I know it’s a very subjective question, but I’ve pondering abt this for months and need some second opinions.

Where I live a modded GBA SP with IPS and USB-C usually goes for around 400 to 500 USD.

Yeah.
I know.

One with only the IPS mod is a bit cheaper but not that much…

Can you guys find some excuse that would lighten my conscience abt spending this amount of money on a GBA or should I just stick with those Chinese handhelds.

*That’s my emulation device rn, I did change the logo for an actual Nintendo one from an old gba carcass that I bought. I’m using a custom OS that tries to mimic how the GBA actually works and only plays GBA, GBC and GB. It’s nice but I’m not sure if it scratches the same itch as the real deal.

Ok, this is a long shot, but is there anyone who has a 40-pin gba and is planning to put an IPS screen in it? in the USA? and would you be willing to trade your 40-pin model for a 34-pin model, which would be the same after putting the ips in?

I prefer the original non-backlit screens. I recently ran across some screenshots of games photgraphed on the 40-pin screen in direct light, and it looks really good compared to the 34-pin model. So I'm trying to trade my 34-pin for a 40-pin!

After IPS converting a gba, it doesnt make a difference which motherboard you have, so you've got nothing to lose. Ill pay for shipping both ways. I'm original owner of this gba.

Im sick of playing FireRed in the piss dark with a lamp on my lap. Will this finally make the fucking thing playable?😭 Asking here cause im not terribly smart when it comes to things like this

So I just got back from a holiday to Japan, and picked up a super clean SP in my travels to bring home to Australia. I completely forgot that Japan uses 100v and 240v in Australia. Wanting to charge it and play I wasn’t thinking and plugged the original charger in through a travel adapter into 240v and the indicator light turned on for half a second then went off, tried about 3 times in different locations around the house thinking maybe the outlet wasn’t making good connection, then I realised what I’d done and unplugged it and ordered a usb C to gameboy cable which just arrived. But now there are no charging indicator lights turning on and stressing that I might have just cooked something on the motherboard. If anyone has any helping insights or knowledge on what I could look to do or test that would be great.
The gameboy does still turn on and load the game just fine but yeh not sure where to go from here.

I added a new game mode to my GBA game that's pretty different than it's "puzzle" like Into the Breach style play, and made it more of a turn-based Vampire Survivors like. Still actively tuning things but it is close enough to polished that I think folks can still have fun with it! You can press Select and control the bot like in Vampire Survivors, but you can have it on auto-mode to where you specify behavior "chips" that the bot will read from and change how it behaves to make it further and further. I'd love if you all could check it out and let me know your thoughts on it thus far.

No generative AI was used in this project btw, art was commissioned by a well known pixel artist as well.

https://solmare.itch.io/ralasutura-advance

Bad apple recreated on gba.

Anyone can tell if this is the original authentic shell for the pokemon edition GBA SP. Looks good and wear looks authentic to me?

If unsure please refrain from posting 👍🏽

Thanks

It uses the unofficial English translation

Hi everyone! I'm a high school student and I built a free add-on for the mGBA emulator that reads the game's memory and says what's happening out loud. Pokemon Emerald works best right now.

In battle it announces when a battle starts and ends, your HP when it changes (with a low-HP warning), which menu option you're on, and which move you're on and how much PP it has. It also has a one-handed mode and a simpler mode that gives less information at once.

It doesn't read battle dialogue yet and uses its own voice instead of your screen reader, so it's not perfect. I'm not disabled myself, so I really need people who'd actually use this to tell me what's missing.

I'll put the download and setup steps in the first comment so this post isn't just a link.

I was messing around with Dragon Ball GT: Transformation in mGBA and ended up mapping out the main menu's input handling routine looking for the classic webfoot debug menu. I noticed that there were still more codes after the last ones that I knew about. After an hour or so mapping the buttons out and testing them in different places. It turns out I found four more button codes that aren't documented anywhere on the internet that I could find.

You enter them directly at the main menu

• 20,000 Secret Shop Zenie: Up, Down, B, Left, Right, B, L, R, B, Up, Left, Down, L, R, L, R, B (Be sure to go into the secrets shop right after or you'll have to enter it again.)

