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Architecture of the Game Boy Advance

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Re: Architecture of the Game Boy Advance

#51
With posts like this I always have to think of the fivemouse.com website that I stumbled on via Slashdot [1] in 2002. It made a great impression om me back in the day. It still lingers on archive.org [2].

[1] https://m.slashdot.org/story/24564

[2] http://web.archive.org/web/20020801000000*/fivemouse.com

Re: Architecture of the Game Boy Advance

#52

Game Boy Advance, especially the SP, was the greatest handheld console to me. Had rechargeable batteries that you could charge by plugging in (back in those days, as a kid, it was a game changer), played all your existing library of game boy games, amazing folding mechanism and portable, small size and of course a great library as well. Perfection. And as I say that, the Switch has proven to be an amazing challenger…

I've recently taken a plunge and bought a modified GameBoy Advance(not the SP) with a backlit IPS screen. My 8 year old self would have gone insane seeing such a thing, it's beautiful, crisp and makes playing all the original games a pleasure again, there's something to be said about playing on "original" hardware(I know the screen isn't original but I also have an unmodded GameBoy Colour and it's exactly as I remember - an exercise in sitting somewhere near a light source to see anything, but not near enough so that you can't see anything on the screen). Would highly recommend if someone fancies a good dose of nostalgia.

Re: Architecture of the Game Boy Advance

#53
post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The DS Lite edges it for me. You could get a microsd ds cartridge adapter as well as an expandable flash cartridge for the GBA slot and store all of your home brew games on the microsd. Back then, it felt so futuristic to have an entire library of games in one cartridge on the go.

You can get microsd gba carts nowadays.

You can, and they are weirdly expensive! Last I checked a recommended one that supports all features is about £100!

Re: Architecture of the Game Boy Advance

#54
post #36

Game Boy Advance, especially the SP, was the greatest handheld console to me. Had rechargeable batteries that you could charge by plugging in (back in those days, as a kid, it was a game changer), played all your existing library of game boy games, amazing folding mechanism and portable, small size and of course a great library as well. Perfection. And as I say that, the Switch has proven to be an amazing challenger…

Did you ever try the Micro? I have hands large enough to find the original xbox controller to be comfortable and preferable to the S, but even still the Micro with its superior display and larger shoulder buttons is preferable to the SP. I feel a bit like I'm balancing it on my fingertips, but nevertheless, it's the pinnacle of mobile gaming.

The problem with the Micro nowadays is that it's very very hard to find one at any kind of reasonable price. I suspect it never sold that much, so the supply of units in good condition is very low, and hence stupid prices on eBay.

I've bought myself a modded original Gameboy Advance with a modern backlit IPS screen and it's a marvel, absolutely love this thing. Spent a small fortune re-buying all my childhood games for it just so I can play them again. And yes, the form factor is nearly perfect.

Re: Architecture of the Game Boy Advance

#55

Game Boy Advance, especially the SP, was the greatest handheld console to me. Had rechargeable batteries that you could charge by plugging in (back in those days, as a kid, it was a game changer), played all your existing library of game boy games, amazing folding mechanism and portable, small size and of course a great library as well. Perfection. And as I say that, the Switch has proven to be an amazing challenger…

I've recently taken a plunge and bought a modified GameBoy Advance(not the SP) with a backlit IPS screen. My 8 year old self would have gone insane seeing such a thing, it's beautiful, crisp and makes playing all the original games a pleasure again, there's something to be said about playing on "original" hardware(I know the screen isn't original but I also have an unmodded GameBoy Colour and it's exactly as I rememb…

Yep :) I totally forgot about the backlit screen, a few people have also mentioned it in the comments. It was definitely a killer feature too! Playing in the night without a worry!

Re: Architecture of the Game Boy Advance

#56
post #26
post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They usually sell with pre-cut replacement cases in fancy colors.

Yeah, but that would mean using an aftermarket case. Some people just want the original non-augmented experience, with all the quirks (also I doubt an IPS mod + case could be any cheaper than just getting an AGS-101).

AGS-101 are so expensive nowadays that yes, it's cheaper to buy a regular SP + new case + IPS screen.

Re: Architecture of the Game Boy Advance

#57
post #19

Game Boy Advance, especially the SP, was the greatest handheld console to me. Had rechargeable batteries that you could charge by plugging in (back in those days, as a kid, it was a game changer), played all your existing library of game boy games, amazing folding mechanism and portable, small size and of course a great library as well. Perfection. And as I say that, the Switch has proven to be an amazing challenger…

It had a backlit screen too, which was also a game changer at the time.

Yes! I’m kicking myself how I completely forgot this. This was as important as the charger to me

Re: Architecture of the Game Boy Advance

#58
post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can get microsd gba carts nowadays.

You can, and they are weirdly expensive! Last I checked a recommended one that supports all features is about £100!

Not so weird; the demand fell away and so they're becoming scarce. They're growing to be priced similarly to sdcard carts for other old and far out of date systems.

Just have a look at what a decent cart for a Genesis, SNES or NeoGeo will cost.

Re: Architecture of the Game Boy Advance

#59
post #36

Game Boy Advance, especially the SP, was the greatest handheld console to me. Had rechargeable batteries that you could charge by plugging in (back in those days, as a kid, it was a game changer), played all your existing library of game boy games, amazing folding mechanism and portable, small size and of course a great library as well. Perfection. And as I say that, the Switch has proven to be an amazing challenger…

Did you ever try the Micro? I have hands large enough to find the original xbox controller to be comfortable and preferable to the S, but even still the Micro with its superior display and larger shoulder buttons is preferable to the SP. I feel a bit like I'm balancing it on my fingertips, but nevertheless, it's the pinnacle of mobile gaming.

I've got a Micro (well, two actually). It's super-cute, but the screen is just too tiny for me to be comfortable. You really need to strain your eyes a bit too much.

Re: Architecture of the Game Boy Advance

#60

I did a little bit of GBA homebrew development back in its heyday. It is a really fun little bit of hardware to hack on. It's powerful enough that you can write your whole game in C++, but not so powerful that you should rely on the system allocator for anything. It's in a lovely sweet spot for a particular dialect of zero-overhead C++ that's really fun to write. As a simple example, I had a little class library of d…

I've gotten into GBA homebrew again recently. The community is small but getting a bit bigger. gbadev on Discord is a fun place to hang out.

The tooling doesn't seem to have changed all that much from back in the day, which isn't a bad thing: the best way to get music on the GBA is still to compose something in an old-fashioned tracker and using Maxmod to import it. Sprite conversion tools haven't changed that much.

Programming it is just so lovely bare-metal: poking/prodding registers, writing backgrounds and sprites into memory regions.. Really fun stuff.

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