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GB/GBC/GBA Collecting Thread

N

NormalFish

Banned
D.Lo said:
Japanese GB boxes had a variety of sizes though.

I just keep mine in Japanese GBA box protectors. The smallest I could find.
Click to expand...
I've been wondering if there's a box that's exactly twice as big or similar, such that I could put multiple games snuggly in a single box. Need to run through some numbers.
**
Also, all of my JP GBC games, and my JP GB games are in the same size box. I'm still convinced there's a standard.
 
P

PumpkinSpice

Banned
NormalFish said:
Also, all of my JP GBC games, and my JP GB games are in the same size box. I'm still convinced there's a standard.
Click to expand...

The system went from early 1989 to 2001... it's not exactly surprising that there would be several different box types.

Are you intent on showing these boxes off? If not, maybe just keep them all in a plastic tub or something to keep them from getting smushed.
 
N

NormalFish

Banned
SheepyGuy said:
The system went from early 1989 to 2001... it's not exactly surprising that there would be several different box types.

Are you intent on showing these boxes off? If not, maybe just keep them all in a plastic tub or something to keep them from getting smushed.
Click to expand...
Well yeah, I'm not denying that there are a multitude of box sizes. There definitely are. I'm just saying that I don't think there are as many exceptions (of the games worth their salt) as you guys seem to think, as basically everything I've found has been of the same size.

I'm worried about stacking them, but yeah this is probably what I'll end up doing.
 
Impotaku

Impotaku

Member
NormalFish said:
Well yeah, I'm not denying that there are a multitude of box sizes. There definitely are. I'm just saying that I don't think there are as many exceptions (of the games worth their salt) as you guys seem to think, as basically everything I've found has been of the same size.

I'm worried about stacking them, but yeah this is probably what I'll end up doing.
Click to expand...

There you go, that will cover most of the Japanese gameboy box sizes
http://www.manatree.co.uk/shop/japanese-game-boy-box-protectors
 
L

Lettuce

Member
Just got a glass screen for my GBA Backlight system (thought i better treat it seeing as its soo damn awesome!!). Whats the best thing to use to stick the glass screen to the GBA shell??
 
Trojita

Trojita

Rapid Response Threadmaker
Is this also a general GB/GBC/GBA fan thread or is there a OT for that somewhere else?

Wanted to ask about people's opinions on best way to play GBA games, I mostly want to revisit FF5, FF6, and play Mother 3.

I have to find out if a SP-101 I have actually works. I'm also open to a clone system, getting a Gamecube Game Player Interface and playing them on my 65" Panasonic VT60 Plasma TV (Not even sure how they would look on a TV that big plus it gets image retention really easily (that also goes away after awhile)), making a dedicated emu device connected to that TV, trying to mod a 3DS or another device to play the GBA games.

Any opinions or someone that can point me to the right place to inquire about this?
 
Impotaku

Impotaku

Member
Lettuce said:
Just got a glass screen for my GBA Backlight system (thought i better treat it seeing as its soo damn awesome!!). Whats the best thing to use to stick the glass screen to the GBA shell??
Click to expand...

3M double sided tape should work more than ok to hold it on. Just make sure that both surfaces are clean and glue residue free before you put the tape on. Just make sure it's the thin type of tape and not the thicker foam stuff.
 
P

PumpkinSpice

Banned
Trojita said:
Is this also a general GB/GBC/GBA fan thread or is there a OT for that somewhere else?

Wanted to ask about people's opinions on best way to play GBA games, I mostly want to revisit FF5, FF6, and play Mother 3.

I have to find out if a SP-101 I have actually works. I'm also open to a clone system, getting a Gamecube Game Player Interface and playing them on my 65" Panasonic VT60 Plasma TV (Not even sure how they would look on a TV that big plus it gets image retention really easily (that also goes away after awhile)), making a dedicated emu device connected to that TV, trying to mod a 3DS or another device to play the GBA games.

Any opinions or someone that can point me to the right place to inquire about this?
Click to expand...

This is the general GB/GBC/GBA thread I think.

For playing GB-series games, GameCube+GBP+GBI is definitely the best option. For that you should get an SD Media Launcher from here; it's the UK site but they ship an NTSC-U version to the US if your shipping address is in North America. Then you just need GBP hardware without the software, which is decently priced on ebay and elsewhere. Bonus points for getting a JP one that color matches your GameCube.

It's not portable but it's the best image quality with no blur, and it's 100% perfect compatibility.

Emulation has a lot quirks (compatibility issues, sound choppyness or just not being reproduced correctly) and the clone systems have their own quirks including usually screen aspect ratio issues.

Edit: Just noticed the Datel site added a region select drop down. Nice!
 