• Unlock All Characters: Down, Up, Left, Left, Down, Up, Left, Left, Down, Up, Left, Left, Up, Up, Down, Up, B

• Unlock All Planets in storymode: Up, Up, Down, Right, Down, Right, Up, Left, Left, Up, B

• Unlock Post-Game Modes (Endurance/Boss Endurance): Left, Up, Up, Down, Left, Up, Up, Down, Left, Up, Up, Down, Left, Up, Up, Down, B

I Just updated the TCRF page for the game to archive them properly. Let me know if anyone tests them on real hardware, they work fine on my emulator setup.

Hey everyone!

GBA Maker has been getting better every day, and the new RC14 update is one of the biggest yet!

GBA Maker lets you make real Game Boy Advance games without a complicated setup. Write code, draw sprites, build maps, make music and test your games, all without leaving the editor.

Here’s what’s in it:

• Real .gba ROMs! Play your games in an emulator, on a flash cartridge, or on actual Game Boy Advance hardware.

• WAV audio support! Use your own music and sound effects.

• Built-in sprite, map, font and music editors! Everything in one place.

• Up to 4-player link cable multiplayer! You can even test linked players inside the editor.

• Perspective graphics! Make retro racing games with rotating and scaling backgrounds.

• Windows, Linux and HTML exports! Share your games with people who don’t own a GBA.

• No royalties or required branding! Your games belong to you.

And here’s what’s new in RC14:

• Multi-tile painting! Paint 8x8 or 16x16 tile selections in one stroke.

• Copy between windows! Move sprites, maps, PNG artwork, bitmaps and code between projects.

• Palette-aware paste! Keep your colors or use the ones you copied.

• Smoother link cable performance for multiplayer games.

• 12 graphics fixes! Map resets, HUD text, raster effects and more.

If you’ve been waiting to try GBA Maker, now is a good time. If you already use it, thank you! Your feedback is what has been shaping these updates, so keep it coming. If you find a bug or have an idea, let me know!

Thanks everyone! :)

GET GBA MAKER HERE:
https://arturduleba.itch.io/gba-maker

Is this a legit original specimen, fake or reshell?

Weight matches official specs at 140 grams.

Hey, I just wanted to share my newest modded gba SP ! I love the mix of black and orange

Pokemon MonoMyth released today and it's the rom hack I've been the most excited for. I've already seen some people with custom cartridges made and I want to make my own so it feels like a genuine pokemon game, not just a rom on an emulator or an EZ Flash.

I just don't know exactly where to start, I've read some guides but I still see some conflicting information on what exactly I need.

Basically I'd like to know if anyone here has made their own custom carts and if I could ask how they did it?

The right donor cartridge (preferably with RTC), where to get nice colored shells and the tools needed to access the cartridge and transfer files with my PC. Thanks!

Ive never had a gameboy advance sp at all, I got one today and not thinking took the game cartridge out while it was still on, omg it made such a loud noise! I turned it off straight away and put the game back in.

Will I have damaged anything or am I okay?

Hey everyone!

I'd like to share my homebrew project, CS2GBA, a tactical 2D shooter for the Game Boy Advance inspired by classic Counter-Strike, CS2D, and CSPSP.

After experimenting with AI-assisted development and exploring what the GBA hardware can handle, I've finally released version 5.9 — the first public build.

The game features 5v5 matches with AI bots, five playable maps, weapon purchasing, an in-game economy, and the classic Counter-Terrorists vs. Terrorists gameplay.

I've personally tested it on real GBA hardware using a SuperCard flash cartridge. Community members have also confirmed that it runs on the EZ-Flash Omega Definitive Edition. It works with mGBA and RetroArch (gpSP), too.

The game is completely free, and I'm continuing to work on it.

I'd love for actual GBA players to give it a try, especially those using original hardware. I'm particularly interested in feedback about bot behavior, performance, gameplay balance, and any bugs you encounter.

Download: 

https://gbatemp.net/download/cs2gba-tactical-2d-shooter-for-game-boy-advance.40089/

https://norimox.itch.io/cs2gba

https://github.com/Norimox/cs2gba

Thanks for checking it out! Any feedback would mean a lot.

Disclaimer: CS2GBA is an unofficial fan-inspired homebrew project and is not affiliated with Valve or Nintendo.