GBA Afterburner Creators Announce Stealth Link

Thanks to the double-team of PlanetGameCube and Shacknews for pointing out that the Gameboy Advance 'Afterburner' backlight creators, Triton Labs, have announced the Stealth Link GBA multiplayer adaptor. It'll allow you to play multiplayer Gameboy Advance games against your friends completely wireless, without those pesky link cables, and is due in retail stories in Q3 2003. More excellent innovation here from the people who made the GBA usable again, before Nintendo put in backlighting as standard with the Gameboy Advance SP.

Comments

Nintendo Needs Them On The Payroll

[Babbster]

Shooting for a price point of $30-40 is something I would expect from Nintendo, or at least one of the "big-time" third-party accessory makers. It's especially ambitious since wireless networking cards for PCs are still running in that price range.

My only question is how big can this possibly be? While it would be "cool" to play multiplayer on GBAs located in different rooms or across the room, you would be paying three or four times the cost of an old-fashioned link cable. I guess the best use for this would be with four-player connectivity since dealing with four cords and arranging appropriate seating for four people tethered by cords would be more troublesome. But there again you're talking about $120-160 spent between four people to get the ball rolling. You'd have to play connected games a LOT to get a decent return on your investment.

Before anyone says anything, I know that the Afterburner was a huge success. But that product gave value to EVERY GBA owner since one player or four, the screen was still lit instead of dark.

Again, though, in terms of the "cool factor" and the ambition factor, Triton certainly can't be faulted. They might just help drive Nintendo to more changes. If they succeed, I wouldn't be all that surprised to see a Gameboy Advance SPX in a year or so that integrates bluetooth right into the package.

Interesting.

[Sheetrock]

Is this something you could hook up to a computer? I could see all sorts of neat hacks (emulator/GBA connectivity, GBA/GBA connectivity over the Internet, backup/restore of GBA save files) for a device like that.

other applications?

[GlobE 59]

Makes you wonder what other applications this could be used for. You have the bluetooth-adapter coming out in q4(from what i've heard) and perhaps they will both help spawn a new array of wireless applications.
Question is of course, do we really want/need to turn an excellent little gaming-platform into a multipurpose-ninja-tool? The digital camera and printer for the old gameboy was perhaps not the most brilliant products.... or?

Re:other applications?

[Babbster]

One could similarly ask if we need really need Dreamcast to run Apache. No, we probably don't. The Bluetooth product that you linked to is intended to take over the GBA and provide it a brand new function. The Triton product is intended to expand the GBA's current capability as opposed to giving it a new one. You can already "network" up to four GBAs for multiplayer gaming, and they simply want to make it possible to do so without wires. Given that it's one of the [few] things that interests people about the N-Gage, it's possible that wirelss connectivity between portable "consoles" is the next natural step in their evolution.

Consider this future possibility: Imagine if GBA titles could not only be given 802.11b (or g or z or whatever) compatibility for communication directly between GBAs, but could also be bridged onto the Internet allowing two (or four) people with GBAs across town or across the country to hook up and play on their handhelds. Nokia's N-Gage is supposed to have something along those lines across the cellular network so it's certainly possible. Combining that kind of connectivity with a device as prolific as the GBA, and with its attendant game quality, would be amazing.

Backlight?

[pr0vidence]

"Gameboy Advance 'Afterburner' backlight creators"

Just to clarify. The Aterburner is NOT a backlight, it's actually a frontlight. I put one in my GBA. It is a plastic sheet that sits on top of the LCD and shines light from a couple white LEDs down onto the screen.

It really sort of bugged me that only a few months after Triton labs put all the work into developing the afterburner and packaging it, comming up with easy to follow directions for installation, etc. Nintendo decided that NOW it was possible to do what they had been swearing off for years. Which is include some sort of lighting device in their handheld systems. They claimed they wanted longer battery life over including a backlight (or frontlight). With my afterburner installed I get about 10-11 hours on two AA batteries. That's plenty long for me, especially since I can now actually see whats going on. Nintendo is taking all the credit for Triton's hard work. For that reason I swore off buying a GBA-SP. Also I don't like how the GBA-SP is shaped. That pager-esque flip top form factor just doesn't do it for me.

Maybe it's just me. Don't get me wrong, I've been a big Nintendo fan since the NES, I still have my NES and collect games for it, along with my SNES, and N64, all the way down the line. But the GBA-SP is one thing I will be avoiding.

Re:Backlight?

[boomerny]

So in your experience the Afterburner is better than the external lighting devices out there? Was the installation hard(ie. is damage to the GBA possible)? I don't have a GBA but two of my friends do and this seems like a good solution for $25. I thought it was a backlight so thanks for clarifying.

Re:Backlight?

[pr0vidence]

The afterburner blows any and all external lighting solutions out of the water, with no question. Have a look at some of the pictures of the afterburner in action on Triton's site (www.tritonlabs.com) those pictures are the real deal, they are not altered to make it look like it works better than it does, it really looks that good.

As far as installtion, is it easy? Well, yes. But you need to have some basic soldering skills, a dremel tool, the "tri-wing" screwdriver to get the GBA case open (availble from Triton labs now, I believe) and, of course the willingness to spend about 30min to an hour installing the unit.

Is damage possible? Yes, indeed it is, a look at the afterburner forums at Triton's site will show you that several people have damaged their GBAs in the process. Some seriously, some not. Usually all it takes is de-installation of the afterburner to get the GBA working again, but it could result in a GBA-shaped paperweight. I had luck installing mine, it's really not THAT difficult. But, for those that are wary about installing it themselves, there are plenty of people or small businesses (they usually advertise themselves on the triton forums) that will either: sell you a pre-modded GBA or, provde the service of installing an afterburner into your GBA. So if you are not electronically inclined, there is still hope.

It's really a great buy, I was one of the first in line to pre-order my afterburner when it became available. And I never regretted it.

Re:Backlight?

[suraklin]

Two things about install.

One: you do not need a triwing screwdriver you can pick up a 1/16" standard screwdriver from Sears hardware for $3.

Two: Installation without a Dremel is possible if you have a sturdy utility knife. A Dremel would speed up the install.

Re:Backlight?

[Wog]

Installation for me was exceedingly difficult. You have to cut room in the case for the light, making SURE not to get any dust or fingerprins on the screen. Good luck... a lot of people used clean rooms to do it.

I would say this is only easy if you're handy with such things. I have a co-worker who has installed countless mod chips, etc. and said it was only moderately challenging.

Are the results worth it? Heck yeah. The thing made my GBA usable. I had not been playing it because of the poor screen. Now I log several hours a week on it. I had someone ask me a while back (before SP) if what I had was a prototype for something Nintendo was working on. :-)

But if I were doing it now? I think I might buy the SP. Alas, I like having AA instead of rechargable, there's no built-in headphone jack (need an adaptor), and I for one think the afterburner screen looks better.

It's just that that danged installation was a friggin nightmare.

Re:Afterburner Dude

[TheBrownShow]

It would be even more lame if he had this great idea and DIDN'T make a profit.

What's wrong with making an honest buck on a good idea?

Almost Cool Enough

[johnopolis]

This makes the GBA almost cool enough to buy. I've wanted a new hand-held game unit for a while. The last one I owned was the original extra-bulky GameBoy. I'm glad I've passed on most that came up since. The only thing holding me back is hearing here about the sony handheld.

How is power going to be handled?

[cjmnews]

My 2 GBAs with the Afterburner can only use the link cables when they have fresh charged batteries. Won't the wireless link use more power causing even more issues with connectivity? With all these add-ons with no additional power, limits will be reached.