3 ms·

That was the neat thing about cartridge based game consoles, each game was essentially a new piece of hardware. I think the Game Boy Advance was the last mains

by bena 3y ago

That was the neat thing about cartridge based game consoles, each game was essentially a new piece of hardware. I think the Game Boy Advance was the last mainstream PCB cartridge game console. The GameCube had moved to discs, Sony and Microsoft never made a cartridge based system, and Sega was on their third such system with the Dreamcast. But I don't think the GBA or N64 really did things like the SNES or NES did with regards to cartridge hardware. I think by that time, the core hardware was way more powerful than anything that could be attached.

Keyframe 3y ago
what we have today on switch is essentially memory card, before it was an interface to the bus. You could do anything. It doesn't even have to be performance oriented (or features like sound chips). One example is Boktai for GBA which had a light sensor on it so that actual daylight played into the gameplay, etc. I know hardware homogeneity across platforms brought peace upon gamedevs who are stressed out as-is, but I think we lost something major along the way.
philistine 3y ago
Neat fact about GBA cartridges. At its start, cartridges used watch batteries to keep save games, but by the end of the console, they had moved to Flash memory.
- mmaniac 3y ago
  GBA cartridges used a mix of save chips for the duration of the console's life. Super Mario Advance and Konami Krazy Racers were both launch titles. Super Mario Advance used EEPROM with no battery while Konami Krazy Racers used static RAM with a battery. Some games even got multiple releases with different save chips. Metroid Fusion originally released with static RAM and a battery, but later cartridges feature ferroelectric RAM and no battery. As far as the software is concerned, these two function the same.
  - philistine 3y ago
    I didn't know that, I thought it changed during the span of its life. Thank you!
krajzeg 3y ago
The GBA still had some cartridges with enhancement hardware, though a lot less focused on overcoming CPU/memory limitations than on the previous consoles. My favorite is WarioWare: Twisted [1] including a gyro sensor (+ a rumble pack) to enable gameplay based on turning the whole GBA around. But there were also add-on real time clocks (Pokemon), light sensors, and other things. It also had the Nintendo e-Reader [2], which technically connected to the cartridge port and loaded like a cartridge, but was its own unique piece of weirdness. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WarioWare:_Twisted https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WarioWare:_Twisted! [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_e-Reader https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_e-Reader
- bombcar 3y ago
  https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2017/9/21/16339122/ecg-powered-game-boy-advance https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2017/9/21/16339122/e... GBA medical device.
  - Keyframe 3y ago
    GameBoy vehicle diagnostics tool https://www.motor1.com/news/701772/game-boy-diagnostic-cartridge-peugeot-aprilia-suzuki/ https://www.motor1.com/news/701772/game-boy-diagnostic-cartr...
- bena 3y ago
  I had forgotten about the eReader. I had gotten Excitebike on the eReader card because I was curious. I was planning on getting an eReader at some point, but never got around to it.
- mmaniac 3y ago
  I like the Play-Yan adapter. It's an official media player which includes its own DAC and headphone jack, avoiding the GBA's own disappointing audio DAC. It also adds hardware decoding[1] - the GBA's CPU is a little too puny to handle media playback by itself. [1] https://shonumi.github.io/articles/art32.html https://shonumi.github.io/articles/art32.html
ThatPlayer 3y ago
I remember there being a DS flashcart that had an additional CPU. Probably more towards the end of the DS's life.
- opan 3y ago
  SuperCard DSTwo. I remember it being described as having the power of a PSP inside (unsure if true), and it could do GBA and SNES emulation. It heavily impacted battery life, making it less popular in later years, though. Plus we've recently gained the ability to use the native GBA compatibility in the DS via DS flashcarts (or DSi/3DS homebrew) running TwiLightMenu, so now the $5 R4 clones on aliexpress can allow you to play GBA decently on a DS Lite. Also, a new DS flashcart just came out, from the same makers of the popular EZ-Flash Junior for GB(C) and EZ-Flash Omega for GBA. It's called the Parallel. It costs considerably more than other DS flash carts, but is still cheaper than flashcarts for GBA or anything older (NES, SNES, and N64 flashcarts are insanely expensive). MachoNachoProductions on YouTube has a video on the Parallel.

