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Whats the best way in 2020 to play your GBA games?

Dremorak

Dremorak

Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,698
New Zealand
I've been on a retro kick recently (see my PS2 game ripping thread) and have been researching and weighing options in regards to playing GBA games.
I'm trying to think of a solution that will allow me to play them portably and then also on the tv, or maybe a separate way of playing on TV?

These are the options as I see it:
- buy a GBA
- the cheapest option, but the screen is dim as all hell, and I would need to figure out some kind of rechargeable battery situation

- buy a GBA SP
- Not much more expensive, is front(?) lit, and is rechargeable. BUT I hate the form factor. I just hate it. Also I heard the screen isn't as good as I remember.

- Buy a Retron 5
- pretty expensive, but will allow me to play them on the TV. I probably would never use the other ports tho, so seems like a bit of a waste :\

- Wait for the Analogue Portable
- as expensive as the Retron 5, and with the dock probably even more so. BUT, its perfect in every other way (the form factor I would prefer to be more GBA based, but I'll take GB.

I know the gameboy player exists, but I sold my Gamecube around 12 years ago, and buying one for this seems like something a crazy person would do.

Have I missed any options? Is anyone else seeing the GBA carts disappearing from second hand stores and worrying they'll miss a piece of gaming history? Which one makes the most sense?
 
Theswweet

Theswweet

RPG Site
Verified
Oct 25, 2017
6,405
California
There's a homebrew Vita dock you can get, and GBA emulation is actually good now. Vita DPAD + Screen is pretty great, and then you can just connect a controller over Bluetooth to use when you dock the thing.
 
kadotsu

kadotsu

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,504
There are MiSTer cores for GBA now. As for hardware it is way easier to get a good DS Lite than a GBA SP with a good screen. The DS also can use normal headphones without adapters.
 
Aeana

Aeana

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,928
I go back and forth between a GBA Consolized GBA and an AGS-101 modded original GBA. Definitely my favorites.
 

Deleted member 1120

user requested account closure
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Theswweet said:
There's a homebrew Vita dock you can get, and GBA emulation is actually good now. Vita DPAD + Screen is pretty great, and then you can just connect a controller over Bluetooth to use when you dock the thing.
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I tried Metroid Fusion on the Vita with mgba last year and got a lot of dropped frames, I know it's specific but would you say it's improved?
 
Fat4all

Fat4all

Woke up, got a money tag, swears a lot
Member
Oct 25, 2017
92,685
here
Dremorak said:
Have I missed any options?
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game boy micro

7l437ywrnczz.jpg
 

Deleted member 48897

User requested account closure
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Oct 22, 2018
13,623
Hack your 3DS, unless you want to do link cable stuff. If you only want to play GBA games, get a GBA micro. If you still want to play GB and GBC games I do, I prefer the AGS-101 model of the SP despite its design flaws (no headphone jack!!) because the higher refresh rate is actually good at hiding the flicker some early GB games did for certain effects (for a particularly egregious form of this look at the GB game Serpent. actually if you're photosensitive DO NOT do that) and the backlit screen looks really nice.

Another option if you're talking real games and don't care about link cable is a DS Lite, also backlit and the screen refresh is better. I actually use my DS lite when I want to play GBA games and keep the SP around mostly just for GB and GBC stuff.
 
digit_zero

digit_zero

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,362
A DS Phat / DS Lite. Just avoid the DSi since it doesn't play GBA games

Form factor is good, rechargable battery is good. Actually has a headphone jack which the SP is inexplicably lacking.
 
Stopdoor

Stopdoor

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,778
Toronto
muteKi said:
Hack your 3DS, unless you want to do link cable stuff. If you only want to play GBA games, get a GBA micro. If you still want to play GB and GBC games I do, I prefer the AGS-101 model of the SP despite its design flaws (no headphone jack!!) because the higher refresh rate is actually good at hiding the flicker some early GB games did for certain effects (for a particularly egregious form of this look at the GB game Serpent. actually if you're photosensitive DO NOT do that) and the backlit screen looks really nice.

