gameboy everdrive

[airsoftmodels]

i am thinking about getting the everdrive gb. anyone here have one? i would probably use it with the gameboy advance ags-101, playing gameboy games but with the better screen. any thoughts?

 

 

[CatPix]

For a better screen, you might like to give a try to the "GB Boy colour". It's a Chinese copy of the GB (apparently an hardware clone and not a GB on a chip, but it's hard to be 100% sure).

It come with Cable Link function (it use a GBA shaped connection, but I tried it for Pokemon games and it worked) and infrared connection (no one seems to have tried it so far).

It was tested succesfully with the GB everdrive... and more importantly, it got a color BACKLIGHT screen of decent quality.

 

 

So far, I noticed some bad point to it :

Scratch-prone screen cover : much like the original Game Boy, it's made of a thick glossy plastic, that is very prone to scratches.

Keys : the D-pad is stiff. might actually be a good thing for long term durability? But for some games it requires pressing on the very edges to be sure to make a proper diagonal.A and B are fine, but The Select and Start button might occasionaly get stuck under the shell. They are easy to pull back tho so it's no big deal.

 

Not so stereo sound. While the GB Boy does play stereo sounds on the headphones, the internal speaker is connected only on one channel, which mean that any sound or music played on the other channel will be left out.

Shiny red LED. In true Chinese fashion, the LED is brighter than it should. It's not TOO bright enough to be an eyesore, but enough to come distracting when starting a game.

 

Note both of those issues can be solved via modding.

 

It cost about 20$ and so far, all testers around the net said they couldn't find any GB or GBC this clone couldn't play.

Edited June 17, 2015 by CatPix

[mickcris]

I have a GB Boy colour. I like it, but the incorrect aspect ratio on the screen seems to drive some people crazy. That is about the only thing they got wrong.

[CatPix]

Oh indeed, I forgot about that, too. I guess DongFeng used oof the shelves parts and no one produce the GB ratio screen anymore (which anyway you won't get right on a SP either, it's shrinked or stretched)

[Austin]

I have a GB Everdrive coming in the mail, likely tomorrow or the next day. I can report my findings after I try it out. I'm sure it's great. I've got the Everdrive 64, Everdrive MD, Turbo Everdrive and Super Everdrive. All are nice flash carts. I'm sure the GB one is just as good.

[airsoftmodels]

thanks for the suggestion CatPix. i looked into getting the gb boy colour, and it seems to be going for $50 on Amazon, and around $45 on ebay. is there a better site that sells them for $20?

 

i wanted to share a story with my fellow gameboy lovers. i was in the hospital for a week in 1992 having a surgery. my uncle bought me a gameboy, and a few games.

 

the flash, ultra golf, terminator 2 judgement day, and f1 race, which came with the 4 player adapter. i finished the flash right there in the hospital!

 

 

[mickcris]

you can get it for around $30 at aliexpress

http://www.aliexpress.com/w/wholesale-gb-colour.html?initiative_id=SB_20150617130035&site=glo&groupsort=1&SortType=price_asc&shipCountry=us&SearchText=gb+colour

 

this seller can ship them from USA too so no wait for it to come from China

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Limited-Edition-Kong-Feng-GB-Boy-Color-Colour-Handheld-Game-Consoles-Game-Player-with-Backlit-188/2011253183.html

Edited June 17, 2015 by mickcris

[7800fan]

Aliexpress is crap shoot. It's worse than eBay when it comes to getting something that works. The site owner is supposed to crack down on counterfeit and junk stuff but bad stuff still would slip in.

 

When paying for Aliexpress, make sure it's backed by credit card somewhere so if it goes bad and you can't recover from the seller, chargeback usually works.

[+wood_jl]

AGS-101 ("Brighter Screen") model GBA SP and Gameboy Everdrive are a match made in heaven. My choice, other than Gamecube and Gameboy player!

[7800fan]

There's been some tease that Krikzz is working on GBA version so make sure you have a GBA-SP with the "new" screen or at least a first gen DS for possible ED-GBA. The SP seems to be going around $50 a pop on eBay.

[airsoftmodels]

Austin, how is the GB Everdrive, did you get it yet? I have the turbo everdrive also, and I think its awesome.

 

On your Super Everdrive did you opt for the DSP 1/2/3/4 support for $99? What are the limitations? Did you consider getting the $190 SD2SNES?

 

7800fan, I am glad to hear a GBA everdrive is in the works. One of the best systems of all time deserves to be on the list.

 

By the way, I went and checked out a PSP 3001 that was modded with emulators. They have a lot of these systems on Craigslist around here. I was underwhelmed by the system, felt really light to me, and not good as a GBA emulator in my opinion. I kept pressing the triangle on the upper right side, and the emulator settings kept popping up.

[OldSchoolRetroGamer]

Never mind lol........

Edited June 19, 2015 by OldSchoolRetroGamer

[Andromeda Stardust]

I have pretty much all the Everdrives except the SMS (and ED-MD does SMS fine on my model 1 Genesis). The Game Boy Everdrive and N64 v3 are my most recent. My Super ED is the older v2 revision with a DSP1b harvested from a Ballz 3D cart.

My Everdrives:
Super ED v2 w/ DSP1 soldered in.
N8 Famicom (preorder deluxe gold #007 from Stone Age Gamer)
ED-MD v3
Turbo ED v1.2
ED64 v3
ED-GB v?

