Activision Anthology for GBA Announced

[Albert]

Aspyr Media has officially announced the Activision Anthology for the Gameboy Advance. We had an opportunity to play the Activision Anthology for the GBA at the recent Austin Gaming Expo, where the game made its first public appearance, and fans of the Atari 2600 will not be disappointed! The Activision Anthology for the GBA features over 50 impeccably emulated Atari 2600 games, including several Activision prototypes as well as original homebrew games such as Skeleton+, Space Treat Deluxe, and Vault Assault. Cartridge artwork, boxes and manuals are also viewable for each game, as well as all the original Activision patches. You can view screenshots and read the complete Aspyr Media press release here.

[PongHit]

Great -- I'm very excited... Does anyone have more details? Like, will it contain music like the PS2 version? I think I can see a boom box in one of those screenshots...

 

Thanks!

-PongHit

[Jess Ragan]

This is going to be so fricking cool! It's been way too long since I've played a good collection on the Game Boy Advance, and this sounds like I'll really be happy with this.

Here's to hoping they do a ColecoVision or 5200 collection next!

 

JR

[Assassin]

Hello everybody! My name is Chris Norden, and I'm the Director of Product Development in charge of all of Aspyr's GBA games. I'm currently (today, actually) putting the finishing touches on the beta version of Anthology GBA so I can deliver it to our testers. I'll try to hit these boards every couple of days or so to answer any questions that people may have about the project. A few things:

 

* The game does not use the music from the PS2 version (licensing issues), but instead, I've hired an excellent musician that has lots of GBA experience to create all-new 80's style tunes for the collection. They rock!

 

* The GBA version has 56 games - many more than the PS2 version. This includes 7 homebrew games and several unreleased Activision prototypes.

 

* For the two player games, you can hook up a second GBA with the link cable and use it as the second joystick (you only need one copy of the Game Pak to do this.)

 

* The emulator is being programmed from the ground up from scratch (we used absolutely no code from the PS2 version) by none other than The Bradford Mott.

 

* I am doing all the rest of the coding for the project...UI, music, sound, patch unlocking, highscore saving, multiplayer, etc.

 

* The GBA version will save all of your highscores for all of the games.

 

* The GBA version will have all of the original Activision patches at the *original* score levels required to unlock them. The PS2 version had several of the score levels reduced to a lower level.

 

* The paddle support in Kaboom! is much smoother and more responsive than the PS2 version.

 

If anybody has any other questions, feel free to ask and I'll try to post a response. Everybody said it couldn't be done, but we've done it! Look for it on store shelves in late October.

 

-cnn

[Cybergoth]

Hi there!

 

If anybody has any other questions, feel free to ask and I'll try to post a response.

 

First let me say WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

This must be the coolest project ever. I'm glad to hear that Brad is working on it, another big plus! I'll definetely buy it

 

I have indeed two questions:

 

- A complete *tracklist* would be nice

- How is the scaling done and does it affect the games / visuals? Or are the games resized-to-fit?

 

Greetings,

Manuel

[Thomas Jentzsch]

Thanks for posting here.

 

How about a complete game list?

[Assassin]

Well, by tracklist, I assume you mean music track list. There are four original songs in total.

 

* Anthology

* Overtaken

* Leap

* The Curtain Falls

 

Each one has it's own distinct style and is similar to songs from popular 80's artists. We have electronic, dance, hard rock, and power ballad. That's about all I can say on that. I might be able to post some short audio samples at some point before release if people ask very nicely! Also, the music can not be played during the actual emulation (sadly)...we squeeze every last CPU cycle out of the GBA (remember, it only has a 16MHz processor with very limited RAM and ROM space, and the 2600 is a *very* complex machine to emulate even on "real" computers) and there's no room for playing music during the game.

 

As far as the screen scaling is concerned, I can't really give you specifics on how that works - ancient Chinese secret! Let's just say, though, that each game is scaled on a per-scanline basis to give the best possible display.

 

Included game list...I'm not sure if I can post that yet, but I'll check with legal and see what I can do. Imagine the PS2 version with more More MORE!

 

-cnn

[PongHit]

* The paddle support in Kaboom! is much smoother and more responsive than the PS2 version.

 

Well THIS is certainly good news... Kaboom! on the PS2 anthology was unplayable. Maybe the option to use the GBA shoulder buttons for right/left would be good?

 

thanks!

