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"NES Homebrew Carts" got me this article about this device as the second result. A bit more looking found me information about the Devtendo. I presume that saleable games are produced in the same way they are on other systems: By taking an existing cart and resoldering a new ROM chip.

You've got it backwards. AGS is gratis (free as in beer), not libre (free as in speech).

By the way, there are also Free implementations of AGI and SCI available, as well as a development studio for making SCI games.

I dont know about you guys, but all you need is a 1 Gb "backup / homebrew" memory card (such as Flash 2 Advance Ultra) and a Game Boy Micro and *cough* backed up copies of oh say EVERY SINGLE NINTENDO GAME EVER MADE (which you of course have, just collecting dust, right?)

Let me make this crystal clear:
YOU COULD PUT EVERY SINGLE NES GAME EVER MADE ON A SINGLE GBA CARTRIDGE AND PUT SAID CARTRIDGE INTO A GAMEBOY MICRO.

Reflect on this for a moment - I would assume you guys would appreciate this far more than most.

How?
Slap 128 megs of games (256 if you get the 2 Gb version - thats nearly 1,000 NES games), load up PocketNES http://www.gameboy-advance.net/emulated/nes_roms_o n_gba.htm and go to town on an original NES controller sized micro NES with built in color screen, auto saving and toggleable turbo buttons built in (GBA has 2 shoulder buttons, why not use them for something :))

Of course you could also just buy (or build) an USB NES Controller and emulate them yourself (to prevent damage to the original games, i'm sure). Not as portable though, and saving and restoring the state is tougher (gotta use keys).

For extra kicks and giggles, anybody remember the old AGI Sierra games? (Think Leisure Suit Larry 1, Space Quest 1,2, Police Quest, Kings Quest Series, etc).

Some programming genius made a AGI --> GameBoy converter, called GBAGI. http://www.bripro.com/gbagi/index.php

Throw all of those on there too if you like, and even check out GREAT Fan made games that are arguably even better than the original SQ's - Space Quest 0: Replicated http://wiw.org/~jess/replicated.html and Space Quest: The Lost Chapter http://www.frostbytei.com/space/

Man these things have come a long way in just 20 years. I look forward to what the next 20 will bring - and it had better not be a Xbox 360 the size of a standard xbox controller or I am going to be PISSED.

Next up is the AGI 'emulator' already out there for the GBA. this will play the first couple Space Quests and something like the first 4 or 5 Kings Quests, etc. REALLY clever design on the interface for it to work with the GBA. Anyways, this will work on the DS with a regular GBA flash cart. http://www.bripro.com/gbagi/index.php

I really hope that the DS somehow spurs a resurgence in adventure gaming. It seems like a perfect match, with the touch screen and two screens for inventory, main game area, talkie/cutscenes, and the voice control could lead to some cool innovation in the genre. Plus, that sort of game seems like it would fit into the portable world... fire it up for a 15-30 minute session of trying to solve some puzzles and then save it and go back to work.

It's Hammer Time!!

Shit, I don't even OWN a GBA, but you can bet that if they released the QFG series, Space Quest, LSL games for it? You can bet I'd buy the games AND a GBA. Those games were worth it.

But that's what GBAGI is for. And it works pretty well, too!
On that page, you can also read why it wasn't officially released and what you need to be able to play them.

Considering other things he's done with the GBA, I'm sure he'd do a great job with GTA-SP.

read the guys webpages through..

a fucking maniac / genius !! hell, just check out stuff like this: NES videocard..

looks like he'll pull it off for me.

the funny thing? his nes version looks like it's going to be a better game than the gbc gta or the advance gta(advance gta looks too cramped, like you won't be seeing where you're driving to at all..)...

definitely... he's not only writing the whole thing, game engine, compiler etc, he's even built the hardware for it - the Devtendo!

Hats off to you, Brian!

Other Sierra adventure game projects on the net include reverse-engineered versions of old Sierra engines such as AGI and SCI, editors for both engines such as AGI Studio and SCI Studio, and fan-made games such as AGI Quest I and Space Quest: The Lost Chapter.

Other Sierra adventure game projects on the net include reverse-engineered versions of old Sierra engines such as AGI and SCI, editors for both engines such as AGI Studio and SCI Studio, and fan-made games such as AGI Quest I and Space Quest: The Lost Chapter.

They are already here :) : GBAGI

There's already a GBA interpretor for the Sierra adventure series, but the current copyright owners won't licence the games, or sell them in any other for. I've played a couple of the freeware titles and they rock. I can't imagine these wouldn't be a commercial success.

My friend Brian develops SCI Studio which is a Win32 application that allows you to develop games similar to those mentioned in the story above.

In fact, you can also edit those existing games and make them run in Windows. You may also want to take a look at his other site as he is a big AGI/SCI fantatic.