The Game Boy Advance was a wonderful handheld with a huge library of brilliant games, many of which still stand up today. Although they were designed for the non-backlit successor to Nintendo's all-conquering Game Boy, many of its classic titles look and feel fantastic when played on a TV. There are various options available to accomplish that, each with their own pros and cons, but now there's a new alternative which appears to offer the best possible solution for playing on a modern telly at the best possible quality.
The GBA Consolizer comes from Game-Tech in collaboration with developer Woozle, the USB-powered console 'mod' uses actual GBA hardware and upscales to 720p digital output via a mini-HDMI cable. It features the 3.5" audio out from the original console, plus the Link Cable port, and the unit also has a Super Nintendo controller port which is compatible with the 8Bitdo wireless varieties.
As you can see, the device's design is a little rough-and-ready, but the gameplay results sure look impressive. The video below by Metal Jesus gives an overview of the console and its functions, highlighting the crisp visuals and options available:
As you can see, the results are impressive. The original resolution scales up beautifully and looks crisp and vibrant on the TV. In direct comparison to the Retron 5, the GBA Consolizer exposes the lag of that system's emulation solution.
There are also plenty of options for adjusting the picture to more accurately reflect what you saw on your original hardware, too. Many developers ended up 'pushing' the colours in their games to make them more easily visible on the non-backlit original GBA (something the SP and Micro variants remedied). This was a good workaround back in the day, but playing on a TV reveals just how strange the colour choices in, say, Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow actually are when you don't need a worm light to see the screen. If you're happy with those overblown colours, no problem, but the GBA Consolizer enables you to play about and find your own 'accurate' hues.
Of course, the Game Boy SP also plays all the games this console does and arguably represents the pinnacle of the Game Boy line, but seeing games like The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap and Metroid: Zero Mission looking so lovely on a TV, it's got us considering this kit. As a kit, it'll cost you $170, although a fully-assembled version will set you back a hefty $349.95. You can customise your case colour, but that's still a sizeable outlay, even if you're handy with a soldering iron.
Our thanks to all the people who sent this in. Let us know if this retro console floats your boat with a comment below.
[source youtube.com]
Comments 60
A cool little gadget I guess...
But I'll stick to my Gameboy Player 😅
@dartmonkey Is it legal?
I thought a Gamecube GBA player does this job.
@spideyroxas Ditto. Still works just fine.
I'll have to look into this soon as this clearly the better option out of the others for gba to hdtv
And here I was tempted to get it, until I saw the price. Absolutely hilarious.
@dew12333
It seems similar to what Analogue did with the original NT, using original parts for 100% compatibility with new components to make it play nice with modern TVs. The GameCube GBA Player lets you play GBA games on your TV, but not at 720p
@dartmonkey GBA games were most definitely not meant to be played at 720p.
They used a toggle switch? Can’t get any more homemade than that
Costs way to much.
@dew12333 GC GBA Player doesn't upscale to 720p nor is HDMI. That's the benefit of this system.
Nintendo needs to recognize that there's a market for their older libraries, and Game Boy Advance is one of those systems that's often overlooked. Many of those games would be great if re-released for Switch.
I'd like SO MUCH to play my 3DS games on TV! I hope they will find a way to do so.
I'll stick to the GB Player.
I've already heard about this and it's a pretty cool device that gives much better video quality than the GB Player under most circumstances. Because the GB Player doesn't natively scale up to HD TVs so well, this is a great device for anyone looking to go HD with their retro GBA carts and currently your best option. Unfortunately like most HD options, also rather expensive.
The alternative is to use the GB Player with GC component cables (even more expensive) and then use hacking software to run the games in 240p, preferably on a CRT.
The GB Player is a great device and I love mine, but it gives extremely poor video quality, you pretty much need a program like Swiss to get any sort of high quality picture out of the thing.
The cheapest alternative for a good picture (besides emulating on PC or something) is the Wii U GBA VC which is pretty good, the quality and accuracy are great, but you obviously need a Wii U and you're limited to what games you have access to.
I'll stick with the Wii U virtual console. The Wii U gets a lot of hate but the amount of great classic games is phenomenal (including GBA). Zero Mission and Metroid Fusion are great on the big screen.
From what I read, it's actually made from an original Gameboy Advance, the kit doesnt come with the motherboard (therefore you need to source this yourself), but the full conversion does.
I use the GBA player with the low lag software and raphnet snes to GC adapter to play with a good controller. I also typically play on a crt which this won't output to.
I like old the retro community though. $340 seems too expensive to me. Hopefully analogue comes out with a complete FPGA solution for $185 in the future.
@sketchturner totally agree. I loved my GBA but don't have the library anymore (no idea where it went). For the price I might as well spend $170+ on virtual console downloads.
Well, to be fair, anything that isn't a backlit Game Boy Advance SP (very few models actually were even among the SP variant), aka AGS-101 instead of AGS-001, looks bad nowadays. Getting a modded backlit original model (it's much more comfortable than the SP actually) would be the way to go with GBA, although quite expensive (there is a guy who sells them for about 100 bucks on eBay).
How does it compare to GBA games on the Wii U?
Nice, wouldn't mind something similar for 3DS games
I wonder if it plays GBA video cartridges - there's a lock on them so they won't work on the Game Boy Player.