 

-PongHit

[+Nathan Strum]

Very cool. I may just have to buy a GBA-SP now. (Too bad they don't make a woodgrain one... but at least they're coming out with a black "Darth Vader" model.)

 

The shoulder buttons would indeed be good for paddle games, perhaps as an option.

 

I have a question (although I think I already know the answer)... will there be any way to load other 2600 games into the emulator? Or is this emulator built to only support the games included on the anthology? (Not that I'm complaining... 55 games is pretty cool.)

 

Thanks for stopping by to share info with us! I really appreciate it.

[SS]

includes 7 homebrew games

 

 

 

To my mind, this is the best news of the whole wonderful project! Viva la home brews!

[+Propane13]

Awesome!!! Finally, a portable version of Pitfall 2! This will make my Christmas list indeed.

 

Is the list of games set in stone? I assume the cutoff date for homebrews has long-since passed, since you're in beta-testing.

 

Thanks,

-John K. Harvey

[Albert]

I just want to put my two cents in this thread.. I've had ample opportunity to play the latest versions of the GBA Anthology and it's coming along very nicely. You can quickly and easily switch among the different games and since it's cartridge based you don't have to wait long before you can start playing the next game. Having over 50 2600 games in a single GBA cartridge is great, especially when several homebrew games are along for the ride. I think this Atari 2600 collection is going to be very popular with classic gaming fans..

 

..Al

[JB]

Very cool. I may just have to buy a GBA-SP now. (Too bad they don't make a woodgrain one... but at least they're coming out with a black "Darth Vader" model.)

*chuckles*

You could always buy wood-grain contact paper and press it onto the front.

 

I know there was a company that sold stick-on covers for the original GBA, but I think you're on your own for the SP.

 

The shoulder buttons would indeed be good for paddle games, perhaps as an option.

*engage over-elaborate mode*

Or a real pot knob that attaches to the GameLink port and hooks ove rhte front of the console!!!!

[Assassin]

...no. That would open up a whole can of worms with Nintendo's legal department. It would also be very difficult, since there's much more to getting these games running full speed than just having the ROM file available.

 

And yes, it is way too late to get any more homebrew titles in there. Maybe in the sequel...

 

-cnn

[ubersaurus]

Well, I'm torn...Super Mario 3 on gba, AND this....shoot. October is gonna be harsh on my spending money.

[chrisbid]

awesome news

 

any idea on MSRP?

 

my other question is will there be stereo support for those of us looking to play the game on a GBA player?

[JB]

my other question is will there be stereo support for those of us looking to play the game on a GBA player?

Or that just like headphones?

 

And will it be togglable? You know, in case the stereo effect tunrns out to suck?

[+Random Terrain]

Is there a page that lists those 56 games? My eyes are killing me right now, so if someone already listed them or pointed to them, I missed it. Thanks.

[foxglove9]

This is sounding great! Definite purchase!

[Assassin]

The MSRP will be $29.99...just like most other GBA games. And yes, the music is in full stereo for those of you with headphones or the GBA Player on the GameCube.

 

And BTW, before anybody asks, no, you can't be a beta tester.

 

-cnn

[DEBRO]

Very cool. I may just have to buy a GBA-SP now. (Too bad they don't make a woodgrain one

 

No, but you can get a woodgrain skin from Lik-sang or gbaMOD.

[davidbrit2]

High score saving? Well, I'm sold. And you should really consider adding "undocumented" support for a controller adapter, just in case a 3rd party company wants to give us a way to play Kaboom with paddles.

[Agent X]

This sounds awesome! I already have the PS2 version, and enjoy it very much. I'll surely get this version for GBA, too!

 

I do have a question. How are games affected by the difference in GBA resolution and aspect ratio compared to the actual 2600? The GBA has a lower vertical resolution, and a wider aspect ratio. Do you "combine" some lines of resolution (like in Williams Arcade's Greatest Hits for PlayStation, rather noticeable in Robotron: 2084 and Joust), or drop the extra lines altogether?

 

I have to give you props for the high score saving (which was sadly absent on the PS2), and implementing link play with one cartridge. Those are very appealing features. It's evident that you're really going the extra mile with this project.

[krisjohn]

(Too bad they don't make a woodgrain one... but at least they're coming out with a black "Darth Vader" model.)

Design your own skin:

 

http://www.gbamod.com/createadesign.php

[Rhindle The Red]

One quick question.

 

Is there some reason Activision isn't publishing this?