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Architecture of the Game Boy Advance

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Re: Architecture of the Game Boy Advance

#41

Post by dleslie »

Igelau wrote: post #23
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 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!…

Calling the pack "little" is a stretch; the battery pack itself is larger and heavier than the GBA SP.

Also, the screen suffers from terrible ghosting. I can barely bring myself to play sonic on it.

Still, the Nomad is a neat piece of kit.

Re: Architecture of the Game Boy Advance

#42

Post by dleslie »

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.

I have one. It's not convenient to travel with; the carts are comparatively large and the unit itself is roughly the size of an early 90s camcorder, and as awkwardly shaped too.

The screen ghosts something awful...

It's mostly a cool gimick to show your friends who are Sega fans; akin to owning a working CDX or Activator.

Re: Architecture of the Game Boy Advance

#43

Post by dleslie »

benoror wrote: post #33
implicit wrote: post #14

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…

Did a bit when I was abt 12yo, embarrasing/naive code: https://github.com/benoror/gbadev/blob/master/%40rkanoid/jue...

Hey now; if you genuinely wrote that when you were 12 then there's nothing to be embarassed about.

Re: Architecture of the Game Boy Advance

#44

Post by 3np »

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 one thing I remember the SP failed on was the unified charging/audio port. So unless you used an unsupported third-party dongle you couldn't charge and use headphones at the same time.

Otherwise agreed, it was a fantastic console.

Apart from web stuff, ARM C on the GBA was my primary early programming experience after dabbling around with QBASIC and GB(C) z80 C as a kid. There were a lot of community-made dev tools, example code and guides online that were reasonably approachable for a curious 12-year-old.

I owe a lot to the GBA homebrew community.

Re: Architecture of the Game Boy Advance

#45

Post by 3np »

meddlepal wrote: post #38
fuball63 wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that the GBA is great because of the kinds of games you can make for it. It is a perfect blend of having hardware limitations to inspire creativity but being powerful enough to have games with enough depth to be compelling. Golden Sun comes to mind.

And... a reminder that I should go reply Golden Sun as I found my GBA SP while visiting the parents for Christmas.

Golden Sun I think GS 1+2 must be the last great 2D JRPGs - nothing after the SNES era comes close in my book.

Re: Architecture of the Game Boy Advance

#49

Post by jagger27 »

Kipters wrote: post #26
emsy wrote: 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).

IPS mods have come down a lot in price and AGS-101s have soared in the aftermarket. American stores sell kits for $50 USD, Chinese-sourced kits are a little cheaper. Add a new case and LCD glass for around $10. A quick eBay search for AGS-101s shows they're going for well over $100.
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