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Why does Gameboy Player drop frames?

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PC Gaijin

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Does anyone know why the Gameboy Player drops frames? Is it because the Gameboy displays slightly more FPS than NTSC and thus doesn't sync up exactly? I have no idea of the particulars of how the GB Player works. So is the Player actually nothing more than an interface to the GBA cartridge, and does the Player boot disc contain a GBA emulator? Or does the Player have GBA hardwire minus the screen and somehow pipe the video output through the expansion port to the GC for display?

I'm curious because the frame hitches really annoy me, if not for that the GB Player would be a perfect product.
 
To the best of my knowledge, the GBA player is the GBA hardware with different video circuitry. I dunno if the disc just loads the little interface into memory or if it's accessed when you hit the Z button, but it's most definitely not a software emulator.
 
no idea, but i've noticed it as well. i stopped using my gb player when i bought my sp, but now that the psp's made the gba screen seem unbearable, i've gone back to it, and the frame-drops or sync problems or whatever they are irritate me. gba resolution doesn't look too hot blown up on a tv either.
 
I attribute it to Nintendo's active decision to make crap products and alienate their fans. :P

Castellan warned me about the GBA Player, but did I listen? Noooooo! What does he know after all.

More than I did apparently! *ZING!*

God damn that thing sucks, but it's a losing battle as choosing between a GBA, GBAsp, and GBA Player Nintendo is the only winner. Laughing all the way to the bank with your money knowing they just suckered another schmuck out of their hard earned money.

I want emulation on the PSP so badly, I can almost feel it in my wang chung. Just to fucking spite Nintendo, and so I can enjoy GBA games on a device that isn't my computer.
 
I'm guessing their either they messed up, or either the GBA's refresh rate isn't exactly in sync with NTSC standards, thus the weird skipping.
 
AtomicShroom said:
I'm guessing their either they messed up, or either the GBA's refresh rate isn't exactly in sync with NTSC standards, thus the weird skipping.
Click to expand...

wait, isn't there an option for video to change a setting, try the other one. are you a PAL gamer, can't remember if the 50/60hz thing is a problem.
 
It worked fine on my 21" Samsung TV. I didn't use it a whole lot, and it was mainly it was done with RPGs (except for a couple Sonics and SMB3). However, when I did use it, it looked great.

Then again, I'm the type of guy who really doesn't give a shit about component cables and HDTV and the difference between 30 FPS and 60 FPS.
 
Same here. I use my GBA Player on a 27" Flat screen with S-Video, and I've never had any problems. I usually only play RPG's though, maybe it's more noticable on action games or something?
 
The Take Out Bandit said:
I attribute it to Nintendo's active decision to make crap products and alienate their fans. :P

Castellan warned me about the GBA Player, but did I listen? Noooooo! What does he know after all.

More than I did apparently! *ZING!*

God damn that thing sucks, but it's a losing battle as choosing between a GBA, GBAsp, and GBA Player Nintendo is the only winner. Laughing all the way to the bank with your money knowing they just suckered another schmuck out of their hard earned money.

I want emulation on the PSP so badly, I can almost feel it in my wang chung. Just to fucking spite Nintendo, and so I can enjoy GBA games on a device that isn't my computer.
Click to expand...
Agreed. If only the framerate stuttering didn't lead to my Carpal Eye Syndrome, I'd have found an attorney's office so I could go sue Nintendo and put them out of business. But thankfully the PSP cured my eye problems just by looking at the many boxes in Walmart.
 
Anyone play the GBA Player via component on a progressive scan TV? I wonder if the framerate problem persists then.

I enjoy using the player, and I have it hooked up s-video. The big picture and the Hori GameCube pad outweigh any other issues, it's like the SNES all over again.
 
I use the Player on a non-progressive 27" TV with component cables. I notice the "hitching" with all filter settings and screen sizes (I usually play games with no filter and no stretching). For me it's actually more noticeable on RPGs, because they are slower moving. I've been playing lots of Mario & Luigi and Pokemon Leaf Green lately, and the frame dropping is really annoying me.

Also, this complaint isn't the same as griping about a console game running at 30 fps or 60 fps or whatever. The GB Player video display "stutters" slightly every couple of seconds at a constant rate. I suspect it's because the GBA normally refreshes its screen 15, 30, or 60 times per second while NTSC is 59.something, and the dropped frames are to sync everything up again. Quite frustrating as when I'm home I'd rather play GBA games on a TV than the SP (which is way too small for my comfort).

And yes Nintendo has me by the balls -- I bought a GBA and hardly ever played it because of the shitty screen, then got a Player and wasn't satisfied because the framerate problems, then finally got an SP, which has a semi-decent screen (I can finally see it without lying under a lamp) but it's so small my hands get cramped playing it. Now I'm considering a DS for the better screen and (hopefully) more comfortable layout than the SP. Damn the GBA and it's fine library of games!
 
that last paragraph almost exactly describes my gba experience. although i really don't want a ds.
 
I got a GB Player hooked up via component in progressive on a HDTV and I've never noticed any frame rate problems. Maybe I'm not playing GBA on that enough or I just never noticed.
 
The SP is easier on the eyes and the hands, for me. Hated the original GBA design so much. Haven't touched the GB Player in ages...for all the other problems it has, requiring a disc is what really annoys me. Since it's not in a dvd case, I don't put it with the rest of my games and always have to search for the damn thing as a result.
 
AniHawk said:
It worked fine on my 21" Samsung TV. I didn't use it a whole lot, and it was mainly it was done with RPGs (except for a couple Sonics and SMB3). However, when I did use it, it looked great.

Then again, I'm the type of guy who really doesn't give a shit about component cables and HDTV and the difference between 30 FPS and 60 FPS.
Click to expand...
GET OUT OF MY HEAD!
 
Depending on the region you are in the dropped frames will be more or less noticable

GBA runs at a slightly faster framerate than NTSC so it has to drop 1 frame in every sixty (or something around that) on pal it has to drop a lot more..

I'm not sure how similar the gameboy player is to the n64 GBA dev cartridge but the drops on that were very noticable..
 
fr4nz is right, its slightly slower thatn NTSC not faster, so what its doing isnt dropping frames, but displaying a frame twice every now and then to stay in sync.

Does the gameboy player have a link port? if so then thats gotta be one of the main reasons why they didnt tweak it to be better synced.. you cant mess with the clock speed if you want link-up to work.

Admittedly you cant really mess with it and expect all games to work either but still.

As for VBA being better.. thats debatable as VBA actually doesnt run at the same speed as a real GBA.
 
I'd still prefer a flawless 60 fps over the correct speed delivered by the GBP. The timing may be slightly off when using VBA, but the results are much smoother.
 
Jeez, you guys will bitch about anything, huh? :) I'm just happy I have a "new" SNES that happens to be progressive as well. Then again, does being progressive eliminate the problem? The only hitch I noticed was the syncing problem, but that was using the "Soft" filter on my old JVC, and even then I could only notice it on Zero Mission.
 
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