Trojita

Trojita

Rapid Response Threadmaker
SheepyGuy said:
This is the general GB/GBC/GBA thread I think.

For playing GB-series games, GameCube+GBP+GBI is definitely the best option. For that you should get an SD Media Launcher from here; it's the UK site but they ship an NTSC-U version to the US if your shipping address is in North America. Then you just need GBP hardware without the software, which is decently priced on ebay and elsewhere. Bonus points for getting a JP one that color matches your GameCube.

It's not portable but it's the best image quality with no blur, and it's 100% perfect compatibility.

Emulation has a lot quirks (compatibility issues, sound choppyness or just not being reproduced correctly) and the clone systems have their own quirks including usually screen aspect ratio issues.

Edit: Just noticed the Datel site added a region select drop down. Nice!
Click to expand...

On a big screen does it actually look nice? Will have to check and see what the best cable hookup is. Will either get my Gamecube at my parent's house or an extra one.
 
P

PumpkinSpice

Banned
Trojita said:
On a big screen does it actually look nice? Will have to check and see what the best cable hookup is. Will either get my Gamecube at my parent's house or an extra one.
Click to expand...

Yeah it looks totally awesome. I run mine on a d-terminal (component) cable to my framemeister but I used to use s-video and it was pretty close. I only got the d-terminal cable since it was a really good price.

I posted some photos in this thread a while back. FM scanlines look nice:

dFallJT.jpg
Click to expand...

This might have been with my TV doing additional zoom so if it's kinda blurry that's why.

I've never tried it on composite if you're going that route though. Kinda depends how your TV handles it.
 
N

NormalFish

Banned
Trojita said:
On a big screen does it actually look nice? Will have to check and see what the best cable hookup is. Will either get my Gamecube at my parent's house or an extra one.
Click to expand...
I dont see that you've mentioned it, so I figured I would: the micro is a subjectively amazing solution for playing GBA games. Lacks the backwards compatibility, but if you're just looking to play GBA titles, it does the job. Nicest screen on an official GBA console, and, while a bit expensive these days, way simpler than getting GBI set up.

If you've got big hands, or hate small screens however, probably not for you.
 
A

Agent Unknown

Member
koziakauzu said:
Yeah, received my GB Light. The yahoo auctions seller stated "B-C condition", I'd say more like a D while better than most crap I see on ebay.

Anyway it's not that bad for the price especially with the 18 games included and it works great.
I've just ordered a replacement screen "glass" from taobao but I'm considering respraying it.

Anyone tried to spray a GB (L) with good result?
Click to expand...

Congrats, I love my GB Light, best official way to play OG GB carts in my opinion. The indigo style backlight is easy on the eyes and perfect for bed time sessions.
 
Trojita

Trojita

Rapid Response Threadmaker
SheepyGuy said:
Yeah it looks totally awesome. I run mine on a d-terminal (component) cable to my framemeister but I used to use s-video and it was pretty close. I only got the d-terminal cable since it was a really good price.

I posted some photos in this thread a while back. FM scanlines look nice:



This might have been with my TV doing additional zoom so if it's kinda blurry that's why.

I've never tried it on composite if you're going that route though. Kinda depends how your TV handles it.
Click to expand...

Nice! How easy is the SD launcher to use? Any hurdles to go through or do you boot right into the software? So do you prefer using the Framemeister's scanline options then? What controller did you use to control the games on the Gamecube? Saw that the one Hori controller sells at prices like it's gold.

NormalFish said:
I dont see that you've mentioned it, so I figured I would: the micro is a subjectively amazing solution for playing GBA games. Lacks the backwards compatibility, but if you're just looking to play GBA titles, it does the job. Nicest screen on an official GBA console, and, while a bit expensive these days, way simpler than getting GBI set up.

If you've got big hands, or hate small screens however, probably not for you.
Click to expand...

Man I tried to get a Micro when they went discontinued and never got a chance to pick one up lol. My hands might not be so compatible with it. I'm worried that my 101 if I get it to work, a backlit modded og gba, or a clone might have problems in my hands too lol.
 
P

PumpkinSpice

Banned
Trojita said:
Nice! How easy is the SD launcher to use? Any hurdles to go through or do you boot right into the software? So do you prefer using the Framemeister's scanline options then? What controller did you use to control the games on the Gamecube? Saw that the one Hori controller sells at prices like it's gold.
Click to expand...
For the SD Media Launcher, have the thing plugged into the memory card slot and the boot disc in and turn your GC on. You can have any dol file as autoexec so I set GBI for that but some people like to use Swiss as a launcher and for forcing resolutions and stuff.

The scanlines just look really nice with 240p content, even GB stuff which wasn't necessarily designed with them in mind.

