The Official Game Boy Thread

[Tanooki]

Unfortunately no. You can get them on ebay, but you have to have patience. If you go in willing to pay no more than X for it vs doing it yourself and buyihng the parts you should be fine. But a lot of the trolls on there will go in that $150 and up range which is insultingly high and not always the best work but being a mass reseller of modded goods they get away with the premium. Often you can bag them for around a $100 which is totally fine.

[Skippy B. Coyote]

Any good recommendations on where to get a quality backlit GBA?

 

Not to toot my own horn, but I do have a pretty unique backlit SP bundle with carrying case, charger, and headphone adapter for sale at the moment if you like the clamshell design and the color purple: http://www.ebay.com/itm/112481960409

[Good_Times]

Any good recommendations on where to get a quality backlit GBA?

 

Your best bet is one of the '101' models, typically found in the wild in either of the 'baby colors' - pearl pink/pearl blue - or gray/graphite. They come in other colors, as well, I've just not found as many through the years.

(Ex: I have a 101 with a reddish shell that is nearly identical in color to the non-101 earlier model.)

[jce3000gt]

Unfortunately no. You can get them on ebay, but you have to have patience. If you go in willing to pay no more than X for it vs doing it yourself and buyihng the parts you should be fine. But a lot of the trolls on there will go in that $150 and up range which is insultingly high and not always the best work but being a mass reseller of modded goods they get away with the premium. Often you can bag them for around a $100 which is totally fine.

 

That's a shame. Saw several on Etsy for insane amounts of money. I don't have the skills or patience to do any sort of modding myself or I'd do it myself.

 

 

Not to toot my own horn, but I do have a pretty unique backlit SP bundle with carrying case, charger, and headphone adapter for sale at the moment if you like the clamshell design and the color purple: http://www.ebay.com/itm/112481960409

 

Thanks for the heads up but I like the non-SP GBA shell better. I had an SP and it was just too uncomfortable to hold with my large hands.

 

 

Your best bet is one of the '101' models, typically found in the wild in either of the 'baby colors' - pearl pink/pearl blue - or gray/graphite. They come in other colors, as well, I've just not found as many through the years.

(Ex: I have a 101 with a reddish shell that is nearly identical in color to the non-101 earlier model.)

 

Thanks for the tip!

[Tanooki]

I can do them too, but it's the problem of harvesting the screen which is the problem. Going by what SP 101 screens go for in a battered system you buy for parts to remove one, or buying a new one with the appropriate 32/40 pin cable adapter you're looking at $50~. If the shell you have is crap and you need to buy a new one that'll set you back another $15~ and a plastic vs glass lens with that would add $3-5, That just leaves the GBA board itself from an old system, they're easily had for anything from $2-20 at a flea market/garage sale or lucky whatever (maybe a bad one with a lot of games) on ebay. So going that route maybe $50+15+20 ($85 on the higher end) to get the parts needed...on a lower end say if the GBA is beautiful around $70.

 

So there's the bite. These ripoff artists on ebay and etsy feel that their 20-30min since they're used to it and faster to disassembled, carve the plastic inside, drop in the 101 screen, attach the cable adapter, and close it back up think their goddamned labor is worth $70-100. None of those people are worth (since it would take them 30min or less) $140-200/hr worth of labor.

 

That's why I said $100 is fair and over that is getting into just ripping people off blind.

 

Never EVER pay someone over the $100 mark for a 101 into a classic GBA job as they're making you pay lawyer like fees in amount for the labor which is just wrong.

 

I've done it myself once, but it broke shortly after because I don't have a dremel and didn't file down the shell far enough which put undo pressure on the screen which cracked it on a 3ft drop onto carpet of all things. Currently I've got a new black shell, GBA body, glass screen applied on a $2 GBA I found. I just need the $50 kit with the screen+cable adapter but the problem is, no dremel so I'm nervous about it. I actually have 2 spare GBAs I could do it with though, also have a glacier model as well but rather not chew that up.

[+atari2600land]

Nephew came over and saw me playing Super Mario Land 2. He wanted to try it out. He said he wanted to play it "badly." So I stopped my game and let him start a new one in the second save slot. I used to have a file save that went all the way to Wario's castle (I never could get to Wario, none the less beat him), but the saves wore out. I have had bad luck so far, both Super Mario Land 2 and Kirby's Dream Land 2 are poor savers at this point. Well, anyway short story is, Game Boy still is being played by kids to this day. I FINALLY beat my Oranges game on a regular Game Boy, no troubles I saw.

[Tanooki]

You know with a few threads going on about collecting, price problems and youtube perhaps to blame this seems kind of like a nice place to toss this for some fun. I've been panning ebay for a bit now for gameboy goodies that time, inflation, and commodity brokers more or less ignored and came across a real oddity.

