What's the best way to play Game Boy Advance games today?

[Beak]

Long after the GC drive on it fails in some way, it still will work as a Game(boy)Cube.

Not without another way to boot the GB Player, it requires a disc.

Bummer, really?

[casterofdreams]

If we are strictly speaking just GBA, I quite enjoyed playing them on the DS Lite.

The screen is super bright. The resolution upscaling isn't too bad but you can play the games natively without any problems. Its comfortable to hold and doesn't feel cramped. It's got stereo sound for the games that support it (Pokemon does for sure). Lastly it has a headphone jack.

[Ziggy]

Long after the GC drive on it fails in some way, it still will work as a Game(boy)Cube.

Not without another way to boot the GB Player, it requires a disc.

Bummer, really?

Yep, you need that disc to boot up the GB Player. Without it, there's no (official) way to use the GB Player. You're not totally out of luck though if your disc drive is busted.

If you're only missing the disc, but your drive works fine, then you only need a way of booting burned discs (a mod chip).

If your drive is busted... There were Wii mod chips, such as the WiiKey Fusion, that would allow you to boot game images off an SD card or something. People got the WiiKey Fusion to work on the GCN, though the installation isn't so easy. And, I don't know what the availability of those products is like these days.

In recent years, there's been a bunch of projects to replace the optical drives in various consoles (load games off either SD card or HDD). Such devices currently exist for PS1, Saturn, 3DO, Dreamcast, and maybe more. GCN fans are hoping for a solution like this to happen for the GCN, but I wouldn't hold my breath considering that you can already accomplish that on a Wii.

Another option if your drive is busted: Someone was nice enough to make alternative software for the GB Player. There's a device for the GCN that you plug into a memory card slot that will let you boot homebrew apps off an SD card. You can load this alternative GB Player software using this method, and I think those devices are still easy to get a hold of these days.

http://www.gc-forever.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2782

[ElkinFencer10]

Game Boy Players aren't very expensive; Game Boy Player Boot Discs, on the other hand, can be quite difficult to find.

[Sarge]

Oh, now that's interesting. I may have to check that out. I've got a Wii I could use to set up the Melee exploit to at least try out the alternative to the official GB Player software.

[Ziggy]

Game Boy Players aren't very expensive; Game Boy Player Boot Discs, on the other hand, can be quite difficult to find.

For a while, you could buy them from the Nintendo online store for like $15. I got my GB Player for cheap because it didn't come with the start up disc. I have a mod chip in my GCN, so I just burned a boot disc. I'm still kicking myself for not picking up the pressed disc when it was available though. I kept putting it off, and then it eventually disappeared from the store.

Oh, now that's interesting. I may have to check that out. I've got a Wii I could use to set up the Melee exploit to at least try out the alternative to the official GB Player software.

I suppose you'd be able to load it on a Wii, but you might get an error message "hardware not found" that would prevent you from actually using it. Or maybe the app would just lock up or something.

[Tanooki]

I guess I should have been clearer with that comment awhile ago as I know it's supposedly quite cheap and easy to throw a mod chip in a GC to bypass the entire drive.

Either way -- I had a nice surprise a couple days ago, found Super Ghouls n Ghosts Advance for $10.

[ElkinFencer10]

Burned discs put more strain on the laser and shorten their lifespan, do they not? Or is that just a Dreamcast issue?

[Ziggy]

Burned discs put more strain on the laser and shorten their lifespan, do they not? Or is that just a Dreamcast issue?

Some people say that the burned discs require more power to the laser to be read, so that will cause the drive to wear out faster. "Faster" is a relative term though. This might be more of a concern on some console versus others. Some people straight up call bullshit on this claim.

It might be a crap shot either way. The drive on my Wii acts up with grinding noises, and that has nothing to do with burns or pressed discs. My point is that your drive can malfunction in many ways, so why be so concerned with just one?

[Exhuminator]

I think I know the best way to play GBA games in today's world:

this + that =

(GBA RPGs at least.)