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Game Boy Advance RGB LCD Project
JohnHegarty writes: "Ever wanted a large backlit screen for the GBA, or even watching it on a 28" TV?
Here is a project to use a GBA on a PlayStation screen." Another example of the lengths people will go to to mock the term "pocket sized."
Otherwise known as a television
Be wary of any facts that confirm your opinion.
What he's actually done is connected a slightly bigger and brighter screen to the original LCD connector. Doesn't seem all that wonderful really.
Although I can't see my girlfriend lugging around a PS1 screen slapped to the back of her GBA. I do like the TV hookup element though. Too bad he's not intending to commercially produce it. Anyone hear about Nintendo doing something similar (i.e. TV hookup)?
It does invalidate your warranty, but the pictures on this page show you how impressive it is. Those of you with a PPC will know what the lighting is like.
It claims to get 10 hours gameplay with the light on, which isn't bad in the slightest.
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I've always wanted to play low resolution games on a large screen TV - wow!
I admit, I'm not a really a huge console gamer (except when it comes to Halo, and all you anti-Xbox trolls can suck an egg). Yet why would you want to play a GBA game on the big screen?
I guess people will do it just because they can, but if you're going to play a low quailty side-scroller, why not play something on the good ol' NES or SNES. About the same quality, and you get that whole nostalgia value too...
Or you could play Halo, while drinking Steel Reserve 211, like a real man.
Linux is dead.
LU
GBA = $100
:)) isnt a GBA meant to be portable? My 29" screen isnt exactly what I call portable device... :))
TV = $75
Adapter = $200
Total = $375
PS2 = $200
TV = $75
Total = $275
i really dont get it!
(prices not exactly the same on real life)
Fabio - Sumare/Sao Paulo/Brazil/South America/Earth/Solar System/Milky Way/Universe
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The mod itself is interesting. I think that pressure on Nintendo to improve the screen situation is probably a longterm better course of action, but folks around here like to take things into their own hands (and disassemble them, modify the hell out of them and make them do things that nobody else had even imagined).
Why not just get a real gaming system? Or better yet, a PC?
FoundNews.com - get paid to blog.,
But wouldn't it be easier for someone to buy a playstation rather than go to all this trouble to adapt a gamegear?
For one thing, it isn't a Sega Game Gear but rather a Nintendo Game Boy Advance. (The Game Gear was a portable Master System.)
For another, Game Boy Advance has some exclusive titles (Mario Kart Advance, Pinobee, Golden Sun, etc.) that won't hit the PlayStation for at least 95 years because their publishers own copyrights on the games and will not license a port.
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Who else remembers this little adaptor that would let you play GB games through your SNES and display them on a tv? I liked it, but i dont think it ever really took off. The point is, people buy a GBA to play on the train, in the car, at school etc. Not many people use their GBA at home, where they probably have a PC/PS whatever. As a GBA owner i think the most important feature it needs is simply a backlight.
Andy
Comment removed based on user account deletion
As usual, no one on slashdot reads the article - just the buzzline
He gave up on the 20 in screen, the resolution looks terrible on that size.
What amazed me was the brightness of the interact lcd compared to the GBA screen. Nintendo must have spent 20 cents on that screen, its truely worthless. I'm betting people will go this route to improve their display - I've seen a mod someone is selling that installs a very bright light in their GBA. I still think the first pre-order hasn't been completed yet, tells you something about demand for a better screen. Nintendo really screwed up on the screen.
Nicely trolled... a yin and yang effect.. good karma for posting slashdotted site text, bad karma for torlling.. well done.
This is pretty cool. To bad all my favorite games are all from the early Gameboy days. You know, back when the Gameboy was really large and rounded. Old school Tetris, Batman, stuff like that. It still works great on the new GBA but it sure would be nice if it were colorful too and not just the reddish color they try and put in to make it look colorful. Oh well, guess I'll just have to sit and reminisce about the old days (this looks odd considering im only 0x1F!)
Posting as directed.