Others:
NES PowerPak
VCS Harmony Cart

 

 

My two GBAs are an original non-backlit model (more ergonomic for large hands compared to an SP) and the Classic NES Edition GBA-SP from 2004. How do I tell if my GBA SP has the "good" backlit screen or not? I typically play GBA on the Gameboy Player or the DS Phat due to the hand-cramping of the SP.

Also I have heard about the GBA ED and I think it's long overdue. Can't wait for one to come out...

Edited June 19, 2015 by stardust4ever

[7800fan]

How do I tell if my GBA SP has the "good" backlit screen or not? I typically play GBA on the Gameboy Player or the DS Phat due to the hand-cramping of the SP.

 

Only the SP can have the "good" display. The "good" one has black image when it's off and there is no LED off option. Otherwise you have the shitty version with purple haze on the side. The shittier version is the version that can have front light LED turned off for playing outside while the good one can't be used under very bright light.

[Andromeda Stardust]

Only the SP can have the "good" display. The "good" one has black image when it's off and there is no LED off option. Otherwise you have the shitty version with purple haze on the side. The shittier version is the version that can have front light LED turned off for playing outside while the good one can't be used under very bright light.

I believe my classic NES edition is the "shitty" side lit version. White LED pinpricks on the edges when the back side light is on. Still better viewing than my purple GBA classic with worm light although the original is far more comfortable. SP is still cool since Game Boy games and GBA games that don't use the L/R buttons often play well enough. Due to my large hands, the L/R buttons are a pain to use. Mario Kart Super Circuit is a crap-inducing nightmare which is why I prefer most GBA titles on the big screen. I've got the GB Player + GC and Advance Retro Port or Super GB + Super Retro Trio for playing games full screen. Edited June 19, 2015 by stardust4ever

[Austin]

I spent several hours playing games on the GB Everdrive today. It seems about the same as any other Everdrive I have owned, as expected. It works very well.

[airsoftmodels]

stardust4ever, thats quite a collection of everdrives! looks like you got them all from stoneage gamer? they are currently out of stock on the everdrive-gb. i guess austin bought the last one : )

 

i bought my turbo everdrive from krikzz in the ukraine. i highly recommend buying from him, if you can wait the 2 weeks for delivery to the us.

 

i used to have both the ags-001 and the ags-101 gameboy advance sp. as mentioned above, the non-backlit model was preferable for those b&w gameboy games. i left my nemesis cart in it and played that game daily. why the heck did i sell my gba stuff???

[Great Hierophant]

Public service announcement : Never buy an Everdrive from Aliexpress. They are knockoffs and are crap quality and will have errors and issues and fail where a true Krikzz Everdrive will not.

 

At some point, Krikzz may issue a RAM based Everdrive GB, meaning near instant load times for games. Current Everdrive GBs have load times up to 1 minute (for the largest games).

[7800fan]

Ali is bad news all around.

[Andromeda Stardust]

stardust4ever, thats quite a collection of everdrives! looks like you got them all from stoneage gamer? they are currently out of stock on the everdrive-gb. I guess austin bought the last one : )

Yes, the Everdrives all came from Stone Age Gamer, as you can tell by my labels. PowerPak from RetroUSB and Harmony v1 from AtariAge. For US customers, you can buy Everdrives either from SAG or Retrogate. Krikzz also has a list of authorized retailers on his website that ship globally. Do not buy from alexpress or ebay sellers located in mainland china. Best not to ebay at all really. People contact Krikzz through Everdrive forums all the time only to find out what they've got is fake. Really sad that Chinese copycats are at large... Edited June 20, 2015 by stardust4ever

[airsoftmodels]

I decided against getting one of those $90 refurbed gameboy advance sp ags-101's on ebay. i started looking locally for something cheap & i found it. i got a silver ags-001 with super mario world, mario party advance, and metroid fusion for $32 this morning.

 

this post helped me make that decision:

http://www.reddit.com/r/Gameboy/comments/2wu1j0/refurbished_gba_sp_or_original/

 

i know its not the ags-101, but using it for the everdrive gb, i think it will be perfect.

[Andromeda Stardust]

A lot of used Game shops don't differentiate between the 100 and 101. Ditto for Game Cubes with the digital video port and older Wiis with Game Cube compatability. If you see a bunch of GBAs under the glass, ask to see them and open the lids. Grab the one that has the black screen.

[7800fan]

Quick way to spot a 101 SP: if the game shell is open, look for dark LCD. 101 does not use reflective film like earlier GBA and even GBC but used backlight and can't use reflective film (which is why it sucks under very bright light). All other shows silver or grey screen due to reflective film, and the 001 SP uses front light.

 

If it's closed, look for those that are light pink or light blue.

 

Did you know? The LCD and the mainboard can be swapped into different shell. Like a Nintendo NES edition shell with 101 model LCD (and obviously requires matching mainboard).

[airsoftmodels]

pearl blue, rose pink, and onyx, right?

 

[7800fan]

Onyx is somewhat hard to tell from earlier black 001'sm depending on how good the light is. If it looks dark grey and not solid black, it is probably Onyx 101's but if you have crap lightning ask someone to show it and open it to check the LCD.