 

There appears to be this thing called the Super 22 in 1 branded in either a yellow or a gray(stock) GB shell. What's interesting is it appears to be a closed off flashable chip with 256mb of space on it so claims the sticker at least. I did a backward search and found it's part of a set of 4 carts where they others are 18, 19 and 20 in 1s. Alibaba of course has them, and you can buy alone or in a package of four for a reduced price of $58 shipped.

 

https://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/Free-shipping-Nintendo-GBC-Gameboy-color-Super-All-in-1-Video-Game-Cartridge-multi-game-Card/624516_32785444308.html?spm=2114.12010108.1000023.1.7bf38a73Ew0AiT

 

Go here, easier than my typing it up, but look at the game list on each cart. All of them claim to work, they all have save files that work as well. Each of them have whoppers of game lists, some of them include the few insanely priced stuff like Shantae. Each cart is a true mix of GBC and GB (more so GBC) games.

 

Any thoughts? I'm quite tempted to snap up the set as each has a few lovely games on it and a good way to dodge feeding the beast plus the benefit of a closed little collection to play on the go.

[+atari2600land]

I got a Game Genie in the mail today and I was able to beat the dumb dinosaur boss on level 4 in Kirby's Dream Land 2. Game Genie codes are hard to come by apparently. You'd think they'd be on GameFAQs or something but no. I had to go here:

http://gameboygamegeniecodes.blogspot.com/search/label/K

Anyway, I may have to start all over again since the save is faulty. That's the one problem with these aging games.

[SiberianSpForces]

Any thoughts? I'm quite tempted to snap up the set as each has a few lovely games on it and a good way to dodge feeding the beast plus the benefit of a closed little collection to play on the go.

 

Krikzz is rolling out a revised GB/GBC flash cart. Here's the link;

http://krikzz.com/forum/index.php?topic=6659.0

[NE146]

Yeah dammit.. after I sprung for a GB flashcart just last November. Ah well.. it works fine I guess, even in SGB.

[Skippy B. Coyote]

Krikzz is rolling out a revised GB/GBC flash cart. Here's the link;

http://krikzz.com/forum/index.php?topic=6659.0

Well, now I know what I'll be asking for for Christmas this year! I had been holding off on an EverDrive GB until Krikzz implemented a Real Time Clock and found a way to lower power consumption so that it would be usable on all backlit Game Boy systems, but now that he's made those upgrades I totally want an X7. I already have a pretty sizable selection of Game Boy / Color games to choose from, but it would be great to have an EverDrive to play all the fan translations and ultra expensive games like Shantae and ZAS that it could take me many years to acquire.

 

On a side note, since the topic has come up a few times lately I have strangely never had a Game Boy or Game Boy Color game's save battery fail on me. I know some of the batteries in my games are over 25 years old at this point but I check them all for function every year and they're all still going strong. I guess I must just be really lucky in that regard!

[Tanooki]

Oooh that's interesting, but ultimately I'm torn on if it's worth it.

 

Truth be told the GBA Everdrive X5 is more than enough. It natively can run GOOMBA Color which runs all the GB and GBC stuff like a stock Gameboy can. Basically just throw whatever .GB and .GBC games you want on your ED GBA along with the goomba color file and they fire up natively like GBA games do without. Almost seems pointless to own the thing unless you do NOT have a GBA, or you just want to use it on a stock gameboy (or a GB BOy Color.) It looks like he did some solid work, but I'm thinking the next go around of those holiday sales they do I'll probably grab up that GBA one, half tempted to spring for the NES/FC one as well so I'm not tempted to pay in the diseased market there is now for old games.

 

 

Jin good points, and also I agree about the batteries, they're up there. I recently had my first failure of a game I bought new in the era, ActRaiser, so I had to put a new one in. I have no problem swapping out batteries, but this does look fascinating to say the least. If I snapped one up to use in my dedicated GB Boy Color device X5 all the way, no need to pay so much more for save states I wouldn't use.

Edited August 2, 2017 by Tanooki

[Good_Times]

Well, now I know what I'll be asking for for Christmas this year! I had been holding off on an EverDrive GB until Krikzz implemented a Real Time Clock and found a way to lower power consumption so that it would be usable on all backlit Game Boy systems, but now that he's made those upgrades I totally want an X7. I already have a pretty sizable selection of Game Boy / Color games to choose from, but it would be great to have an EverDrive to play all the fan translations and ultra expensive games like Shantae and ZAS that it could take me many years to acquire.

 

On a side note, since the topic has come up a few times lately I have strangely never had a Game Boy or Game Boy Color game's save battery fail on me. I know some of the batteries in my games are over 25 years old at this point but I check them all for function every year and they're all still going strong. I guess I must just be really lucky in that regard!