It still seems like a lot of effort for very little return! I mean, come on, how many slashdot readers are likely to copy this idea ? It is almost as if the slashdot editors have pointed this loser out just so we can all laugh at him. Not a very nice thing to do.
I think in a few years normal consoles will be small enough that we will just have a single device that plugs in to normal TVs, LCD monitors, or even its own portable mini-screen.
And they'll run Linux, of course.
:P
Karma: Good (despite my invention of the Karma: sig)
The GBA games I've seen are about on par with SNES and Sega-genesis era system requirements. These include platform games like Sonic the Hedgehog, Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past, and Super Mario World, IMHO some of the best video games ever produced.
In fact, since the days of 16bit processing, games have not expanded in playability as fast as they have expanded in terms of special effects, graphic capabilities and system usage.
Despite the fact that you can now play Sonic in a glorious 3d world on the Nintendo Game Cube, the playability and enjoyment factor just isn't the same as the old side-scrolling platform Sonic games. Sonic 2 and 3 on Genesis are incredible, infinitely playable games. I fire up a Genesis emulator about once a month and play them through again just for kicks. I occasionally find something new when I play.
Since this is the kind of game best suited for the GBA and the people at Nintendo and Sega *do* understand the difference between 'playable' and 'dazzling', it's not surprising that they've chosen this platform to 'ressurect' some of these older sprite-based game engines.
That said, it's a shame that they didn't include RGB or composit out on the GBA, because the size of the GBA's display just doesn't do these kinds of games justice. It's true that they don't have particle and polygon-based graphics. It's also true that the games are playable on a small screen albeit with lots of lighting. What Ninentdo seems to have missed is that the first time we played these games, we did so on larger displays. The games are just more enjoyable if you don't have to squint against the glare of a halogen spotlight to see them.
I, for one, would like to see every handheld in the future ship with either a RBG or Composite video out plug so that you can play the game on a TV or a 'portable' LCD screen. The fact that people feel the need to mod the game to make it more enjoyable means that Nintendo hasn't don their job.
The next Slashdot story will be ready soon, but subscribers can beat the rush and slashdot the links early!
Both this project and that Afterburner project (http://www.tritonlabs.com/) seem to be proof that there is currently no good way to make a high quality, cheap, backlit screen for something like the GBA. This project is too unwieldy in terms of battery life and portability, and the Afterburner project, although it integrates directly into the GBA after some modification and soldering, results in the screen being sort of washed out. There will certainly be a backlit GBA at some point, but I think these projects prove that Nintendo is not crazy for not trying to include a backlight in the production GBA, because the technology to do this WELL just isn't there yet. -Tom
What I'm wondering is how well the PSOne may adapt to taking the RGB singals from arcade games as an input. It would be very interesting to see, bot from a visual standpoint (even though the screen is smaller), but also from the aspect of a portable JAMMA kit.
Mind you, "portable JAMMA" is a bix of an oxymoron. The main thing preventing it are the PCBs themselves. They're not ruggedized, and they are often quite big.
I can't believe I actually saw something referenced here without having to google cache trawl for it. I feel ... priveledged.
The mod itself is interesting. I think that pressure on Nintendo to improve the screen situation is probably a longterm better course of action, but folks around here like to take things into their own hands (and disassemble them, modify the hell out of them and make them do things that nobody else had even imagined).
Ever wanted a large backlit screen for the GBA, or even watching it on a 28" TV?
No.
FOAD.
I believe this was announced last week on MyHomeTechie.com.
It's amazing what passes for news here ; get up to speed!
Ace
If you're waiting for the bus or train or something the GBA screen works fantastic with sunlight. But if you're waiting for someone to respond to an IM or for your program to compile or for your friend to email you back or something, the screen works absolutely terrible with indoor lighting. We're not mocking the pocket size, the situation is that Nintendo dropped the ball with the LCD on this bad boy, and alternatives are desperately sought after.
Afterburner works for two hours @ best and only with games with bright palettes (Castlevania shows no improvement whatsoever). My two hour spec may be off because I use rechargeable batteries, but prior to Afterburner I was seeing 8 hours nonstop play before having to recharge.
