Game Boy Guru project - UPDATED 4-8-15

[Shadow Kisuragi]

To clarify the stance of the site, we just follow the legality of emulation regulations - you're more than welcome to talk about it, but just please don't distribute or post links to the ROMs on the public forums since it becomes a gray area. It's not so much the issue of the legality of ROMs (who are we to determine every person's eligibility for having a back-up vs. a pirate?), but responsibility in case someone gets malware from a poor source and blames a member (and the site) for it. One of my co-workers was the person that created Nesticle, so I'm certainly not one to judge on emulation.

We've also used emulators for the ease of capturing screenshots for the site, as well as for documentation for ROM revisions. Emulation certainly has its place in collecting, and discussions about it shouldn't be discouraged.

[SirConnery]

I would expect your eyes would start to hurt after awhile if you did it on the original DMG systems they were released on. Even using the lightboy attachments, it ended up not being bright enough, or not brightened evenly. I used to own a Game Boy Light, which was a Japanese Game Boy Pocket with indiglo backlighting. Those were great, but still not as bright as they could be.

That's why I liked HDMIBoy. http://www.hdmyboy.com It seems like a nice way to be able to place these games on a TV, and perhaps even screenshot them decently. I just can't spend 258,00 euros ($277 + supplying your own DMG Game Boy) on this type of device. If the development team can get that price down to lets say $100 to $150 I'd consider. Still, even that's expensive. If they could get it down below $99 the chiptune LSDJ crowd might be able to use it to make entertaining music videos while they use them to play music during indie concerts. Frankly, if we ignore the aspect of people being interested in newer consoles, I think the LSDJ Chiptune movement may have be one of the reasons why the market for collectors boomed in recent years. Game collectors are often not chiptune musicians, but it does increase the sheer amount of custom modified Game Boys you see on eBay, thus raising the numbers of systems overall. There's the Reteron5 which I liked initially when it debuted at Midwest Gaming Classic a few years back. I was one of those who preordered. After getting my hands on one at a local shop and saw how badly they were produced, I cancelled my preorder. The local shop ended up mailing them all back because of the cartridge slot issues. I think Nintendo dropped the ball big time. They should have acquired Hyperkin years ago and re-released a combo system capable of playing your own classic games (NES, SNES, GB, GBC, GBA, N64, VB) and allowing you to purchase custom greatest hits titles of their choosing on proprietary cartridges which contained the game, developers interviews, extras, guides, rough drawings, etc. For the systems that had generations blowing on the cartridges, they took the sheer nostalgic factor out of it by releasing virtual console titles. But that's a whole other topic alltogether.

I'm not sure what emulators allow for screenshots. I just fired up my DSi with SuperCardDSTwo flashcard running the emulator lameboy, running The Addam's Family. No ability I can see to take a screenshot, so I took my digital camera, disabled the flash, and snapped this. Aside from that overhead light that's reflecting off to the side, I think it's pretty good. Still an emulator capable of screenshots would be best. http://i.imgur.com/y4FezCnl.jpg

[SirConnery]

Thanks for the clarification on emulation. That's about what I expected, but I always like to make sure before I venture into those waters.

[Shadow Kisuragi]

If I remember, Visual Boy Advance allows for screenshots.

[mumboking]

Any emulator should work for screenshots. They might not all have a built in function to do so, but you can still press print screen.

[MetalFRO]

If I remember, Visual Boy Advance allows for screenshots.

Yes, it does.  I've used that, as well as BGB.  All screenshots on my reviews so far have been via one of those 2 emulators.  And I'll echo Ryan's statement - thanks for the clarification on the site's emulation stance.  I certainly don't condone piracy, but I understand the tendency to want to check out a game before purchasing, especially given the rarity of some.  I mean, who wants to pay $100+ for Mr. Gimmick if they're not convinced it's a fun game and they're going to get their money's worth?  That's one reason I haven't plunked down the cash for most of the Japanese shmups on the Saturn, despite the fact that it's one of my favorite genres.  I may never own a copy of Radiant Silvergun, because I refuse to pay that kind of money for something that is NOT rare, and is only priced thus because of its reputation and the fact that it's always in demand.  I'll never have enough time to play that game enough to make it worth $150 or more.

