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GB/GBC/GBA Collecting Thread

Highwind

Member
True, it can be a pain with the GBA games but tbh I haven't seen many of the gen 2 games where I questioned the authenticity of them (most that were fakes were really obvious).

I already own boxed versions of the japanese gameboy games (currently lacking the GBA ones) which I plan on upgrading Crystal.

I think I'll wait for now. Emerald is in "better" shape atleast so there isn't much priority to replace it.
 
True, it can be a pain with the GBA games but tbh I haven't seen many of the gen 2 games where I questioned the authenticity of them (most that were fakes were really obvious).

I already own boxed versions of the japanese gameboy games (currently lacking the GBA ones) which I plan on upgrading Crystal.

I think I'll wait for now. Emerald is in "better" shape atleast so there isn't much priority to replace it.

Yeah, GB/C games aren't as frequently fake as GBA. They exist though, and honestly they tend to be horribly overpriced, so if you know the games well enough to play in JP, that's a very good alternative.
 

Highwind

Member
Yeah, GB/C games aren't as frequently fake as GBA. They exist though, and honestly they tend to be horribly overpriced, so if you know the games well enough to play in JP, that's a very good alternative.

Well, it's Pokémon so I know all them inside out haha, plus I have played some japanese games way back though I think I'd struggle a bit with the GB ones due to the lack of pictures for items. xD

Though I just managed to snag a good deal for Crystal which is reasonable within my budget so that is one issue out of the way. Gonna take care of this one when it arrives.
 

leroidys

Member
GB/C/A has to be the most fun platform to collect for. So much hardware (both in terms of revisions and LEs), such great packaging and manuals, everything's region free, and still pretty cheap compared to even things like Gamecube and SNES, let alone Dreamcast or Saturn. The only downside is the aforementioned magnitude of fakes out there.
 

NR1

Member
Snagged Contra: Operation C for the GB last week for $6 at Movie Trading Company in Irving!

CA40680E-FCF9-4009-BE9A-39F62116CA7B.jpg
 

TheMoon

Member
Snagged Contra: Operation C for the GB last week for $6 at Movie Trading Company in Irving!

CA40680E-FCF9-4009-BE9A-39F62116CA7B.jpg

Kinda bummed that I sold my mint-bought-back-in-the-day CIB EU copy of this for less than that on eBay a few years ago in my "ah, I'll never play this again" phase. So stupid.
 
Can you share some more info on that?

It's a clone console for the GBC with a backlit screen. I've heard they regularly have dead pixels and sometimes have other issues, but are usually acceptable. Screen is slightly wrong aspect ratio.

Don't have one, just regurgitating the bullet points I've picked up over the years
 

Olly88

Member
Can you share some more info on that?

Basically it's a Game Boy Color clone system with a back light, and 66 built in games (though it seems not all of them come with those). It's made by a company called Kong Feng, and you can find it on those Chinese marketplace websites like AliExpress etc. I got mine from a seller on DHgate.com for just under £17.

I found out about it through Ashens' Game Boy Extravaganza video. Here's the bit with the GB Boy Colour - https://youtu.be/zY3m2rpZCTM?t=20m19s
 

Olly88

Member
hell yeah Power Quest.

Keep in mind the screen's aspect ratio on these is slightly off, if that's the kind of thing that bothers you.
Also, they spelled color wrong.

Before now, anytime I've played any Game Boy games in the last few years it's been on my SP with the widescreen stretch on anyway, so the aspect ratio on this is fine for me.

No, they spelt it right :p
 

psylah

Member
Advance Wars is so much harder than Dual Strike for me. I really relied on that one DS character's mortar strike ability.
 

leroidys

Member
Advance Wars is so much harder than Dual Strike for me. I really relied on that one DS character's mortar strike ability.

This just reminded me that the last map of the first Advance Wars is a great choice for the "FUCK THAT! moments in videogames" thread.
 

hazukash

Member
I got a sealed copy of Napoleon (L'Aigle de guerre, more precisely) for Christmas. Pretty cool. One of the few games released in Japan (as a GBA launch game!) and in France, but never in NA.
 

Teknoman

Member
Was checking out the Super Mercato Bros. podcast (focused on game soundtracks) and had no idea Power Rangers Time Force GBC was also made by Natsume (thought they stopped with the SNES games). Its got a pretty cool soundtrack as a given...but not sure how the game plays.
 

Peltz

Member
That's what I suspected. Too good to be true.

Thanks guys!

Before now, anytime I've played any Game Boy games in the last few years it's been on my SP with the widescreen stretch on anyway, so the aspect ratio on this is fine for me.

SMH.
 

Mercutio

Member
Well my GBA backlight mod came out REALLY well, but I still find myself missing my micro. Onto eBay you go, beautiful thing I made. I wish I could have found my original Micro from years ago; it was lost in a move and I miss it dearly.