[o]_O
Its NOT Karma Whore!
Can get just fine!
Want your GBA backlit?
go here
Want to play your GBA on a TV (cause we all know that 240x160 looks great on a 27 inch TV!) then go here (or here if you are in a PAL region).
So you can pay about 80 bux for the TV adapter and 35 for the backlight on a REAL GBA LCD...or build this ugly contraption...your choice
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What I'm kinda wondering is how well the PSOne may adapt to taking the RGB singals from arcade games as an input. It would be very interesting to see, bot from a visual standpoint (even though the screen is smaller), but also from the aspect of a portable JAMMA kit.
Mind you, "portable JAMMA" is a bix of an oxymoron. The main thing preventing it are the PCBs themselves. They're not ruggedized, and they are often quite big.
...just think of the "Blue Angel" possibilities!
Why not just get a real gaming system? Or better yet, a PC?
I already have a PC (Acer TravelMate 721TX, 333 MHz PII with 128 MB RAM, which I bought when I entered college three years ago). It's just barely fast enough to run VisualBoyAdvance at a semi-playable speed. And it's a lot heavier than a Game Boy Advance system. And $200 rechargeable battery packs don't seem to live very long.
The cradle to copy Game Boy Advance cartridges into your PC (so that you can run them in VisualBoyAdvance) costs $45. For only $65 more, you can get a real Game Boy Advance system with a real Afterburner light.
Will I retire or break 10K?
If Americans are Astronauts and Russians are Cosmonauts, what are Chinese? Gookanauts?
Their prefered term is Taikonauts.
tetris
Ever tried Tetanus On Drugs for Game Boy Advance? It's like playing Tetris on LSD, except without having to run from the DEA.
Will I retire or break 10K?
Anybody who is familiar with emulation likely knows about the Super Eagle anti-aliasing engine.
:)
.
:)
:)
Which, err, heh. Totally Friggin Rocks.
The output from a Game Boy Advanced is of a high enough quality that when paired up with SuperEagle engine it looks great even on a 19" or so computer monitor. I do not know if a 20 inch interlaced display would be better or worse. . .
Of course 2xSaI kicks ass too.
I wish that more companies would just implement those systems in Hardware, they definitely kick ass.
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Something like that already exists dude.
You plug the PCB into a box which has RCA out's to the TV and has small arcade sticks as controllers. Fits nicely on the lap.
http://gear.ign.com/articles/356/356041p1.html That's a link to the GBATV review on IGN. It retails for like 80 dollars. The LCD for the PSone has input for external video...so why not just use this? DUH. The RGB is the only thing lacking right? So just get a RCA to RGB converter at www.consolesource.com. Total cost is STILL better than the 200 or more for this project ;)
"Another example of the lengths people will go to to mock the term "pocket sized."
Or it may just be another example of the lengths people will go, to be able to actually see the games they are playing.
http://www.kubuntu.org/
[Image]
A close-up of the test cable connector which was shaved to be more like a female connector.
I am single and living alone, so if I want to build this thing, can I use my Gillette Sensor Excel or do I have to buy a LadyShave?
Hi guys, I'm glad my project made it to Slashdot.org. I should clarify a couple of things. The Innovation GBA adapter did already output the S-Video, composite video, and preamplified stereo sound, so you could go out and buy one now and play the GBA games on your TV. What I did was, I tapped the recently discovered RGB video leads and fed the signals to the PSOne LCD which uses them to drive the display. I am glad that in times when a back/front light is needed to make the games on the GBA more enjoyable, people are making their own solutions for this shortcoming. I have already got a few e-mails that I had inspired people to get out their soldering irons and do some work, even if it's not in this area. Expect a big update on the site later today. Also, I will be wrapping up the development on this project today so a video should follow shortly. Thanks to those that appreciate the work that went into this and for the record the final cost on this project is about $250. Kon
Their will be a gamecube to gba hook-up, and you might be able to play gba games through your gamecube if you have one, but if you don't have a gamecube, you might be out of luck.