For a controller I use a SNES controller that I made my own adapter for since I'm kinda picky about button layout. It uses code from the raphnet adapter but I've changed it so that it optionally remaps the A button to B on the SNES controller and B to Y on the SNES controller. The GC controller's not so bad but a SNES pad really feels perfect.

Edit: I know I'm kinda raving about GBI and it is really nice but there are other good options. For outside the house I've mostly been using my non backlit GBC and AGB-001 -- with the light of the sun they end up being really great, the screens are very crisp with zero ghosting. Home is darker so I use GBI but before that I used my modded AGB-001 with a 101 screen -- this was mostly fine for slower games (Pokemon, most other RPGs) but anything that scrolls fast has a nasty smeary ghosting. GB Micro is also neat but kinda too small for my tastes.
 
20cent

20cent

Banned
Agent Unknown said:
Congrats, I love my GB Light, best official way to play OG GB carts in my opinion. The indigo style backlight is easy on the eyes and perfect for bed time sessions.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I love it too. The screen is not as sharp as I expected, my previous experience on a backlit gb was from a friend's modded GBP.
Or my memory of it is better than what it was.

I'm considering adding a bivert chip but I can't find any tutorial specific to the GBL..
 
B

Booker.DeWitt

Member
NormalFish said:
That really is a good deal. I've been debating grabbing a backlit console recently. the ghosting scares me, though.
Click to expand...

I did not know that was an issue. I have the regular Gameboy without the backlight mode and to me they look the same, just the blue backlight is harder to adjust the contrast
 
N

NormalFish

Banned
Booker.DeWitt said:
I did not know that was an issue. I have the regular Gameboy without the backlight mode and to me they look the same, just the blue backlight is harder to adjust the contrast
Click to expand...

the ghosting is present in the original LCD screen, regardless of if it's backlit or just using ambient light and a reflector.
 
R

RadarScope1

Member
I finally hooked up my GameCube and GB Player to see how it all looks on my RGB monitor via s-video. Not bad. Really hate playing with a GC controller though. Is there any kind of controller adaptor for SNES to CG?

I guess I need to look into this Swiss/GBI stuff. It's really that much better, eh?
 
P

PumpkinSpice

Banned
Raphnet makes a good SNES to GC adapter. If you're handy with microcontrollers you can even DIY your own using his code.

For GBI, is it OK just to quote myself from a few months ago?

SheepyGuy said:
It fixes all the problems with GameBoy Player, which are:
  1. GameBoy Player has mad latency, very noticable to the point of making games like Mario almost unplayable on my TV. GBI's normal version is 2 to 3 frames latency, which is pretty good, and there are low-latency + ultra low-latency versions that are 1-2 and <1 frames latency respectively.
  2. Due to GBA putting out video at a slightly lower refresh rate from NTSC 59.94hz, you have to reconcile this difference with an extra frame every few seconds. GBP doesn't really do this properly, every 4 or 5 seconds you'll see a massive stutter on screen as several frames are repeated in a really strange way (sixfortyfive looked into this a while back and found "there will be a burst of 5 to 8 duplicate frames in less than half a second."). For games that scroll slowly (most original GameBoy games) its not so bad, but anything that scrolls quick it's super distracting. GBI does this conversion properly in the normal and "low latency" version (1 repeated frame every few seconds), while the "ultra-low latency" version outputs as close to the native GBA rate as possible, allowing the TV to just change refresh rate if it can.
  3. GBP outputs natively to interlaced 480i video, scaling GBA "160p" to 320 in an ugly blurry way and spitting it out interlaced. If you have big money you can buy component cables and output 480p but it's still blurry. Another option is to use swiss and output to 240p, which causes the GBP to do no scaling and just output pixels natively, which is a huge improvement, and on a CRT or good scaler you can get the nice retro scanline look. GBI does this natively.
  4. The GBP button mappings kinda suck:
    Code: 
    [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/kR9XBfG.png[/IMG]
    The best option for GBP is actually to hook up a GBA via the GC-GBA link cable and use that.
    GBI's mapping is way more sensible:
    Code: 
    For low latency versions:
A / B - A / B
Z - Select
Start - Start
D-Pad, Stick, C-Stick - D-Pad
L, Y / R, X - L / R
Reset - Reset

    Mapping select to Z makes may more sense and frees up X/Y to map to L/R, making way better use of face buttons.
Click to expand...
 
O

Oynox

Member
Okay, then prices in germany are too high.. You get nothing under 70€. Even really used devices are sold for like 50 to 60 bucks. If you want a near new condition you pay around 100 to 110...

So sad :(
 
TheMoon

TheMoon

Member
Booker.DeWitt said:
No way, if you look at eBay or local store, the prices are at least 60 bucks, with micro in good condition going around 80. Complete with box you can get around $100
Click to expand...

