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Bluetooth, GSM, and Gameboy
brnsurgon1 writes ""The aim of the project was to investigate mobile gaming over GSM- and Bluetooth- networks, by developing a concept prototype, connecting a Gameboy to a mobile phone over Bluetooth. The results show that it is possible to connect two Gameboy Color over a GSM network by connecting to the phone using the Bluetooth plugin we developed for the Gameboy."" A couple other have submitted this story - it looks interesting. But, heck, I'm still trying to finish Golden Sun on my GBA.
can i connect a gb advance sp with a normal gb advance or a gb color?
Why not? it's the same device in a different case.
Did anybody notice that the thesis was done in 2000 and the last update to the page was two years ago?
It is interesting anyway because the thesis contains all the diagrams and explanations needed for building your own interfaces. But this is not really new...
...that's doing bluetooth on the GBA, but for a lot more than playing games. Their "edutainment" angle makes me suspicious, but they've got some interesting looking features.
My company has developed the GPRS-based Chess game that comes bundled with the O2xda (essentially the same as the T-Mobile Pocket PC in the U.S.). It works extremely well, using connectionless UDP via GPRS packets. The game only sends tiny little packets when you chat or make a move, and as far as we have seen there is not even packet loss on a GPRS network. The costs boil down to about 1 EUR/US$ per hour of play. The only problem is that the device still costs EUR 500.-, so it's not really a mass market product. But expect things to change, my guess is that there will be plenty of multiplayer mobile games by summer, at least here in Europe.
> It looks like some phone companies have decided to charge for GPRS access based on time, not on volume of traffic.
thats bad. very bad.
first, it is important to understanding how GPRS works. telco's will put higher precedence over voice calls than GPRS calls - so, if the network is full, they will disconnect GPRS connections to allow voice connections to go through (this, depends on the network of course - but, when you understand more money can be made from voice calls - its obvious).
paying by the minute for a GPRS connection is stupid. the whole idea with GPRS was to stay connected at all times, and, receive data as soon as it was available; when i tested GPRS way back in 2000, it was cool to be able to ride the subway/bus to work, and, continue to icq my buddies (sad, i know; but it had a geek factor to it *g*).
the second problem with GPRS is that although there may be more bandwidth available - its a common misconception that in reality, you are actually sharing bandwidth with others. that means, if 10 people are sharing a 144kbps line, your connection may effectively be 14kbps. keep in mind that normal GSM phone call you pay by the minute, but, your guarenteed a connection of 9600bps. while doing tests with GPRS and GSM, i found, when in congested areas - i got better transfer rates with GSM (dialing isp) than GPRS. it isn't hard to do the math and figure out at which point GPRS actually becomes slower than using GSM.
the true fun will come when they can stablise UMTS. but, that is well overdue - constant delays, hmm.. i wonder why?
Nintendo's in 3rd place only in European home console sales. But the GBA is #2 system including handhelds, right behind PS2.
In the US, it's a 2-way tie between Nintendo and M$ for 2nd place in home consoles. PS2 is #1, but again, GBA is #2 overall system.
In Japan, it's a near blowout. PS2 is #1 overall, Gamecube is the clear #2 home console, GBA is #2 overall system (pushing cube down to #3 in overall system sales).
The new Gameboy Advance SP also has a backlight. Although the shaped has change so that it is vertical again - not to sure on this myself. It folds in half to give you a very neat package... I 'accidently' scratched my GBA screen so I guess I'll have to get a new one also... At least then I can get the stars for 2 player games in Game and Watch Gallery....
It already does exist...pocketpc with phone & GPRS built in:
o2 XDA
There are also other similar products floating around.
---- Den ene knappen er powerknapp, den andre er Bender voice knapp "Bite My Shiny Metal Ass"
It is possible to charge by time as although GPRS is a packet based communication system devices need to set up a connection to the the SGSN (like an SMSC for SMS). This connection can be set on most hadsets to be 'when needed' or 'when available'. So you could charge by time. Note on most systems you will get charged for the 'administration' packets needed to maintain this connection.
I've just started using GPRS on a Nokia 7650 and having a full POP3 email client on my phone is fantastic. However here in the UK GPRS is being charged at about 8UKP per megabyte!! - about 12US$ which makes GPRS a hell of a lot higher revenue generating for a given network capacity.
Sega is not developing for the GBA. THQ is porting old Sega titles.
The Gamepark gp32 has a 2.4GHZ RF Module for connecting to other devices.
Frankly, the gp32 blows the GBA away:
# CPU 32 Bit 133MHZ RISC CPU (ARM9)
# Display: TFT 3.5" Reflective TFT LCD(65,536 colors)
# ROM 512 Kbytes
# Storage SMC(Smart Media Card)
# RAM 8MB SDRAM
# PC Connection Cable USB Port connection cable
# Sound 16Bit PCM Stereo Sound, MIDI support (over 32 poly), 4 Channel WAV Mixing
# Definition 320 X 240 Pixels
# Power 2 AA Batteries (12 Hours use time between charges)
# MP3 MPEG(I,II) Audio Support
# Controls 8-Way directional pad (joystick) + Durable 6 key buttons
# Wireless multi-player gaming
# Internet Connectivity
# Online multiplayer game can be played by high-speed Internet connection
It runs SNES, GBC, C64, NES, 2600, etc. emulators, plus Doom and even Quake. Mame and GBA emulation are on the way. MP3 and Divx players too.