More proof people will waste mod points on anything.
How far we've come in this brave new world...
Back when I was 11 and playing w/ my SNES, I thought that I'd never see the day when Sonic was on a Nintendo console.
Well, I brought up two points. First was wondering if the PSOne would work well in handling the RGB signals from an arcade monitor. The second was a reference to a portable JAMMA design.
Your response was "Something like that already exists dude." Kinda, yes, no, not really at all.
I don't believe anyone is packaging an LCD display, using RGB input, for arcade PCBs. Yes, you could use "a box which has RCA out's to the TV" (otherwise known as an RGB->NTSC converter which you'd find as part of the wiring in a supergun) to do an svideo or composite video out. But that wasn't the point. The point was using the RGB signal and not having to go through the circuity (such as JROK's RGB to NTSC converter) to do the trick.
You'd be direct driving a display with RGB inputs, and not messing the video signal with conversions. And the PSOne appears to have the correct horizontal scan rate in order to work with arcade PCBs.
To address the subject line, use your wisdom and intellect before applying google to get DUMB answers.
Back to the issue of portability, that'd be one less mess of circuits to deal with (rgb->ntsc converter) and you could integrate a display into a supergun quite easier than arcade pcb -> converter -> LCD NTSC display (which would probably end up with a really bad picture because of all the conversion).
Pi
Why do people tweak? It is because they feel that theyre power as a consumer is limited. Nintendo didnt include a large and nicely lit screen due to the fact that they needed to meet a price range so that the GBA could be accessible to everyone. This creates a problem for so called "hardcore" games because they dont even get an option for the features they want. Imagine being stuck with the same computer model as everyone else because some company *AHEM* *APPLE* *COUGH* decides that's the way things should be.
Now I can play gameboy on an Alpine 7" car LCD while driving in heavy traffic.
Mario Kart, anyone ?
-Billco, Fnarg.com
I remember nearly two years ago at the Tokyo Games Show, shortly after the release of the GBA, that Nintendo (and games developers) had banks of GBA's with a special cartridge that displayed the GBA screen simultaneously on large overhead displays. This made sense when large numbers of people were wanting to see the games and how they looked.
Anyone else remember this?
--- There's no place like 127.0.0.1
OK, first - I have four Game Boys - two are color GB, two are color GBA - and a GameCube.
Now that The Sims is coming out on PS2, I've been planning on buying one when the game ships.
So it would be useful to be able to play my French Pokemon Argent on one of my GBAs and display it on the PS2 screen (TV).
It would be real cool too.
-
--- Will in Seattle - What are you doing to fight the War?
Hey, someone's entirely missing the point again! ^_^;d eoprimer.sh tml ;)
It seems that you did not understand the concept of the whole LCD project. Yes, the RGB is the only thing lacking, right. BUT! The rest of the components is exactly the same, it's just all about a little more soldering.
refer to gamesx.com's video primer for more information about video signals and why converting "RCA" (And I thought they called it composite...?) to RGB won't get you anywhere.
http://atarilabs.com/meat/2000/1201_vi
HTH.
To put it in simple terms (i.e. something you might be LIKELY to comprehend):
RGB = good. RCA = bad. RCA->RGB = bad.
No extra cost for RGB. Only fiddling.
GLAD (I could help you.)
This assumes that you are choosing to download instead of buy:
1. You'll hurt the publisher, but hey, nobody worries about hurting a big bad publishing company, right?
2. You'll hurt the start up that made the game. But hey, to hell with the small business guy who started the studio (two cofounders, actually, both with wives & children).
3. You'll hurt me and the other 5 folks that busted our asses for 8 months (short schedule) to make the game. We get a royalty based directly on number of units sold. And the more units that are sold, the bigger percentage of royalties we get for the whole game. So enough downloads instead of buys can have a rather dramatic effect on how much money I take home in any given year.
So, in a nutshell, that's what happens when you download instead of buy. Kinda sucks for me and my friends.
Just FYI.
What were you expecting?