Another option if you're talking real games and don't care about link cable is a DS Lite, also backlit and the screen refresh is better. I actually use my DS lite when I want to play GBA games and keep the SP around mostly just for GB and GBC stuff.
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Shout out for mentioning the link cable, by 2020 I assume everyone forgot Game Boy games had multiplayer.
 
RoninChaos

RoninChaos

Member
Oct 26, 2017
8,334
muteKi said:
Hack your 3DS, unless you want to do link cable stuff. If you only want to play GBA games, get a GBA micro. If you still want to play GB and GBC games I do, I prefer the AGS-101 model of the SP despite its design flaws (no headphone jack!!) because the higher refresh rate is actually good at hiding the flicker some early GB games did for certain effects (for a particularly egregious form of this look at the GB game Serpent. actually if you're photosensitive DO NOT do that) and the backlit screen looks really nice.

Another option if you're talking real games and don't care about link cable is a DS Lite, also backlit and the screen refresh is better. I actually use my DS lite when I want to play GBA games and keep the SP around mostly just for GB and GBC stuff.
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Do you play in original resolution?
 

Deleted member 48897

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RoninChaos said:
Do you play in original resolution?
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On 3DS? The resolution scales up nicely enough that I usually don't actually. If you have an XL like I do I think the unscaled appearance is exactly like the GBA in terms of DPI.

On GBA the only GB/C game I play in the 'widescreen' mode is Pokemon TCG because the text is as narrow as it is.
 
RoninChaos

RoninChaos

Member
Oct 26, 2017
8,334
muteKi said:
On 3DS? The resolution scales up nicely enough that I usually don't actually. If you have an XL like I do I think the unscaled appearance is exactly like the GBA in terms of DPI.

On GBA the only GB/C game I play in the 'widescreen' mode is Pokemon TCG because the text is as narrow as it is.
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I always go back and forth but it's been ages. I have so many original carts and I have a gba SP age 101 but the form factor hurts my right index finger these days. It's rough to play on.

Does anybody know if the resolution on the DS lite is similar to that of the gba?
 
Version 3.0

Version 3.0

Member
Oct 27, 2017
11,160
Dremorak said:
I know the gameboy player exists, but I sold my Gamecube around 12 years ago, and buying one for this seems like something a crazy person would do.
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Gamecubes are super cheap. Not sure about Game Boy Players, but last I saw they weren't bad, either. Could be one of the cheaper options. I wouldn't call it crazy.

edit: after a quick look, those are cheap, but the Game Boy Player's disc cost a lot. Lame.
 
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Pirate Bae

Pirate Bae

Edelgard Feet Appreciator
The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
6,794
??
I'm currently in the process of modding an old GBA with a backlit screen, repainting it, adding a rechargable battery, etc.

You can buy them pre-made for a pretty penny, but I'd say that's probably the coolest, most effective option if you have the cash to spare. :)
 
Nickerous

Nickerous

Member
Nov 2, 2017
812
If you want to hack something...a Wii, Wii U or 3DS work well. Analogue has their pocket coming out soon. DS Lite is good. Wealth of Chinese handhelds can play GBA....android phone with a Bluetooth controller.....used to be able to load an emulator and roms on a non-hacked iOS device....may even still be able to do that.

I play GBA on my hacked N3DS, but I own every edition of the GBA, DS, hacked Wii U, PSP, Vita and a few of those Chinese handhelds. Still go back to the 3ds most often.

If you're set on original carts, better learn to recognize fakes. They seem to be everywhere.
 
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Cyanity

Cyanity

Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,345
If you own any of the carts, probably emulator via your phone, especially if the game was an rpg that plays nice with touchscreens.
 
NioA

NioA

Member
Dec 16, 2019
3,627
How difficult it is to hack the 3ds and install a gba emulator nowadays? I've been thinking about trying for a while.
 