 

That flash cart is gonna be great alongside this:

 

 

 

[Skippy B. Coyote]

If I snapped one up to use in my dedicated GB Boy Color device X5 all the way, no need to pay so much more for save states I wouldn't use.

For me the choice between the EverDrive-GB X5 and X7 really comes down to one question: Do you want to play Pokémon Gold/Silver/Crystal and Harvest Moon GB/GBC on it? If your answer is "Yes" then the X7 is the way to go, since it has the Real Time Clock support that those games require. Sure, you can ghetto rig them with a patch to run on the X5, but it's not the same as getting the real RTC experience.

Edited August 2, 2017 by Jin

[NE146]

Truth be told the GBA Everdrive X5 is more than enough. It natively can run GOOMBA Color which runs all the GB and GBC stuff like a stock Gameboy can. Basically just throw whatever .GB and .GBC games you want on your ED GBA along with the goomba color file and they fire up natively like GBA games do without. Almost seems pointless to own the thing unless you do NOT have a GBA, or you just want to use it on a stock gameboy (or a GB BOy Color.)

 

Truth. Let me start off by saying the GBA Everdrive X5 is my most used Everdrive since I carry it in my GBA SP. As a matter of fact I just went on a trip to Guam & Japan this past month, and that is the only console I had in my backpack. It just has support for so many consoles (i.e. native GBA + various others emulated) you can't beat the bang for the buck you get for it, in a handy small package!

 

That said, it obviously can't be played on a Super Gameboy, so you lose out on that. The GB Everdrive on the other hand works great on a SGB, borders and all (even the SNES version of Space Invaders works).

 

Also some GB games do have issues being emulated. e.g. "Initial D Gaiden" for one. It just does something with the raster timings that make the display go wacky.

 

GB everdrive on the left, GBA everdrive on the right. Although it's kinda cool how Goomba tries to put the border around these titles that you obviously don't get with the GB ED.

[Tanooki]

Damn I misread that I agree -- if you want to really experience Crystal with time shift, it's a must to eat it on the RTC setup.

 

I'm glad I never once got into RTC games on the GBC, but that said, that deal last year that netted my daughter her first Gameboy (Color) had a pile of games, one was Pokemon Crystal. I put a new battery in it and I really should try playing it some time as I never experienced that era. I also (Fire Red aside) never did any of the GBA either and went straight into soul silver on DS.

 

 

NE146 -- Stellar addition there, I have to admit I forgot about that. it has been years since I had an ez-flash IV. When I did have one my main entertainment was not taking a mulligan and throwing my GBA carts on there I already had, I largely enjoyed the hell out of it mostly with PocketNES, Goomba Color, and PCE Advance though I did have a few JP GBA games on there too I didn't own at the time too. It was great being able to carry my Nintendo collection in my pocket, and the GB Player was a solid true choice for PCE Advance to be a whole lot of fun on the TV when the Duo was years gone in the past.

 

Initial D are you using the old loopy/flubba build, because it's still updated by Dwedit on her own website/forums currently last I heard. When I get back into meddling on that stuff again that's where I'm going right away to get the newest runs of things. I hope I can dig up the old file builder I once had for all 3 tools as it made these handy .GBA files, self baked multi-carts basically.

[Skippy B. Coyote]

That flash cart is gonna be great alongside this:

 

IMG_3017.JPG

 

The frothing desire for printing intensifies!

 

[Good_Times]

The frothing desire for printing intensifies!

 

 

SO much excite!

 

[Skippy B. Coyote]

 

SO much excite!

 

 

 

Soon...

 

[NE146]

GB everdrive on the left, GBA everdrive on the right. Although it's kinda cool how Goomba tries to put the border around these titles that you obviously don't get with the GB ED.

 

Geeze.. I re-read my thing and forgot to saythe point of the video. On the right is the "bad" emulation with flickering glitchy graphics using a GBA everdrive + Goomba. On the left is the GB Everdrive which displays the game perfectly.

[SiberianSpForces]

On a side note, since the topic has come up a few times lately I have strangely never had a Game Boy or Game Boy Color game's save battery fail on me. I know some of the batteries in my games are over 25 years old at this point but I check them all for function every year and they're all still going strong. I guess I must just be really lucky in that regard!

The only battery I had crap out was in my copy of Pokemon Crystal. Just replaced that and one in a N64 memory pak last night.

[Skippy B. Coyote]

Since you had some classic rpgs on the list I felt I would also mention dragonheart, which impressed me as an interesting first person rpg

 

 

I really can't thank you enough for this recommendation. I managed to get my hands on a copy of DragonHeart (which I may have slightly overpaid for at $21.14 shipped) and after spending some time playing it I have to say this is probably going to end up being my #1 pick for 2017 Game Of The Year on any system. It's definitely the best game that I've played for the first time this year, and any fan of classic 80's first-person RPGs who owns a Game Boy or Game Boy compatible system needs a copy of this game in their collection!