Buy now prices are no indication of what you're getting for one. I see a barebones blue GBM + AC adapter buy now for 50 EUR right now, for example.

Oynox Slider said:
Okay, then prices in germany are too high.. You get nothing under 70&#8364;. Even really used devices are sold for like 50 to 60 bucks. If you want a near new condition you pay around 100 to 110...

So sad :(
Click to expand...

Stick to auctions and have patience.
 
B

Booker.DeWitt

Member
TheMoon said:
Buy now prices are no indication of what you're getting for one. I see a barebones blue GBM + AC adapter buy now for 50 EUR right now, for example.



Stick to auctions and have patience.
Click to expand...

Even auctions. I have been trying to buy a second micro for weeks so I have been following all the price trend on both buy it now and auctions
 
B

Booker.DeWitt

Member
One thing I noticed on my new gameboy backlight and my old one dmg is some dust specks inside the screen. Is it very hard to open and clean it? I am afraid screwing up the lcd screen or the ribbon cable
 
TheMoon

TheMoon

Member
NormalFish said:
Yeah, I don't see what Moon's seeing. Occasionally you can score a deal for 50-60. More frequently, you should expect ~80 bucks.
Click to expand...

Well, again, there's that 50€ buy now listing for a blue one :)

Full disclosure, my initial estimate was based on outdated numbers. Not like I check for listings regularly. :D
 
P

Pancakes R Us

Member
Lettuce said:
Nice, it looks like it doesnt have the Bivert mod done on it though, do that and it will look even better!!
Click to expand...
What are the advantages of a bivert mod? This seems to be a popular opinion, but I think I saw a how-to video in this thread recently which showed how to do the mod, and I preferred the bit where they showed one with a normal backlight vs a bivert mod. Bivert mod seems to change the contrast, I think. On screen items tend to get a different hue.
 
R

RadarScope1

Member
So I've never really checked out Raphnet before. Wow, lots of great and useful stuff.

Does Swiss or GBI allow for any kind of zoom functionality? Seems like GBI plus a SNES adaptor from Raphnet would be the ideal way to play all GameBoy games via GameBoy player on my monitor.
 
O

Oynox

Member
So I found two micros which sound promising, both including the original packaging, though the hull is missing for one. They cost 90 and 100€ and both are used with small scratches on the display.

I am wondering if I might find one without scratches one day...
 
N

NormalFish

Banned
Oynox Slider said:
So I found two micros which sound promising, both including the original packaging, though the hull is missing for one. They cost 90 and 100€ and both are used with small scratches on the display.

I am wondering if I might find one without scratches one day...
Click to expand...

i wouldn't hold your breath. Those faceplates aren't exactly scratch proof.
 
L

Lettuce

Member
Pancakes R Us said:
What are the advantages of a bivert mod? This seems to be a popular opinion, but I think I saw a how-to video in this thread recently which showed how to do the mod, and I preferred the bit where they showed one with a normal backlight vs a bivert mod. Bivert mod seems to change the contrast, I think. On screen items tend to get a different hue.
Click to expand...

It just make the contrast alot better and defines the graphics more....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f85v4hqbcJc&feature=youtu.be&t=4m43s
 
Wolfe

Wolfe

Member
I got lucky on my Famicom Micro back around 07 when I snagged it off ebay for 25 bucks from some mom getting rid of a few of her son's old toys.

Thing is in excellent condition, came inside some gooey clear case with holes for the buttons and screen. I think with age it deteriorated a bit because it was rather sticky as well. Didn't leave any lasting residue on the thing after I tossed it but maaaan that thing is so glossy @_@ The fingerprints... Would love an NES themed one with the same type of non glossy textured feel that the actual system had lol.

Edit: oh and it came with a game too, Mega Man battle network... red sun? I can't recall, never bothered to play it. Playing the first game was enough for me back in the day I guess.
 
O

Oynox

Member
Wolfe said:
I got lucky on my Famicom Micro back around 07 when I snagged it off ebay for 25 bucks from some mom getting rid of a few of her son's old toys.

Thing is in excellent condition, came inside some gooey clear case with holes for the buttons and screen. I think with age it deteriorated a bit because it was rather sticky as well. Didn't leave any lasting residue on the thing after I tossed it but maaaan that thing is so glossy @_@ The fingerprints... Would love an NES themed one with the same type of non glossy textured feel that the actual system had lol.

Edit: oh and it came with a game too, Mega Man battle network... red sun? I can't recall, never bothered to play it. Playing the first game was enough for me back in the day I guess.
Click to expand...

That is luck and something I still hope for at a local garage...
 
B

Booker.DeWitt

Member
anybody here willing to sell their gb boy colour? can't findy anymore, I guess it is out of production and the only listing I found on ebay is for 90 bucks, too expensive
 
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