Ultima_5

Ultima_5

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,672
Don't get a gba micro. Had it at launch and screen was to small even then.
Look for a gba sp 101 or a modded gba with a light
 
milkyway

milkyway

One Winged Slayer
Member
May 17, 2018
3,004
N3DS is super easy to hack and is the Nintendo handheld dream machine (note: I'm not advocating piracy). Emulators are not required but can be used. I recommend finding a regular sized one as opposed to the XL, but the XL can be used if it suits your hands or want the bigger size for 3DS games.
 
johan

johan

Member
Oct 29, 2017
1,554
Analogue Pocket will probably be the best option later this year

Another interesting solution is GBARunner2 for DSi. Let's you run (some) GBA games natively. Even allows you to run games fullscreen, it's wild. I'll post some pictures later
 

Deleted member 5491

User requested account closure
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GameCube with Swiss
Using GBI as the Software for your GB Player
Outputting it with a Scart cable to your OSSC
 
mandiller

mandiller

Member
Oct 27, 2017
570
Australia
A modded GBA or GBA SP with an IPS screen is the best. It's seriously amazing. I modded my old frontlit SP with a new case and a laminated IPS display and it's a joy to play. The screen is actually a much higher resolution and upscales the image perfectly, making games looks super clean and lovely. There's no air gap either between the glass and screen on the SP version, since it's laminated.

ed392708-567a-4fdc-8twja0.jpeg
 
Skyfireblaze

Skyfireblaze

Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,257
mandiller said:
A modded GBA or GBA SP with an IPS screen is the best. It's seriously amazing. I modded my old frontlit SP with a new case and a laminated IPS display and it's a joy to play. The screen is actually a much higher resolution and upscales the image perfectly, making games looks super clean and lovely. There's no air gap either between the glass and screen on the SP version, since it's laminated.

ed392708-567a-4fdc-8twja0.jpeg
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Oh god I can't wait to get my GBA SP from eBay today or tomorrow and then finally the screen!

Right now I play my GBA games on my new 3DS and it's a good experience aswell.
 
kami_sama

kami_sama

Member
Oct 26, 2017
6,998
mandiller said:
A modded GBA or GBA SP with an IPS screen is the best. It's seriously amazing. I modded my old frontlit SP with a new case and a laminated IPS display and it's a joy to play. The screen is actually a much higher resolution and upscales the image perfectly, making games looks super clean and lovely. There's no air gap either between the glass and screen on the SP version, since it's laminated.

ed392708-567a-4fdc-8twja0.jpeg
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Oh damn, it does look good.
I thought new screens dried out? Or is it newish?
Can it be done for a normal gba? I don't want to search for a jack adapter lol
 
mandiller

mandiller

Member
Oct 27, 2017
570
Australia
kami_sama said:
Oh damn, it does look good.
I thought new screens dried out? Or is it newish?
Can it be done for a normal gba? I don't want to search for a jack adapter lol
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I got the screen from FunnyPlaying.com and they do a version for the original GBA too (although that one isn't laminated). I've had no issues with it.

Here's my finished SP:

73190b20-b4d4-43eb-9j6jak.jpeg


b76667b1-34f0-482b-85rjtn.jpeg
 
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ThereAreFourNaan

ThereAreFourNaan

Member
Nov 8, 2017
13,099
I was lucky enough to buy the Gameboy Player as a kid and kept it around with my Cube. So I have that for TV play, then I purchased a Backlight Modded GBA for portable play. Just swapping the carts between them lets me "Switch" since the saves are on the carts.

Pretty neat.

To get the best (least bad) picture quality on my modern TV, I also make use of GB Interface to run the GB player to output at 240p, then I use a Retrotink 2x to convert that to a 480p output. It's not like, incredible, but it at least prevents it from being too degraded.

For controlling the game on my TV without using the regular Cube controller (dpad sucks), I purchased a Wii-classic-controller-port-to-gamecube adaptor, then use my SNES mini controllers.

Yes I am ware this is a huge amount of fucking around just to get it like this, haha.
 
RyuCookingSomeRice

RyuCookingSomeRice

Alt account
Banned
Feb 5, 2020
1,009
Modded GBA with a IPS display..

Gonna put my own together soon, already made a ton of GBA with AGS-101 screens and sold them.

This should look even better

I had a Silver GBA Micro, but I recently sold it for 110 bucks since I never used it and it was catching dust. I also never played with it because it's just too tiny.
 
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