Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with gba

Gaming in Foreign

mippy — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 05:14:53 -0800

Help me identify these Japanese Gameboy Advance games. I bought a box of GBA games from a local charity shop for £1.50 yesterday as it had Yoshi's Island - they were in Japanese, but I figured that would be easy enough without translation. However, there were three other games in there I don't recognise. One of them is an RPG and quite text heavy. The second has some kind of tilt mechanism where I need to tilt the console to get things to line up (but as it's Japanese I can't work out what or why). The third (the cart only) seems to involve a boy going to school and talking to his friends about a PET. I have no idea what these are or whether they are unusual - I've told a friend I know who writes for ONM to head down there to get some games, but I wonder if these are well known at all. If you can read Japanese and can at least tell me the names that might help!

What emulators run best on a PSP?

mr_silver — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 12:35:23 -0800

Can you recommend the best emulators to run on a (homebrew enabled) PSP? I've got a homebrew enabled PSP and would like to have a go with some of the emulators out there.

I've done some searches and come to the realisation that (a) there are a lot of emulators for various machines, (b) they appear to be of varying quality, (c) quite a few appear to be dead or dying and (d) the sites/forum posts which claim to recommend the best can be as much as 4 years old.

A quick search myself comes up with at least 2 for MAME, 5 for NeoGeo, 2 for Amiga, 4 for N64, 4 for Gameboy Advance, 2 for SNES and 4 for SEGA Master System/Game Gear. A total of 23 in all.

This is quite clearly a lot to assess so any advice you can provide on emulators to check out (or avoid) would be appreciated.

(I'm fully aware of the legal requirements regarding copyright when running emulators)

What sudoku game do I want for my new Nintendo DS Lite?

booksandlibretti — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 00:32:50 -0800

I got a Nintendo DS for Christmas! Given my logical style of solving sudoku, which of the scores of sudoku titles do I want? I solve sudoku 100% logically, so I definitely don't want a game that includes puzzles that make you guess. If the puzzles can be solved with logic alone, any difficulty level is fine for me. A variety would also be fine.

Because of the style I use to solve sudoku, in each square that winds up containing one number, I need to be able to write nine smaller numbers (or place nine dots, or whatever). For example, Brain Age did this perfectly. This is my main requirement -- it's absolutely crucial for me.

It's also important that the game have a ton of puzzles -- I solved all of Brain Age's sudoku puzzles in a week, when I borrowed my brother's DS after having my wisdom teeth removed. Obviously I won't usually play anywhere near that much (maybe one a day?), but I don't want to run out.

I'm interested in plain vanilla sudoku, and I probably won't be really enthusiastic about playing any variants that are included. Missions would be cool, though. A timer might be nice but isn't crucial -- and if there is one, pausing or saving/resuming should be simple and fast.

It would be nice if the DS were held in its usual orientation, and not like a book -- I've heard the hinge problem blamed on holding the DS book-style and flattening it out.

A DS title would be ideal, since I like the touch screen, but a GBA one would also be fine if it has the features I want. $20 or under would be awesome, but I'll go up to the standard $35 if the title has everything I'd like. As long as it's common enough I won't have trouble buying it, popularity/status/prestige/whatever is totally not a concern.

Linking diverse gameboys

baf — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 18:18:06 -0800

What's the best way for two people with incompatible gameboys to trade pokemon? I recently started playing my old Pokemon Blue game again, picking up from where I left off many years ago, intending to catch 'em all this time. A friend of mine dug his Pokemon Red cartridge out of storage to help me, but his gameboy is an old Gameboy Pocket and mine is a GBA, which means we can't hook them together with standard cables: Nintendo changed the plugs, and for all I know maybe the transfer protocol, between hardware versions.

What's my best course of action at this point? Try to obtain or create an adapter? Make friends with another GBA owner to facilitate trades? Buy a second used GBA off ebay?

Best gameboy for young child?

davar — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 16:55:38 -0800

Is a Gameboy Micro too small for a four year old? I want to buy my four year old daughter a gameboy advance. I really disliked the original GBA because of the screen that was often hard too see. I know that in the US there was a version of the GBA SP with backlit screen, but not where I live. So, screen quality wise the Micro seems like the best option (a DS is too expensive and I do not think she is careful enough for a DS yet). I also like that the Micro is oriented horizontally, but I wonder if it is too small for a four year old. Any opinions? It has to be a GBA, not one of those "educational" handheld consoles that are designed for young children. She will play Dora and Mario games, at least for now.