I'm intrigued but this isn't gonna happen for me. No soldering skills and I'd rather spend that kind of money on switch stuff.
Too much work and too high of a price for me. Even though the games look fantastic with this device, I can't justify those two glaring issues.
I always wanted a Game Boy Player for the GameCube but never got one. Oh well, a lot of the games I re-purchased on the Wii U Virtual Console. Now if only Nintendo would add a Game Boy Classic (covering GB, GBC, and GBA games) and/or a Game Boy section to Nintendo Switch Online.
@Moroboshi876 the micro looks better
@jobvd But the screen is so tiny...
I’m sure you could get your hands on a Gameboy Player for far cheaper.
I've tried various GBA to TV players and this one sounds like the best one yet and I was all in until I saw the price...OOF! Just the basic price is too much let alone the fully-assembled cost. I would still consider buying it if they could just get the cost down, otherwise it's just not worth it 😍➡😦➡😟
I am a person who likes atari, nes and master system games and can see beauty in those, but man, GBA does not look or sound good at all. I wish I could get past that because there are very good games, but it turns me off so much.
Lemme just boot up my Retron5 which has been able to do this for years... Alongside several other classic consoles.
Too bad they don't make it any more
@nesrocks I highly disagree. The gba has some amazing looking games with great pixel art.
@Moroboshi876 part of what makes it look so sharp. It's also bright.
@jobvd The games are good and their art is good, but the system is bad. When the developers ignored the systems limitations and didn't let the screen influence their art, yes they can look good, but the sound is still atrocious.
@Dualmask I would even be ok if they released a new modernized Game Boy that plays GB, GBC, and GBA with the ability to download from a digital library and the ability to do TV out.
"Just use a Game Boy Player"
The Game Boy Player isn't perfect though. This is meant for the niche who want the highest possible quality TV output.
Metal Jesus Rocks.
But, I wish he had compared to GC w/GBA player too.
I'm using GC w/GBA player, but I need to track down a component cable.
I use my actual GC games in Wii because that 480p cable is much cheaper.
@PixelDough Retron5 uses emulation, this actually real GBA hardware. So yeah, you will notice differences.
Gameboy Player was already a thing.
Do that with DS/3DS games and then we're talking. Playing games like SMT: Strange Journey and Devil Survivor on the big screen would be quite amazing.
Raspberry Pi
@nesrocks oh yes the sound IS terrible. Compare FF 3 snes to FF 6 gba
Hmmm I still think going the FPGA route would had been much better as you could update the firmware but this is nice too just that many GBA were sacrifice just to make this. If I had the money I may pre-order one. Considering it's a batch pre-order it probably won't be ready until a few months/years later anyways.
@nesrocks wth are you talking about?
GBA games are very akin to SNES. There's some fantastic ports that are obviously different but play and sound great!
(Ps. Sorry if I seem aggressive, meant to be taken/read in a light-hearted way)
@DABYX Some games can look good when emulated, like I mentioned, when the developers said "ah what the hell" and just did their art without thinking about compensating for the terrible screen. But the sound quality is without question very very bad.
Would like one but they're expensive so I'll stick to the Gameboy Player and GBA I already have.
I have a Retron 5 the GBA games look great running on That. As do the other systems:)
I find GBI to have waaay more features than this, of course not needing a disc to start the thing in the first place is always a plus.
@nesrocks Just curious, do you find sound to be worse or better with the GBP disc's audio filtering?
@AlienX I don't know what that is.
I watched the Metal Jesus review of this thing. It looks awesome. I wish it was cheaper.
@nesrocks Maybe I need to revisit them myself then.
Maybe I'm just easily pleased lol
I don't need this. I still have my GameCube with the Game Boy Player. And if I wanted to record it, I can just get a composite to HDMI scaler or get a recording device that can record composite.
I still have my GameBoy Player as well but there is no comparison, this thing is far crisper and doesn't muddy the graphics, I will wait until they start selling nice prefab units though so I don't have to solder.
So it's $170 for a homebrewed looking contraption that does something that my Gamecube could always do. I think I am going to pass.
Couldn't you do that with a Gamecube?
Anyone knows where I can find a SNES to GC Adapter? Or a PS4 to GC Adapter?
'Cause I think I'll stick with my Gameboy Player for now. Maybe upgrade it at some point with the Carby adapter as well.
The gba looks awful on a big screen though?
Um, Nintendo let us play GBA games on tv like 15 years ago.
What about the alternative GB Player software that you can e.g. boot via an exploit in smash bros?
https://www.retrorgb.com/gameboyinterface.html
If someone made an HD GBA clone with HDMI out then I would be a lot more interested. Still, while the Game Boy player looks pretty good and really is good enough, this device does look a good bit better.
My GameBoy Player does the same thing on a CRT just fine (plus it plays GB and GBC games), and it's not like I need to play GBA games in HD.
@thesilverbrick Getting a Game Boy Player by itself nowadays is cheap, getting the disc that originally came with it however is not.
@RetiredR
If you use the low lag or ultra low lag with action replay the gbp can acheive really low latentency and play at the original frame rate.
This product seems very good, but I do expect analogue to release an fpga that doesn't require harvesting a gba in the future which will do everything this does and more. No product is perfect though. Off spec frame rate and inability to play on crt or rgb out would be nice additions.
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