by bena 3y ago

Keyframe 3y ago

what we have today on switch is essentially memory card, before it was an interface to the bus. You could do anything. It doesn't even have to be performance oriented (or features like sound chips). One example is Boktai for GBA which had a light sensor on it so that actual daylight played into the gameplay, etc. I know hardware homogeneity across platforms brought peace upon gamedevs who are stressed out as-is, but I think we lost something major along the way.

philistine 3y ago

Neat fact about GBA cartridges. At its start, cartridges used watch batteries to keep save games, but by the end of the console, they had moved to Flash memory.

mmaniac 3y ago
GBA cartridges used a mix of save chips for the duration of the console's life. Super Mario Advance and Konami Krazy Racers were both launch titles. Super Mario Advance used EEPROM with no battery while Konami Krazy Racers used static RAM with a battery. Some games even got multiple releases with different save chips. Metroid Fusion originally released with static RAM and a battery, but later cartridges feature ferroelectric RAM and no battery. As far as the software is concerned, these two function the same.
- philistine 3y ago
  I didn't know that, I thought it changed during the span of its life. Thank you!

krajzeg 3y ago

The GBA still had some cartridges with enhancement hardware, though a lot less focused on overcoming CPU/memory limitations than on the previous consoles. My favorite is WarioWare: Twisted [1] including a gyro sensor (+ a rumble pack) to enable gameplay based on turning the whole GBA around. But there were also add-on real time clocks (Pokemon), light sensors, and other things. It also had the Nintendo e-Reader [2], which technically connected to the cartridge port and loaded like a cartridge, but was its own unique piece of weirdness. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WarioWare:_Twisted https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WarioWare:_Twisted! [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_e-Reader https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_e-Reader

bombcar 3y ago
https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2017/9/21/16339122/ecg-powered-game-boy-advance https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2017/9/21/16339122/e... GBA medical device.
- Keyframe 3y ago
  GameBoy vehicle diagnostics tool https://www.motor1.com/news/701772/game-boy-diagnostic-cartridge-peugeot-aprilia-suzuki/ https://www.motor1.com/news/701772/game-boy-diagnostic-cartr...
bena 3y ago
I had forgotten about the eReader. I had gotten Excitebike on the eReader card because I was curious. I was planning on getting an eReader at some point, but never got around to it.
mmaniac 3y ago
I like the Play-Yan adapter. It's an official media player which includes its own DAC and headphone jack, avoiding the GBA's own disappointing audio DAC. It also adds hardware decoding[1] - the GBA's CPU is a little too puny to handle media playback by itself. [1] https://shonumi.github.io/articles/art32.html https://shonumi.github.io/articles/art32.html

ThatPlayer 3y ago

I remember there being a DS flashcart that had an additional CPU. Probably more towards the end of the DS's life.

opan 3y ago
SuperCard DSTwo. I remember it being described as having the power of a PSP inside (unsure if true), and it could do GBA and SNES emulation. It heavily impacted battery life, making it less popular in later years, though. Plus we've recently gained the ability to use the native GBA compatibility in the DS via DS flashcarts (or DSi/3DS homebrew) running TwiLightMenu, so now the $5 R4 clones on aliexpress can allow you to play GBA decently on a DS Lite. Also, a new DS flashcart just came out, from the same makers of the popular EZ-Flash Junior for GB(C) and EZ-Flash Omega for GBA. It's called the Parallel. It costs considerably more than other DS flash carts, but is still cheaper than flashcarts for GBA or anything older (NES, SNES, and N64 flashcarts are insanely expensive). MachoNachoProductions on YouTube has a video on the Parallel.