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Game Boy Player (GC/Nintendo)
by brandon sheffield
05082003
The GB Player is like the SNES resurrected. Sure the resolution is a little strange, and the games come from a different era, but damn if it isn’t great to be playing games on a 2D-heavy home console again.
It’s really quite different from playing the games on your GBA – the screen size is larger, to be sure, but the main advantage for me is the controller. Four buttons on the face?? I’ll take it. Even with the standard pad, games become instantly more playable. But for my tastes, the Hori digital pad completes the experience. If you’re one of those fellows who enjoys the SNES pad above all, even over the mighty Japanese Saturn pad – you’re in for a pleasant surprise. Holding the Hori pad is like coming home again. But when you get there, you find that your wife has lost about 20 pounds. Well technically, the pad is slightly meatier, with two bumps on the back to caress your fingers and assist with grip. So maybe she lost 20 pounds and went on bloussant, without the cancerous side effects. Whatever poorly conceived metaphor you assign to it, the pad is designed for the playing. The D-pad is robust, the buttons responsive, feeling much better in your hand than the stock Gamecube controller. Unfortunately the GC's control configuration is retained, rather than the more logical cross-shape of the SNES. But if you’ve already acclimated yourself to the Gamecube, you’ll barely notice.
And a cosmetic issue is resolved here – the GB Player finally makes my Gamecube a cube, not some 3D box-thing. The times of calling it the Gamerectangle are gone.
The functionality of the device is slightly above what I expected in several regards, horribly below in others. Beginning on a positive note, with a modified system, there’s no disc loading at all. The GBA screen is launched instantly, which was a nice surprise. I was expecting annoying menus on startup, but thankfully there’s nothing of the sort. Once you’ve started something up, there’s a menu that can be accessed with a press of the Z button. This has thankfully been placed on the front of the Hori pad for easy access.
Activating the menu does not pause your game, which is unexpected, and slightly annoying. Remembering to pause beforehand is not overly difficult, but it seems a superfluous step. In the menu, you can choose from two screen sizes. One normal resolution, the other is 2x mode, almost enough to fill the screen. Games look just fine in both modes, though I’d have liked an option to smooth the graphics a bit.
Other modes include a totally unnecessary alarm clock, smooth or rough screen modes (I found no real difference – maybe it’s my TV), reset/cartridge change option and twenty or so borders. Most are obnoxious of course, so I basically stick to the black one. Of course this being a Nintendo product, there’s no option for not having a screen at all. Naturally it’s terribly important to have the words “Game Boy Advance” on the screen at all times, just in case you forgot what you were playing…or something. I am irked.
The cartridge reset is very useful, and there’s a handy little ejection lever on the side of the unit for the purpose of launching your games halfway across the room. This requires a gentle touch, friends. Be careful with it.
Another fine option is that you can choose whether you’ll have R and L assigned to the controller’s R and L buttons, or the Y and X buttons on the face. I like it. However, there’s something I’d have liked more: the ability to map buttons how I fucking choose to. And again, I’m not shocked by the limitation. Nintendo’s products are notorious teases. They always have to remind you that they’re Nintendo products. You’ve got a GBA? Don’t expect to be able to see the screen. Buying a GBA SP? Don’t expect to use headphones. These built-in flaws are designed to make you purchase each gradual evolution of the product in order to maximize sales. Sony makes faulty products, Nintendo builds in limitations. It’s a tough life.
While I’m complaining, here’s the big one. You can’t play two-player by using two Gamecube controllers.
Me: “Finally, I can play KOF EX2 against my friends! I only have to buy one cart! I don’t need a link cable!”
Nintendo: “Fuck you! You have to buy all that shit AND either you or your friend has to use the debilitating GBA as a ‘controller.’”
Me: “My ass!! My wallet!! They burn!”
Yeah, it’s like that. They could have made this possible. The GB Player weighs easily twice that of a normal GBA. And there’s the disc. You don’t need twice the weight and a whole mini DVD just for an added menu. No, they could have added graphics-smoothing capability. They could have enabled multi-play with controllers. But they want you to keep your GBA. They want you to buy a link cable and two copies of every game. Oh they’re a crafty bunch. When one console’s sales are showing signs of fatigue, it’s time to milk the other for all it’s worth. Hey, why not combine the two!
I feel as though I’m getting a bit off track. Let’s get back to some more specific complaining. When playing normal GB games, you’ve only normal and ‘stretched’ options. And no Super Game Boy compatibility or borders either.
Addition! It has come to my attention that a great many persons feel there is a flaw in my logic - that is to say, two-player one-console mode is generally implemented software side, not in the hardware. This is true, as true as it was with the Super Gameboy product. I'm simply tired of the hardware makers limiting what we can do, not taking the extra step to make the process simple and enjoyable. Take what you will from my bullheaded complaint - I stand by my indignation.
In spite of the many problems Nintendo forces upon you, the GB Player is really a nice thing to have around. I did in fact sell my black hole-screened GBA. I got some Sonic Advance 2 for my troubles. I’ve resigned myself to the fact that I will never play a GBA game against another human being, but I’m not completely shattered by this. I’ve moved on from there, and back to the wonder of having a home console dedicated to 2D games. And I can’t help but think that the existence of the GB Player will force game designers to consider its influence. Software companies will have to realize that their game is likely to be played in at twice the normal resolution by let’s say…20~30% of the game’s intended audience. So you may well have to support additional resolutions, or at the very least, make the game sharp as hell to begin with. I can’t see this as a bad thing. We’ve already seen Square address the problem, if only with color modes. If companies start making games designed specifically for play on the GB Player, I can tell you that I will not be sad. My GBA is gone, and I’m not getting another. Once freed from the A,B,L,R control scheme, I’ll never go back. I’ve got a nice, sizable D-pad now. I have four buttons on the face. This is what I wanted all along.
Who would have thought that I’d be playing 2D fighting games and RPGs on a Nintendo home console again. Definitely not I.
Buy one now, or wait a month and a half and pay the same price. Sell your GBA, or keep it as a second controller. This GB Player thing is very import friendly, even with the launch disc. The menus are easy to navigate, and basically self explanatory. The combination of GB Player and Hori pad cannot be beaten, for my money. Those who say 2D is dead in the home market have another thing coming - Finally. It does what Nintendo wants it to do; there are no flaws in construction, only in design. And…it’s not like there’s a viable alternative.
Thanks Nintendo, this is the nicest product you’ve ever screwed me with.
brandon sheffield wants a SwanCrystal Player for the Playdia.
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