What's the instance of stuck pixels on the Micro? I've seen a few of them but never seen any... was it uncommon?
 

hazukash

Member
I bought a ton of CL2025 batteries for my GB games that wouldn't save anymore. Being able to play my childhood games again is truly fantastic. It's a shame retro games used batteries for saves. So many lost memories. :(
 

Mercutio

Member
I bought a ton of CL2025 batteries for my GB games that wouldn't save anymore. Being able to play my childhood games again is truly fantastic. It's a shame retro games used batteries for saves. So many lost memories. :(

Thank god they used them in most, though. They're replaceable. When a game like Sonic & Knuckles has an SRAM failure? That's it. The end.
 

Mercutio

Member
Wait... what?

Sonic 3 and Sonic and Knuckles use Static RAM to save game progress. Think super primitive form of the RAM we use today for game-saves. Unfortunately, it has a FAR more limited read / write number than modern stuff. I've also heard the RAM used in them called FRAM and NVRAM, but I'm not totally sure what the correct term is.

http://segaretro.org/SRAM

I have read about people finding replacement SRAM chips and soldering them in to get their games saving again, but it's not nearly as easy as a battery. Sucks.

More info here:
http://forum.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?141861-Sonic-3-doesn-t-save
 
I think you mean FeRAM which is the very old type of non-volitile RAM (doesn't go away when the power cuts). I wasn't aware that it had longevity issues.

I've been somewhat worried about the longevity of the NAND saves used in GBA/DS/3DS games but I haven't heard of any game having issues saving yet.

FWIW the biggest concern I have with batteries is that they can not just get old and die but eventually burst open and spill acid over the board, destroying traces and ruining games. That's going to eventually be a big concern for retro games where the owner wasn't careful enough with them to remove/replace batteries.
 
I actually like the Batteries these days. I dont think I'll ever have a save I'll want to preserve for 10-20 years or whatever, so i don't really see a downside. Flash memory, if it dies it's game over. I ain't fixing that shit.
 

Mercutio

Member
I actually like the Batteries these days. I dont think I'll ever have a save I'll want to preserve for 10-20 years or whatever, so i don't really see a downside. Flash memory, if it dies it's game over. I ain't fixing that shit.

I replaced all of mine with little user-replaceable battery holders. If the battery dies, you can just pop it out and put in another. Super easy.

I think you mean FeRAM which is the very old type of non-volitile RAM (doesn't go away when the power cuts). I wasn't aware that it had longevity issues.

I've been somewhat worried about the longevity of the NAND saves used in GBA/DS/3DS games but I haven't heard of any game having issues saving yet.

FWIW the biggest concern I have with batteries is that they can not just get old and die but eventually burst open and spill acid over the board, destroying traces and ruining games. That's going to eventually be a big concern for retro games where the owner wasn't careful enough with them to remove/replace batteries.

That's probably the stuff, that FeRAM. I dunno, people call it a lot of things on the various Sega boards that have talked about it. Sounds nasty though. I saw one thread where the answer ended up being "Just buy another copy of Sonic 3."
 

prateeko

Member
Has anyone had experience with the Revo K101 plus? I'm curious how it is. I also saw rose colored gaming where making a custom one with the SFC design but they're selling it for $250 which is quite a premium...
 
Has anyone had experience with the Revo K101 plus? I'm curious how it is. I also saw rose colored gaming where making a custom one with the SFC design but they're selling it for $250 which is quite a premium...
I saw that Rose Colored Gaming one a few moments ago online. Damn, does it look amazing. That said, I've read pretty poor impressions of the actual quality of some of their products when people have received them, and poor customer service reviews on here. No way would I risk paying so much premium for a product that isn't up to scratch when I get to see it in person.
 

Mercutio

Member
I saw that Rose Colored Gaming one a few moments ago online. Damn, does it look amazing. That said, I've read pretty poor impressions of the actual quality of some of their products when people have received them, and poor customer service reviews on here. No way would I risk paying so much premium for a product that isn't up to scratch when I get to see it in person.

I'd add my voice to that. I ordered one of their glass screen lenses for a GBA, and it came REALLY badly scratched. I sent an email back, and a week later got a reply. They DID send me a replacement, but clearly no shits are given about QC for such a cheap item.
 

prateeko

Member
I saw that Rose Colored Gaming one a few moments ago online. Damn, does it look amazing. That said, I've read pretty poor impressions of the actual quality of some of their products when people have received them, and poor customer service reviews on here. No way would I risk paying so much premium for a product that isn't up to scratch when I get to see it in person.

I always get the impression that they don't have enough man power to handle what they're making (or need to make) and unsurprisingly it can be hard to reach them. I did personally have trouble with a button on a custom they sent me and even the replacement buttons required a little bit of work. I'm happy they make cool stuff but they really could benefit from more people to look at QI and customer service
 
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