Gameboy Player - to buy or not to buy?

[kevin_psx]

pros - Can play all the great GBA titles on TV!


cons - No great GBA titles - just Super Nintendo ports
- lousy sub-games of the consoles- Banjo-Sucky or Grand Theft Pixelation



Other ways to connect GBA to full TV screen w/o huge expense? Video Out Cable maybe?

Thanks!

May be better to buy a DS?

[ClubNinja]

I only play GBA games on TV via the Gameboy Player. The DS is used for DS games. You should buy both!

[kevin_psx]

Buy both? No. I am poor. ;)

[rjohnson]

What's to choose?

$20 at a pawn shop (get the disc too remember)...

go home.

plug player into yer system bottom...

stick in svideo or video cables to yer' 42" LCD flat screen, plug in ANY advance, color or original GB game...

plug AUDIO jack into SURROUND sound amp...

CRANK up volume

have really cool time on REALLY FRICKIN' BIG Gameboy.
x_x

[slip81]

cons - No great GBA titles - just Super Nintendo ports
- lousy sub-games of the consoles- Banjo-Sucky or Grand Theft Pixelation

Did you forget about the Castelvania titles? What about Metroid Fusion, Mario Kart, Riviera, Sword of Mana, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, Advance Wars, Fire Emblem, shall I continue?

I'd say get a GB Player if you can get one under the listed $50 price tag, they're cool, but not worth $50, to me anyway.

[tylerwillis]

Yay, another should I buy it thread.


pros - Can play all the great GBA titles on TV!


cons - No great GBA titles - just Super Nintendo ports

Seems to me that you answer your own question.

[THATinkjar]

Yay, another should I buy it thread.


pros - Can play all the great GBA titles on TV!


cons - No great GBA titles - just Super Nintendo ports

Seems to me that you answer your own question.

Great minds think alike, Tyler - I was just about to pull him on the same thing. Seems something of a contradiction, eh?

I didn't think much of the GBA for awhile, but now I'm really starting to fall in love... the Micro has helped, too.

[kevin_psx]

Rather ask experts - you - for opinions than rely on reviewers who get bribed to say everything is great.

plug player into yer system bottom...
stick in svideo or video cables to yer' 42" LCD flat screen
1 - LCDs suck. Blurry resolutions. Prefer CRTs

2 - My Cube's got Component Out. Does GB Player work with that?

[philosophyst]

pros - Can play all the great GBA titles on TV!


cons - No great GBA titles - just Super Nintendo ports
- lousy sub-games of the consoles- Banjo-Sucky or Grand Theft Pixelation?

:hmm:
You really like to start new threads, huh? You asked a question and then clearly answered for yourself in the first post.

[PentiumMMX]

cons - No great GBA titles - just Super Nintendo ports
- lousy sub-games of the consoles- Banjo-Sucky or Grand Theft Pixelation

What about Mega Man Battle Network, WarioWare: Mega MicroGame$, Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow, and Metroid?

[Ed Oscuro]

cons - No great GBA titles - just Super Nintendo ports
- lousy sub-games of the consoles- Banjo-Sucky or Grand Theft Pixelation
Why did you bother posting if all you were going to do was bash the handheld from the start?

Yeah, if you don't like SMS games, don't post "Power Base Converter: to buy or not to buy? By the way, I hate SMS games!"

That's dumb.

Anyway, the GBA certainly does have lousy 2D versions of many major consoles; but you've been coming to DP, surely you haven't missed all the great original titles we love playing.

For my part, I'd recommend all three Metroid titles, all three Castlevania titles (now that the two-pack is going to appear on shelves soon, go for that), and Astro Boy: Omega Factor. There's others, but that's all I can think of at the moment from the 2D action genre.

[briskbc]

$20 at a pawn shop (get the disc too remember)...


I would do this. Actually I did. I got a GamCube with the player and a bunch of other accessories. I didn't know about the disc though. It's worth repeating... remeber the disc.

[kevin_psx]

I didn't think much of the GBA for awhile, but now I'm really starting to fall in love... the Micro has helped, too.

You convinced me. Will check ebay for a good bargain. The Cube + Player combined is likely cheaper?

[KingCobra]

2 - My Cube's got Component Out. Does GB Player work with that?