Why doesn't Nintendo do something about pirated games?

davar — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 04:52:45 -0800

Why doesn't Nintendo do something about the enormous amount of pirated GBA and DS games and other "licenced" Nintendo stuff on eBay and other marketplaces? I remember that many years ago (in the Gameboy color days) Nintendo sued Bung, a company that sold products that allowed customers to play homebrew games on their gameboys, because the device could also be used to play illegal games. I thought that that was a bit shady. I did not like the fact that technology can be made illegal just because people may use it for illegal purposes. However, I understood their position.

Now that I just bought a counterfeit "officially licenced" Nintendo product off eBay and read a bit more about the fact that most GBA and DS games on eBay (and other online marketplaces) are illegal copies, I cannot help but wonder: why doesn't Nintendo do all they can to stop that? Sure, some of them aren't easy to spot, but many are, if you know what to look for. This would not only be in their best interest, but also in that of their customers, since I bet that most of them do not even know that they just paid 20 euro's for a counterfeit game instead of the real one.

Help me find a portable Disgaea

nakedsushi — Thu, 25 May 2006 13:40:31 -0800

What's a Disgaea-like game for the GBA/Nintendo DS? I enjoy almost all the Nippon Ichi games on PS2 and currently my favorite is Disgaea. Is there a game like Disgaea but for the GBA or DS?

Things I like about Disgaea and would love to see in a game:
- complete control over a character's stats and equipment
- anime inspiried character designs
- silly story-telling

I know there are a couple of strategy-rpgs out there for GBA, but I haven't really found one that I like as much as Disgaea. So far, I've played and not really liked:

- Advance Wars: too little control over your character/commander's stats
- Fire Emblem: It seemed like Advance Wars, but with people.

The only game I've played that comes close is Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, and I did like that, but after beating it, I don't feel the urge to play it again.

Recommendations for a flash based cart system for a GBA micro?

mr_silver — Wed, 03 May 2006 09:52:25 -0800

I've got a Gameboy Micro and have been thinking about getting either a SuperCard, M3 Advance or Neoflash Mk2/Mk3 and have a number of questions... 1. Have you ever used any of these? Which would you recommend for use with a GBA Micro? I'm not particulary interested in getting a NDS.

2. I'm thinking about the CF version as I have a number of CF cards lying around however SD is pretty cheap. Is there any particulary compelling reason why I should go with SD over CF? Size issues? Power issues? Speed issues?

3. What is running emulation like on these things? I quite fancy playing SNES Sensible Soccer, Megalomania and Cannon Fodder to relive my childhood.

4. Do you know of anywhere in the UK I can get this without having to pay up for the PassMe connector? Given that I don't intend on getting a NDS, it seems rather pointless.

I intend on using it to reduce my collection of games from 30 odd carts down to 1.

Market for cartridge games with secrets unlocked?

vanoakenfold — Sun, 16 Apr 2006 09:35:01 -0800

Videogamefilter: Where can I buy cartridge video games that have the secrets unlocked and saved? I've got Advance Wars for GBA and play it at work (because there are gaps of activity where we must simply find something to do while waiting, kind of in the sense of a fireman, but just sitting at a computer) and this game really makes the time fly -- but I only have the 3 basic commanding officers. I want to buy or trade for a copy that has all the extra CO's unlocked, because I get too frustrated playing campaign missions (yes, even on the tutorials). Is there someone who can beat it that will unlock them all for me, or some specialty shop that sells unlocked games in general?

I've sold games on eBay before with these types of details in the description, like Golden Sun GBA game with characters on a savegame with level 60+ and all the major items.. But is there perhaps a marketplace for specifically this type of deliberately used product?

The best games for the Gameboy Advance SP

aebaxter — Thu, 09 Mar 2006 06:58:50 -0800

What are the best Gameboy games you've played? I have a Gameboy Advance SP and I would like to expand my game collection. I'd love recommendations for the most fun and/or engaging games you've played on the Gameboy.

It doesn't have to be a specific style or genre of game. Heck, it doesn't even have to be made for the GBA - I'm willing to seek out old school used Gameboy games if the game is worth tracking down. It just has to be really fun and playable on the GBA SP.

Just for reference, games I own that I really love:
Super Mario World 2
The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap
Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Brothers 3
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4
Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town

Suggestions?