Slashdot Mirror
Nintendo Announces Wireless GBA Adapter
Thanks to an anonymous reader for pointing to the Yahoo press release announcing Nintendo is using Motorola technology to produce a wireless adapter for the GameBoy Advance. According to the release, "The 2.4GHz radio frequency (RF) chipset enables up to five players to play each other wirelessly, allowing for flexible, mobile game playing", and it "...will be launched in Japan first half of 2004." Motorola is also hosting a picture of the device, showing how it connects to the GBA.
technology offers robust performance with a high-speed data rate
I thought that the GBAs data port was limited to an extremely slow transfer rate. (2kb/s?) Is it faster on the sp? Does anyone have info on this?
"Come on, let's go drink till we can't feel feelings anymore."
How long do you think it will be before GBA emulators use Wi-Fi cards to do the same thing?
Great idea, but I'm wondering about the design. From the image, it looks like the edges will be either flush with or slightly overlapping the L and R buttons of the GBA SP. This might make playing some games slightly problematic.
Otherwise, I'm looking forward to it. Too bad it won't ship in time for the Return of the King premiere line-up.
The article only mentions this as usable for GBA/GBA connections. I hope that this will also work with GBA/GCN connections, allowing gamecube games which link with the gameboy to finally be free of cabling.
The wavebird took care of this on the controller end, and with upcoming games taking more advantage of the GBA as a supplemental or primary controller, a wireless adapter could really rock (FF: Crystal Chronicals, for example). Considering it's the same port, I don't see why they wouldn't offer it...
what the hell is a 'junk character', anyway?
That's totally possible.
It's how the GBA -> GCN link works. GBAs can boot off of the data port, and this lets you have companion programs included on game discs (which is how FF: CC works.)
It's also how multiplayer, single cart games work. Only limiting factor is that the entire program has to be held in ram.
This is how, incidentally, all the new flashrom carts from HK work. No cart-writer needed, just a USB -> GBA cable. Boots a writer program, stick the cart in, and you're done.
I think (well, I'm not sure) that I was another device like this made by some guys from Norway about a year ago or so. They'd made their own to hook up to a GB, and they used mobile phones for connecting the two GB's.
Anyone got a link?
A proud member of the Onion-in-Hand alliance
Much as Nokia have just released info about some funky-looking products for next year, their foray into portable gaming is probably over before it's really begun. The "N-Gage" (*shudder*) was touting wireless multiplay as a big feature. Now it's no big thing. I have a GBAsp on my desk beside me, I'm not going to buy a whole new phone for a feature the GBA can gain with a small add-on.
Have you tried to use an N-Gage? I played about a dozen or so games at ECTS and IT SUCKS!!!
I mean... I had high(ish) hopes for the thing and REALLY can't see them battling the Big N on their own territory but this is a terribly designed system and the press keep trying to put a good spin on it but as a games I flat out wouldn't buy one.
1 - The screen is tiny and vertically mounted - it just doesn't work for games. Sonic was damn annoying as the width of the play area is too wide for the screen. It's clear enough but WAY too small.
2 - The keypad SUCKS!! It's useless for gaming although it could be useful for strategy games. You hit just about every other button on the keypad before you hit the onw you want and the surface is so smooth you really have to concentrate on where your fingers are - and thus not the game. The D-Pad is said to be excellent but I found it too smooth and flat - too easy for a thumb to slip off - too hard to detect any response...
3 - There are no L and R buttons even though that's exactly where your fingers are.
4 - There are lots of other buttons on the keypad such as "phone/sms etc" if you accidently push on of these whilst playing a game your gaming experience seems to just stop....
5 - YOU HAVE TO TAKE THE DAMN THING APART TO CHANGE GAMES!!
6 - Nokia's marketing monkies are spewing BS everyday talking about the GBA being a "kiddies toy" (they're trying to make there product look "cool" in a PS sort of way. However most people I see playing GBA are 20/30/40 somethings on tubes and trains playing stuff like Advance Wars. IMNSHO Nokia's marketing line is BS.
7 - THERE ARE LOADING SCREENS!! WTF!! I played a coupla games (some pseudo 3D platformer and a motorbike racer) and there were HUGE (30seconds to a minute) loading screens. DAMN IT! I want to play this on a 10 minute tube journey!!
8 - WHY DO YOU HAVE TO TAKE IT APART TO CHANGE GAMES!!!
9 - The frame rates on a lot of the games are just NOT very good at all. Sonic plays at about 10 to 15 and seemed to have some SERIOUS slow down. As did a lot of the other games (esp. the pseudo 3D stuff)
10 - And this is the one that will kill the N-Gage. People upgrade phones like they change underwear. This thing is going to last 2 years MAX and at that point Nokia have to release an upgrade OR incorporate this functionality into all their phones.
11 - Don't ever believe the Big N is asleep. The games on the Nokia system just feel unfinished and unpolished - frame rate skipping - cheesey loading screens - by contrast when Nintendo launched the GBA a whole chunk of polished gaming came with it.
The wireless adapter isn't a bad plan from Nintendo but it is just a peripheral - not everyone will buy it (in fact few will) but it will give Nintendo a little bit more knowledge to prepare for the onslaught of PSP (which I reckon is going to get screwed because any graphically decent games will drain the battery in about 30 minutes.... but we'll see about that!)
Matthew.
"None of this shit works" -W.Shatner
There is already a TCP/IP-enabled operating system with a built-in web server for the GBA: Contiki!
Of course, X-Trafun's quite a small shop, so they haven't been able to market their product sufficiently to get much real attention. Unfortunately, although they were first, they're now going to be thoroughly stomped out of the market by the power of Motorola.
nuke the moon
This is really just another attempt to keep control of the gba market. Triton Labs (of afterburner fame) announced a wireless link kit (stealth link) months ago, but i guess it was only a matter of time before nintendo followed suit. Remember Nintendo wasn't in a rush to release a frontlit gba until the afterburner was released and was successfull, just my 2 cents.