Yeap! and and it does Progressive-Scan ;)

[LiquidPolicenaut]

I have a few quick questions regarding the GBA Player. I own a Panasonic Q and cant use the regular GBA Player (i would have to get the special one, which costs a bit more than the regular GC one) and the only thing I can use is the Interact GBA Player. How large does the screen stretch for the GBA Player? Full screen? Almost full screen? How's the sound setup? Does it sound good through a stereo, because the sound on my Interact don't sound too great. Thanks for any info.

[Leo_A]

Why are you trying to get one if you don't like the GBA? That doesn't make any sense.

[Jumpman Jr.]

I'm in the same sort of dilema as you. I really want one, but I don't really want to spend $30+ (Canadian.. if I'm lucky) to actually get one.
I really want to play Minish Cap, and I do not want to play it on my GBA or my DS. I am only willing to play it on my TV, but that will be (probably) the only game that I'll use it for.

[Scream And Fly]

The Game Boy Player is a must for the Gamecube. :)

[Xizer]

IMO, the Pokémon series is reason enough to own a GBA (or GB Player).

By the way, Pokémon FireRed and Emerald both work really well on a big screen.

[kevin_psx]

I'm in the same sort of dilema as you. I really want one, but I don't really want to spend $30+. I really want to play Minish Cap, and I do not want to play it on my GBA or my DS. I am only willing to play it on my TV, but that will be (probably) the only game that I'll use it for.

Ding Ding Ding. Someone understands.

[Nz17]

How large does the screen stretch for the GBA Player? Full screen? Almost full screen? How's the sound setup? Does it sound good through a stereo, because the sound on my Interact don't sound too great. Thanks for any info.

Screen-stretch is available in two options: standard (non-stretched; remember, standard televisions are low resolution) and stretched (nearly full-screen yet with two small black bars on the left and right sides).

Audio is good, nice through a proper sound setup. The GBA games are in stereo, so a decent setup is necessary to appreciate that.

[smokehouse]

I have one as well and can say that for the most part the picture quality is pretty decent. Take in mind that it’s not perfect though, it is meant to be on a small, LCD screen. I went ahead and grabbed some screen captures for you; both are coming over S-Video from my Gamecube. One is of the game in standard; the other is in “stretch” mode. The video capture device adds a black border so keep that in mind as well.

Standard
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y42/smokehouse/Game%20reviews/zelda-GBA.jpg

Stretch
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y42/smokehouse/Game%20reviews/Zelda-GBA-stretch.jpg

Hope this helps.

[Jagasian]

The stretch change the aspect ratio of the picture? I'd avoid it if it does. Who wants to see everything distorted? Bigger is not always better, especially when the aspect ratio is changed ;)

[Leo_A]

Changes it for GB/GBC games I believe, but as that screen shows it doesn't for GBA games.

[kevin_psx]

Does the N64 have a Gameboy Player available for it?

[Jagasian]

Does the N64 have a Gameboy Player available for it?

Yes, but it is very rare. It plays GB and GBC games. Note that the only system that fully supports SGB games is the Super Gameboy for the SNES. Not even the Gameboy Player for the Gamecube supports all of the SGB features. The first Pokemon games were probably the most popular SGB games. When played on anything other than the SGB, they look and sound like normal GB games, but when played on the SGB they have improved graphics and sound.

[Leo_A]

I believe the 3rd party Game Boy N64 thing doesn't have sound though, so be aware.

If it's not that, it was some other glaring issue I remember reading about at IGN or somewhere similar.

[Teknik_SE-R]

Yeah, I have the same issue. Don't want to spend $50 cuz I figure I'm gonna only use it for one game.

I did the same thing for my Super GB. I deliberated about it forever, and finally just bought it just for metroid 2. I eventually played my other GB and GB/GBC games on it and it opened up a whole library of games for me for the TV. It was almost like having a completely different 8bit home console from nintendo.

It kinda replaced my gb in a way, but for good reasons... I don't have a need for the portability so why not play on the big screen, I broke my gbc screen, and the advance screen sux (suppose i could get an afterburner)

I must say I am glad I bought my SGB. and I know I will eventually break down and buy a GB player and fall in love with it like I did the SGB

If you look at the GB player in a positive way, I suppose it is a partial solution to the lack of 2D games we see on home consoles....

as for the Q problem, I know it sounds ghetto, but can't you just cut out the corners of of a regular GB player to fit around the feet? If you did it carefully, I'm sure it wouldn't look too bad :/