 

 

 

[Tanooki]

I just watched the entire first act of that game on youtube, not sure what to think. It's probably one of the most unique games for the Gameboy I've seen and that says a lot. Problem is it also looks insanely confusing too. Sure that guy playing knew the ropes and just popped along area to area to get to the dragon fairly quick, but if you ran into it blindly it looks like it would be a grating nightmare of getting both lost and utterly confused on what to do. It looks like it could be fun stalking a dragon and taking it down though.

[Skippy B. Coyote]

I just watched the entire first act of that game on youtube, not sure what to think. It's probably one of the most unique games for the Gameboy I've seen and that says a lot. Problem is it also looks insanely confusing too. Sure that guy playing knew the ropes and just popped along area to area to get to the dragon fairly quick, but if you ran into it blindly it looks like it would be a grating nightmare of getting both lost and utterly confused on what to do. It looks like it could be fun stalking a dragon and taking it down though.

Before I bought my copy I spent an hour or so trying it out via emulation on my Wii and I think this is one of those games that makes way more sense when you play it yourself than when you watch someone else play it. I knew absolutely nothing about the game going into the first level (I hadn't even seen a gameplay video at that point) and didn't have any problems figuring out what to do. I think the first level took me somewhere around 20 minutes to complete.

 

Wandering around for a little while will have you running into a few NPCs who will tell you about the troubles going on around their village and point you in the direction of the village. Going there and talking to some more people will lead you to discover that there's a dragon tormenting the poor folks of this region but you're going to have to get your sword sharpened before you can face it. A small trading sequence later and you'll have your sword sharpened, then it's just a matter of finding an old hermit who lives on the other side of the woods who knows the way to the dragon's lair. Along the way you'll also find maps for each area you visit scattered about the overworlds if you explore around a bit, which will make getting around much easier.

 

That's pretty much how every level plays out. Visit a new area, find some maps, talk to people in the towns and overworld to learn what's going on there, do a little story driven puzzle solving, then go fight a dragon. Eventually you will meet a certain dragon who adds a plot twist to the story and mixes up the gameplay mechanics a bit, but it all plays out very naturally and intuitively.

 

In short, this is one of those odd games that makes little sense when you watch a video of someone who already knows what they're doing play it; but if you go into it blind and just wander around, talk to NPCs, and explore for a bit you'll figure it all out pretty quickly.

Edited August 4, 2017 by Jin

[jce3000gt]

I got a Game Genie in the mail today and I was able to beat the dumb dinosaur boss on level 4 in Kirby's Dream Land 2. Game Genie codes are hard to come by apparently. You'd think they'd be on GameFAQs or something but no. I had to go here:

http://gameboygamegeniecodes.blogspot.com/search/label/K

Anyway, I may have to start all over again since the save is faulty. That's the one problem with these aging games.

 

I get my codes from here:

http://bsfree.shadowflareindustries.com/index.php

 

Hope this helps.

 

 

I can do them too, but it's the problem of harvesting the screen which is the problem. Going by what SP 101 screens go for in a battered system you buy for parts to remove one, or buying a new one with the appropriate 32/40 pin cable adapter you're looking at $50~. If the shell you have is crap and you need to buy a new one that'll set you back another $15~ and a plastic vs glass lens with that would add $3-5, That just leaves the GBA board itself from an old system, they're easily had for anything from $2-20 at a flea market/garage sale or lucky whatever (maybe a bad one with a lot of games) on ebay. So going that route maybe $50+15+20 ($85 on the higher end) to get the parts needed...on a lower end say if the GBA is beautiful around $70.

 

So there's the bite. These ripoff artists on ebay and etsy feel that their 20-30min since they're used to it and faster to disassembled, carve the plastic inside, drop in the 101 screen, attach the cable adapter, and close it back up think their goddamned labor is worth $70-100. None of those people are worth (since it would take them 30min or less) $140-200/hr worth of labor.

 

That's why I said $100 is fair and over that is getting into just ripping people off blind.

 

Never EVER pay someone over the $100 mark for a 101 into a classic GBA job as they're making you pay lawyer like fees in amount for the labor which is just wrong.

 

I've done it myself once, but it broke shortly after because I don't have a dremel and didn't file down the shell far enough which put undo pressure on the screen which cracked it on a 3ft drop onto carpet of all things. Currently I've got a new black shell, GBA body, glass screen applied on a $2 GBA I found. I just need the $50 kit with the screen+cable adapter but the problem is, no dremel so I'm nervous about it. I actually have 2 spare GBAs I could do it with though, also have a glacier model as well but rather not chew that up.

Thank you for letting me know the details. I really should get one of these at some point... I'm just dying to play some GBx games on the couch while my wife watches her trash TV. LOL

Edited August 4, 2017 by jce3000gt