Nintendo Handheld Gaming Thread (Game Boy to DS)

[ExedExes]

Thanks for the thread-bump. I just completed Super Ghouls N Ghosts on the GBA, which was a perfectly cromulent SNES > GBA translation. The ability to save is great considering you have to go through the game twice, and there's also a special Arrange mode.

I haven't bought any games in a while but there's a few more in my GBA bag I want to drag out, including Max Payne one of these days.

[Tanooki]

Sounds good in both cases. I would love to find a couple SPs right now, preferably one of them being a 101.

I have the NES one, due to the low production run I fear wrecking it. I would love to shelve it for a 101, then a standard one for my little girl to go with her GBC since it is lit.

But thanks to Poke-crack Go, in turn it has caused all Pokemon games go up $10-20 in price going back to the originals, and also it reflected in a good $20 plus price increase on GBs entire family, more so on the lit up GBAs.

[casterofdreams]

Sounds good in both cases. I would love to find a couple SPs right now, preferably one of them being a 101.

I have the NES one, due to the low production run I fear wrecking it. I would love to shelve it for a 101, then a standard one for my little girl to go with her GBC since it is lit.

But thanks to Poke-crack Go, in turn it has caused all Pokemon games go up $10-20 in price going back to the originals, and also it reflected in a good $20 plus price increase on GBs entire family, more so on the lit up GBAs.

I have 4 SPs but one is the 101. All others are front lit.

Unfortunately the 101s will always keep a higher price but I wish you luck in your search.

I agree about the large price increase with Pokemon. Even the side games like the Ranger and Mystery Dungeon series are climbing.

[ElkinFencer10]

I've been kicking around the idea of getting back into my GBA gaming. I never finished Onimusha Tactics, and I haven't even started Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. =/

[Tanooki]

While I do not dig tactical RPGs really at all, FFTA I had for a long time back when it was new and I kept picking at it. There is almost too much game there, and is for the price. It has a nice option of both heaps of sidequests but also you can re-do done maps so unlike many others if you feel you didnt level enough or correctly you can throw more time away to get it right which is a huge plus if you love these types, and if you also blow at them too.

Caster thanks and no doubt. I was happy I found that GBC for my kid when I did. Stuff that had been kicking around the $15-20 dumpster like old GBPs, GBCs and dark GBA originals now get like $40, maybe more if they appear spotless. Prolific stuff most people wanting nothing to do with it outside of memories and collectors and now theyre kissing the level frontlit GBA SPs were rolling at. DMG, SP, SP101 all went up a $20 bill on average too. Games got the same price escalation too which is nuts. You can get like $50 for Pokemon Crystal now with a fresh battery when it was nothing like that pre-Go. I hope it cools off eventually as I dont see it going from artificial to staying. Oddly it does not really appear the GB Micro got any higher than it already was with its low release numbers.


I put a little time on Contact last night for maybe an hour just to get a feel for it again and it is pretty quirky *good way* and fun. I am still enjoying DQ7 but the progress in it gets slow and being a non-handheld game by design you get kind of stuck for stretches in those islands so it is tough. I want to put it down and play other stuff but fear I wont return to it. Before it arrived I had lined up DQ Rocket Slime and was half into it, but also Metroid Hunter+Pinball, New SMB and Zelda Phantom Hourglass to play...and now there is Contact. My wife is playing her 3DS daily now with all those picross carts and downloads and Animal Crossing so it would be most opportune to use itin the evening now too as we have DVR stuff going and what not. 3DS has nothing of value coming for months now until Mario Maker if I get it and Yoshis Wooly World, but there are a few I could go backwards on I missed out on too.

[casterofdreams]

I still remember my "ah-ha" moment with Phantom Hourglass. It involves one part with a map and a symbol. For those who haven't played it I'll leave it at that.

With regard to the Micro: someone please correct me if I'm wrong here but I feel the price of the Micro is governed by its low production numbers rather than nostalgia. I haven't looked at Micro prices in awhile but if they didn't tick and Pokemon skyrocketed recently, then it can lend to the idea of different factors in pricing.

Speaking of Pokemon and pricing, I recently saw Gamestop selling the Pokemon 2nd gen remakes for a solid $50. Used. Cart only. No packaging or Pokewalker. That's the same price from its release six years ago.

[darsparx]

Anyone know how to troubleshoot shoulder buttons on the SP? I've got a gamester grip which makes it awesome, and more adult hand friendly but the left shoulder button has been finicky for years and I've been meaning to get it fixed. Especially since it works better than most SP's I have. Cobalt blue one is disassembled from where i was going to use it for stuff and don't know where in my room it is, red sound doesn't work, and then there's this one *sigh* I feel like I swabbed it with alchohol just in an attempt to see if that fixed it to find it still doesn't fully work. Especially since there's one game that really tests it for me: DK King of Swing. I don't recall why or how we got this one but it's fun. It just loses the charm if you don't have a fully functional system.

I just have a urge to go on a GB/C/A and 3/DS kick especially on the go, but yeah weird issues prevent it at this point. Especially since GB/C/A and 3/DS games are almost like SNES/N64 era on the go and it's awesome to me. Plus there's a whole slew of games there alone I need to sit down and fully beat. Especially once ToCS is out of the way...

[samsonlonghair]

Hey Sparx, I would approach that problem like I would any other electronic problem. Disassemble your gba sp. Examine the rubber membrane under the shoulder button for cracks/ dry rot. Clean both sides of the metal contacts with electric contact cleaner. Make sure the membrane is seated properly when you reassemble. I had a clock Radio with "broken buttons" that really just needed to be reseated. It works great now.

[samsonlonghair]

I found this little gem at goodwill for $5. It came with a Tetris cart. I already own more than one copy of Tetris. Heck, anyone who collects Gameboys does. It's nice to be able to test out the system right then and there, so I certainly don't mind a free copy of Tetris to sweeten the deal.



I played a lot of Gameboy as a kid. I had the original DMG-001 "Grey Brick" that I played for endless hours stuck in airports. I remember wanting a Gameboy Pocket in 1996 when they came out. There was a real hypnotic commercial "stick it in your pocket."
But it wasn't in the cards. 1996 was a lean year for my family. C'est la vie!

Fast forward twenty years later, and I finally own a Gameboy Pocket MGB-001. I have to say that the screen is a good bit sharper, and the response time is better compared to the original.

[casterofdreams]

I never owned a pocket. I had the big ol' guy. I remember my friend has the pocket in silver and it looked great for a 6/7 year old kid back then. My GB replacement was the Kiwi Lime Color in 1999 with Pokemon Blue as my 5th grade graduation gift.