Getting back on topic, I think you're right, Ryan.  Playing on the original brick, or even the GB Pocket, would be an exercise in inducing headaches.  I loved the original GB when I was a kid, and I still have one, and also recently acquired the see-through GB Pocket, but I know that playing on them can be a chore.  Even going back to the GB Color is less than ideal when I have a GBA SP.  But I do plan on spending some time playing through some of those games on the original hardware, if only to get a perspective on the aspects of the game that will be different on original hardware, such as the blurriness of scrolling, etc.  It does factor into some of the more fast-paced games, or games that do more in terms of scrolling, sprite movement, etc.  It's amazing to think, how some of the early games scrolled slowly enough that the blur effect wasn't that bad, but some later titles that pushed the hardware must have been difficult to play on original hardware because of that factor.

[singlebanana]

I second Shadow's suggestion that you also put these posts in your RFG blog. From time to time, I will promote blog articles to the front page. Handhelds don't get a ton of love, so it would be nice to see some articles on these games. I haven't promoted many articles as of late due to low blog activity, but I assure you that it happens.   Good luck!

[Shadow Kisuragi]

For what it's worth, according to Nintendo Corporate:

Can I Download a Nintendo ROM from the Internet if I Already Own the Authentic Game?

There is a good deal of misinformation on the Internet regarding the backup/archival copy exception. It is not a "second copy" rule and is often mistakenly cited for the proposition that if you have one lawful copy of a copyrighted work, you are entitled to have a second copy of the copyrighted work even if that second copy is an infringing copy. The backup/archival copy exception is a very narrow limitation relating to a copy being made by the rightful owner of an authentic game to ensure he or she has one in the event of damage or destruction of the authentic. Therefore, whether you have an authentic game or not, or whether you have possession of a Nintendo ROM for a limited amount of time, i.e. 24 hours, it is illegal to download and play a Nintendo ROM from the Internet.

I'm assuming you're using a GBA SP 101, rather than a 001, due to the backlit screen?

[MetalFRO]

For what it's worth, according to Nintendo Corporate:

Can I Download a Nintendo ROM from the Internet if I Already Own the Authentic Game?

There is a good deal of misinformation on the Internet regarding the backup/archival copy exception. It is not a "second copy" rule and is often mistakenly cited for the proposition that if you have one lawful copy of a copyrighted work, you are entitled to have a second copy of the copyrighted work even if that second copy is an infringing copy. The backup/archival copy exception is a very narrow limitation relating to a copy being made by the rightful owner of an authentic game to ensure he or she has one in the event of damage or destruction of the authentic. Therefore, whether you have an authentic game or not, or whether you have possession of a Nintendo ROM for a limited amount of time, i.e. 24 hours, it is illegal to download and play a Nintendo ROM from the Internet.

I'm assuming you're using a GBA SP 101, rather than a 001, due to the backlit screen?

Yes, I'm sure it's a GBA SP 101.  It doesn't appear to be something that was modded, and I'm sure if it had been, the vendor I bought it from wouldn't have let it go 3 years ago for the $20 I paid for it 

And yes, Nintendo's stance on roms and emulation echoes that of any other vendor, because they're protecting their IP's, as they should.  They take a hard line stance because they have to, and I wouldn't expect them, or any other game company, to do any less.  Having said that, I consider it a bit of a philosophical difference in the interpretation, from the standpoint that many of the titles are no longer available, nor will they be.  Sega can likely never offer downloadable Virtual Console or other versions of their Spiderman games on the Genesis, because they no longer have the license.  Same goes for their X-Men titles.  Konami no longer owns the licensing for any of the TMNT games, because Activision published the latest iteration, based on the new TV series.  So even though the original 2 TMNT arcade games are major classics, other than licensing deals that allow for some limited release of that stuff, it's likely not going to happen.  Nintendo 1st party titles will nearly always be available, since they use their own IP's, but what about 2nd party (or previously 2nd party) stuff like RC Pro Am or Banjo-Kazooie?  Not likely.

The way I see it, emulation is an important part of keeping the heritage of this older gaming technology alive.  I love the fact that Nintendo opened up the Virtual Console on the original Wii to multiple companies, and wish that the Wii U's VC was as inclusive, but sadly, it hasn't turned out that way.  That's too bad, because I love the Wii U, and wish that Nintendo had done a better job of marketing it and differentiating it from the Wii.  That said, I have supported Nintendo's official digital emulation efforts.  I bought TLoZ: LTTP for the play through here, and plan on buying Earthbound, as well as a handful of other titles that are harder to find physical copies of or are more expensive.  Bring it on, Nintendo - open the floodgates and convert all your Wii titles over to the Wii U VC (assuming license agreements still hold up), and I'll buy more as I have disposable income.  Until that time, I'll keep seeking out physical carts, and will buy VC stuff when it makes sense to do so.