Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Architecture of the Game Boy Advance

copetti.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–70 of 87 posts

Re: Architecture of the Game Boy Advance

#61

Post by rangibaby »

abhinav22 wrote: post #2

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…

The DS was way better IMHO. I got overhyped on the GBA because of how it was marketed as a pocket SNES. Only two face buttons and the shitty sounding music were a big disappointment to me. The games did look nice, whenever it was possible to see them.

Re: Architecture of the Game Boy Advance

#62

Post by GrantSolar »

gambiting wrote: post #53
dleslie wrote: 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!

I bought an EZ Flash IV last year for around £35.

Re: Architecture of the Game Boy Advance

#63

Post by Cu3PO42 »

EE84M3i wrote: post #4
bombcar wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The backward compatibility continued into the original DS - which was a phenomenal lineup increase - I also fondly remember the Game Boy Player for the GameCube - a precursor to the switch in some ways.

I always thought it was interesting that (as mentioned in the article) the GBA has two processors, one for GBA and one for original gameboy/game boy color games. Similarly, the DS has an ARM7 in addition to it's ARM9 in order to play GBA games, however it lacks the sharp processor to play original game boy games. The notches on the carts prevent you from putting an original gameboy game into a DS, IIRc.

The DS also used the ARM7 as a co-processor in DS mode. And the 3DS has an ARM11 as the main processor with an ARM 9 used for crypto and other low level operating system functionality. When playing DS games they also run on the ARM9. Of course the ability to play DS games implies there's also the ARM7, in fact you can (more or less) natively boot GBA games on it!

Re: Architecture of the Game Boy Advance

#64

Post by freeone3000 »

thought_alarm wrote: post #30
abhinav22 wrote: post #2

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…

Nintendo's greatest technical achievement is the staggered backward compatibility between the original GameBoy, GameBoy Color, GameBoy Advance, DS, and DS 3D. It's a game console compatibility lineage that stretches 30 years from the first GameBoy in 1989 to the end of the 3DS in 2020. It's a remarkable achievement for a game console platform. It only happens with incredible foresight, planning, and strict software c…

It's really only one generation of backwards compatibility. The GBA SP is the last one that can play GBC games, as it's the last one with the 8-bit coprocessor - the DS can play GBA games because it's "small" processor is the same, but it can no longer play GBC games. The 3DS can no longer play GBA games as they no longer physically fit.

Re: Architecture of the Game Boy Advance

#65

Post by gambiting »

GrantSolar wrote: post #62
gambiting wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

I bought an EZ Flash IV last year for around £35.

Yeah, from my research the EZ Flash IV has some limitations(like max 2GB card support and miniSD only??), so the EverDrive X5 is recommended.....but that's £130 apparently??

https://www.deadpanrobot.co.uk/everdrive-gba-x5-mini-for-gam...

Re: Architecture of the Game Boy Advance

#66

Post by timdeve »

I've been having tons of fun lately making GBA games, it's far enough from my webdev day job to be intellectually stimulating. I'm quite impressed with people saying they use to built games when 12, some of the stuff in tonc took a bit to click for me.

I definitely recommend Aseprite for pixel art, it's really good.

Re: Architecture of the Game Boy Advance

#67

Post by deergomoo »

Wowfunhappy wrote: post #28
mikepurvis wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can now get IPS screen mods for basically all Game Boy models I think; there are some YouTube channels like Retro Future which cover Game Boy modding fairly extensively. I had an original purple GBA as a kid and I had a great time on it with ALTTP, Mario Kart, Breath of Fire, and so on, but it having an unlit screen was what eventually killed it for me— I wonder if it's still in a box somewhere in my parents'. Th…

The lack of native resolution kills it for me, on a sprite-based console.

Most these days double the resolution in each direction, so you have 4x integer scaling. It’s a different look for sure, but it’s razor sharp and you don’t have shimmering or other scaling artifacts.

Re: Architecture of the Game Boy Advance

#68

Post by willis936 »

freeone3000 wrote: post #64
thought_alarm wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nintendo's greatest technical achievement is the staggered backward compatibility between the original GameBoy, GameBoy Color, GameBoy Advance, DS, and DS 3D. It's a game console compatibility lineage that stretches 30 years from the first GameBoy in 1989 to the end of the 3DS in 2020. It's a remarkable achievement for a game console platform. It only happens with incredible foresight, planning, and strict software c…

It's really only one generation of backwards compatibility. The GBA SP is the last one that can play GBC games, as it's the last one with the 8-bit coprocessor - the DS can play GBA games because it's "small" processor is the same, but it can no longer play GBC games. The 3DS can no longer play GBA games as they no longer physically fit.

The 3DS can play DS and GBA games natively. While the lack of a GBA cartridge slot is a hindrance, it’s nothing that ROM injections on a hacked console can’t get around.

That along with the capability to emulate up to SNES games makes my 3DS something that still makes its way into my travel backpack. I leave the switch and GBA SP at home. They’re too big for what they offer.

Re: Architecture of the Game Boy Advance

#69

Post by joshvm »

abhinav22 wrote: post #2

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 strongly recommend upgrading your GBA if you still have it - you can get an IPS replacement screen (bare minimum, it's an enormous improvement), USB-C Lipo battery, new shells/buttons, louder speaker, etc. I think it costs around $100 for the lot, but it breathes a lot of life back into the platform. Personally, I prefer the standard GBA for superior ergonomics, and the lack of moving parts (and it's the one I had!)

Re: Architecture of the Game Boy Advance

#70

Post by Igelau »

danbolt wrote: post #31
Igelau wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The greatest handheld console was the Genesis Nomad. Cons: - It was the size of a brick. - It was designed with oddly skewed angles. - It didn't have room for batteries inside, so they had to be shoved in a little pack that clipped on to it. Pros: - It was a handheld Sega Genesis. - You could connect it to your TV. - You could connect a second controller. - You could run it off A/C power. - Ergo it's also a console!…

I never had a Nomad, but did you ever find the console inconvenient to use? One thing I find Nintendo always does so well with their consoles is the ease-of-use and complimentary library. I feel like a clunky handheld that plays Gunstar Heroes for 2-3 hours might be harder to appreciate than Pokemon for ten.

It was definitely inconvenient as a portable. It was sheer fantastic novelty.

> Gunstar Heroes

I was so close to listing that game as a bullet point in its own right.

Post reply on HN