messaged Albert and he's going to test it soon! Also, what do you think about this instruction sheet? Is it too wordy? Are these dimensions correct? (Ideally it would be folded in half vertically.)

No problem! That tripped me up quite a bit while developing this. And if this got published, I would be ecstatic. I'm just not sure what the process is. Should I send it to Albert for approval?

Thank you! Hmm... you might need to manually switch to paddle mode. Try pressing tab while the game is running > Game Properties > Controller. Then set P0 Controller to Paddles in Left Port. Then you'll have to close the ROM and reopen it for the changes to take effect. (Also, if you want to be able to save your high scores, set P1 Controller to AtariVox in Right Port.)

As of version 1.4, I think I'm ready to call this game finished! I can't find any bugs to fix, the NTSC60 and PAL50 versions run at the same speed, and there isn't really any space left to add new features. Unless anyone finds serious bugs, I think I can officially call this the final version! A big thank you to everyone to helped me and offered advice and suggestions. I learned a lot, and I'm quite happy with the final product!

I highly recommend you go on over to http://www.planetvb.com/, join the forums, and send a private message to the user RunnerPack saying you need your displays fixed. He did a permanent fix on mine last year for $20. Haven't experienced glitches since.