The GameCube was home to some pretty incredible games, but it also gained one of Nintendo's most interesting and, dare we say, sensible peripherals: the Game Boy Player.
Designed to be whacked onto the bottom of the GameCube itself, the Game Boy Player does exactly what it says on the tin: it lets you play Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance games right on your television set. It was quite remarkable at the time, and serves as one of the primary reasons many Nintendo gamers still dig out their GameCubes to this very day.
It had one very specific flaw, however; one that many folks would claim almost ruins the experience of playing their favourite Game Boy games on the TV. Nintendo added a filtering effect to the Game Boy Player to reduce strobe effects from occuring, but most would agree that this makes the games look blurry and muddied, darkening the image considerably and muting the colours.
Well, as demonstrated by the lovely Jon Cartwright over at Good Vibes Gaming, it turns out that there's a surprisingly simple way to get Game Boy games running on the Game Boy Player exactly as intended, with sharp image quality, bright colours, and an impressive lack of input latency. The workaround comes via the free alternative to the Game Boy Player's start-up disc software called Game Boy Interface. There are a few options to get the thing running, but it's all pretty straightforward stuff.
We won't go over the exact steps in how to achieve this here, but hopefully the video below from Good Vibes Gaming will give you all the information you require.
Will you be trying this out on your Game Boy Player? Do you even own one anymore? Let us know!
[source youtube.com]
Comments 49
Bring me gba games in nso Nintendo! Come on, don’t be shy!
The real worst thing about the Game Boy Player was having to choose between a stick or an awful, tiny D-Pad. The GameCube controller is possibly my favourite of all time (close competition with Switch Pro), but I really hate its D-Pad. People complain about the Switch Pro’s, but I honestly think it’s so much better. Just a shame that the N64’s D-Pad was probably the best - the system where it’s used the least 😂
Not naming Game Boy Interface in the article itself does a disservice to the software author.
@Markiemania95 After I got my Gameboy Player back in the day, I ended up picking up a third-party SNES style controller for GC - no analog sticks, but perfect for playing GBA games with a nice, big D-pad.
I'd love to see comparison of GBA games on the Wii U (and those few available on Switch). Is this method better?
It's so wierd what it does to the colours! Like in pokemon, where skittys mane is straight up red instead of purple. It makes me think its shiny or something EVERY TIME
Swiss is so awesome, man. Highly recommend everyone try it out. The Xeno mod chip is great too, makes things way easier. The GameCube modding scene in general is probably one of the absolute best I've seen.
@Sinton Exactly, I was in two minds whether I should get a Gameboy Player, all I heard was positive and I didn't realise that visually it was so compromised with input lag to boot. I watched Jon's video and so I'd need to buy the device (at least we don't need the disc so should save a few bob) then mod my GC and jump through a ton of hoops with Swiss and other downloads to get all this to work.
Or I buy the M2 emulated games for my Wii U and just enjoy playing the games that I can easily download for a very small price from the eShop. Thanks Jon, great to see folks who are willing to do this but I'm happy playing GBA games using my Wii U.
This video is rad as flip!
I was lucky to get my Game Boy Player and the Startup Disc for free. My cousin told me a friend of his gave it to him to take care of it and asked me if I could keep it for a while, then both of them seemingly forgot about it.
They do look a little blurry, but I've never noticed any input lag.
I'm sad I got rid of my GB player a long time ago, it was a neat little peripheral. Then again I also got rid of my GBA games, so it doesn't really matter.
These days when I feel like playing Metroid Fusion, or Zero Mission, I'll just play em on the Wiiu using a Snes classic controller, which is kind of perfect.
I think if you hold start while booting up a DS, DSi, or GBA game on a 3DS, it forces it to start in original resolution.
Also, I had no idea about the market value of the discs... I think I have 3 or 4 GB players, from back in the day when I wanted a perfect set up for 16 player Double Dash and all possible GBA-Gamecube linking stuff. And then I got other goals in life, but yeah, things happen, ideas evolve or get replaced, and stuff remains.
I had one of these. Really good add-on and actually made the GameCube closer to an actual cube as well. Sold that and my PS2 with all peripherals and games back in 2006. The last time I've sold a home console, and I regretted both a lot.
Jon Cartwright, come back or at least give us a call.
@RupeeClock Yes, this 'random' article seems a bit disingenuous. GBI is not a new thing, been around a while.
I still have my gamecube and game boy player! It was so cool being able to play gamecube and GBA on one machine. It was almost like having a Gamecube and Snes in one! Even after the Wii came out i still kept my gamecube for this reason. It even played original and GBC games! Who remembers the super gameboy cart for Snes? Yep i still got mine too!
So I see Jon still somehow rites news for Nintendolife ;D
I just realized i did this already with my modded gamecube a couple years ago. It took literally 10 minutes and i didn't need the chip. Just a special memory card with an SD card slot built in and a copy of Windwaker. A quick download of swiss for gamecube and i was done!
@Markiemania95
The switch pro d-pad is awesome! The GC controller is still a favorite for me too. The rumble is great. L and R are a little noisy though.
I enjoyed the Game Boy Player back then, especially the ability to play Mario & Luigi on the TV. As a kid, I didn’t know there were emulation issues. If only these games could still make it to NSO when it sure seemed like they would earlier this year! Playing handheld games on a big screen has its charm.
I wonder what decision went behind deciding to make the game boy player. It looks very much like it was planned along with the original design of the gamecube.
Was it Nintendo's attenpt at safeguarding themselves from having a lack of software coming from the days of the N64 by allowing gba games to be played?
@Markiemania95 The switch Pro d-Pad was faulty when it first came out, but after the hardware revision I think it's excellent now
The prices for a Gameboy player are insane these days, and what's weird is that the price is mostly the disc rather than the physical add on itself.
@BrianJL I only got the Game Boy Player about 6 years ago, and I’ve always wanted the HORI Game Boy Player pad, but the longer I wait, the more expensive it gets
@C-Olimar I got a Switch Pro Controller on launch day, and I’ve honestly always thought its D-Pad was fine. I really don’t get the hate
@Markiemania95 Yeah, it's the HORI. It's great! I got an extension cable for it too since it is wired only.
I generally like the Switch Pro D-Pad, though I sometimes hit the wrong input on it. I think that has more to do with positioning than teh quality of hte D-Pad itself. When playing a game using the D-Pad only, it feels great - when I am using the stick and trying to hit the D-Pad for ancilliary functions, I sometimes "miss" or hit it wrong. I think that's a "me" problem though.
In 2015 Extrems stated that the Startup disc has less than 2 frames of input lag, and that the main GBI release has 2-3 frames of input lag, since the point is to filter out the repeating frame stutter.
Been playing some Leaf Green on my old GB player lately. Still works great hope colors aren't off enough to trick me on a shiny 😄
@Markiemania95 The issue with the original hardware was too small of a "pivot" in the middle of the D-Pad, which led to unintended presses of directions.
Not an issue for most games, but I found Tetris to be completely unplayable with the original Pro controller - a false "up" would hard drop blocks into unhelpful places. This happened really often.
Not an issue with the updated model!
@cra1g0s buying gba games on the Wii U eshop won't last for much longer at this point lol
Nintendolife is years behind the times. GBI has been around for quite some time now.
@Markiemania95 I find that the gated stick on the GC makes it well suited for 2D games, since there's no ambiguity of what direction your intending.
@Sinton There's some GBA games on Switch?
@nukatha Yeah.
@Agent_P A few, like those in the Castlevania Advance Collection.
Pretty Sweet that people are still doing stuff like this with the Gamecube, I have been selling a lot of my GBA games but I still have my GBPlayer/GC
The MiSTer at about $400 is probably still a better place to put your money/time though covers many systems very accurately and supports modern and old displays.
Whew that's good! I was hoping to find a reason to fire up the ol gamecube to play gba games vs the better options we have today.
GBI is awesome, I've been using it for a few years now.
If you have the right game(s) and a modded Wii (or a friend with one), you don't even need to chip your GC to use it.
@Markiemania95 No kidding. GB stick is okay for certain games, but I ended up buying a Raphnet adapter so I can use NES and SNES controllers with my GC/Wii. It's great. They have another one that lets you use Classic Controller, I was kind of torn over which to get.
Another company made a HORI pad clone for a decent price, but it went out of print immediately...and I'd prefer something with non-GC button layout anyway.
Or if you don't mind wasting battery, you can always hook up an actual GBA to use as a controller.
@HammerGalladeBro I don't have an original booter disc, but I've heard that it depends on if you play with zoom mode on or not. When I originally had a GBP, it would keep dropping frames, and I had no idea the reason was the zoom mode...ended up giving it back to my friend.
@retroman64 Yeah, the discs are expensive because people always lose them, and until GBI, it rendered the GBP a bit useless. Pre-pandemic, I got a unit, sans disc, for about $10.
@HammerKirby it’s a good job I’ve bought all the ones I’ve wanted then isn’t it
Still one of my favourite things. Golden Sun on a 17" CRT was amazing.
I remember Mario vs Donkey Kong for the GBA has a “GBA mode” and “GB player mode”. Changed the colour and brightness a bit from what I could see. I always wondered if there was more games with this feature.
@RupeeClock But... they did tho... I'm confused.
@Jacoby Sonic Advance 3 has a bunch of filter options you can access with L + R on the title screen... Super Mario Advance 4 has the original All-Stars palette.
@ValZ
At the time that I left the comment, it was absent from the article.
Ooooh, A Gamecube article. I absolutely love these, as it means more love for Nintendo's awesome little cube!!
I have a similar setup for my Gamecube/Gameboy Player:
Action Replay boot disc, Media Launcher with 2GB SD Card, an SD2SP board (acts like a little hard drive), an EON GCHD Mk-II HDMI adapter.
Once you're in Swiss, there's LOADS you can configure to make GB/GBC and GBA games look awesome.
I also have the Broadband adapter and one of those HORI pads, and WOW, i'm just amazed at how much those are worth these days.
Oh sweet thanks for the tip 20 years later
This has been around years hasn’t it? Why just mention it now.
It definitely makes the games look better than the official disc does. But I don’t know, I'm not a big fan of playing GBA games on the TV via a GameCube, even with a SNES controller. It just doesn’t feel as good as playing on the original handheld (with a backlit screen anyway).
The Super Game Boy on the other hand. That’s definitely my preferred way of playing original GB games. But they put a lot more effort into that, with the borders and unique feature and added colour for certain games.
Back at it again with Jon, hmm?
@RupeeClock it is mentioned in the article.
@Egleu
It wasn't at the time that I left the comment, when the article was newly published.
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