# The EverDrive GBA X5 Mini is now available to order



## Flame (May 21, 2020)

thanks chary for the news.

always informing us with just great information.


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## Reploid (May 21, 2020)

Everdrive GBATEMP


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## FAST6191 (May 21, 2020)

Wonder what the Super Retro Advance (a GBA to SNES emulator thing) did to work with that, or they did to work with it, of it the "certain revisions" are more than an emulator and dumper combo.

Anyway $99 is a bit steep but at the same time within some measure of reason.


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## Deleted User (May 21, 2020)

i thought that something like this would come out a loooooooooooooooooooong time ago


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## playstays_shun (May 21, 2020)

I was wondering what happened with this the other day, since RetroRGB talked about it a while ago

how much better you think this is than the Omega on Aliexpress? Those are $40, this is $100.

Is Omega a clone or its own thing? Cause if the former that factors in: 

Krikzz is legit

I have a sudden hankering for an AGS-101 GBA SP... but I dunno the prices are kinda nuts


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## x65943 (May 21, 2020)

Every time a new everdrive releases I am reminded of how poor I am ;A;

I just want to throw money at krikzz


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## AshuraZro (May 21, 2020)

Always great to see more GBA flash carts. Although a quick correction that "can be used with the GameCube Player through use of the super Retro Advance adapter" is a mix of two different things. The Super Retro Advance is a GBA player for SNES and has no relation to the GameCube Player.


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## Bruno Jenso (May 21, 2020)

Has it got a sleep mode for all games?


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## Hyro-Sama (May 21, 2020)

EZ-Flash OMEGA on suicide watch?


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## Sonic Angel Knight (May 21, 2020)

Low power consumption? 

Does some of the flashcarts actually effect the battery life? I didn't think that was a thing. Most of the time, I usually think the battery life is how much functions the system is using, like the backlight on a GBA SP or the wifi on a DS.


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## Armadillo (May 21, 2020)

Sonic Angel Knight said:


> Low power consumption?
> 
> Does some of the flashcarts actually effect the battery life? I didn't think that was a thing. Most of the time, I usually think the battery life is how much functions the system is using, like the backlight on a GBA SP or the wifi on a DS.



Yes. Some flashcarts draw more power than a standard gba cart, so battery life is shorter.


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## Sonic Angel Knight (May 21, 2020)

Armadillo said:


> Yes. Some flashcarts draw more power than a standard gba cart, so battery life is shorter.


This is news to me. Not sure why that is. But it just seem weird that is the case. Though I guess now and days, devices have various life spans batteries depending on how you use them. More processing power for the software in use drains more battery. But for a GBA game which seems to bearly do any noticeable difference in processing power depending on game.


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## Flame (May 21, 2020)

Hyro-Sama said:


> EZ-Flash OMEGA on suicide watch?


 
not really, one is like 30-40 the other is 100 bones,


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## Captain_N (May 21, 2020)

so i wonder if this cart saves the sram to the sd card at the time the game actually saves. None of these carts have that feature. You would think it would be a standard feature.


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## raxadian (May 21, 2020)

How much for one that just plays GBA games?


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## MohammedQ8 (May 21, 2020)

So my old everdrive gba x5 is fat for no reason hehe.

I will buy it when it release here https://www.retrotowers.co.uk/


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## Goku1992A (May 21, 2020)

If this was 2004 this would have been sweet but considering how this is 2020 with so much emulation I don't see the need to spend $99 let alone even own a GBA but I guess for those who are interested in a vintage GBA that can play backups I guess this is for you


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## MohammedQ8 (May 21, 2020)

When will gameboy NT release ?


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## OldGnashburg (May 21, 2020)

Goku1992A said:


> If this was 2004 this would have been sweet but considering how this is 2020 with so much emulation I don't see the need to spend $99 let alone even own a GBA but I guess for those who are interested in a vintage GBA that can play backups I guess this is for you


I disagree, as a purist, unless your emulator is as good as the Higan SNES core in terms of accuracy, then I prefer real hardware.


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## Goku1992A (May 21, 2020)

OldGnashburg said:


> I disagree, as a purist, unless your emulator is as good as the Higan SNES core in terms of accuracy, then I prefer real hardware.



I'm saying this due to the age in hardware.... my SNES / PS1 / GBA/ GBC all gotten destroyed when Hurricane Wilma came (2004) I do agree nothing beats playing the OG console but due to cost / maintenance it will be bound to break. I have to preserve my PS2 and use the emulator because I don't want it to die. 

I honestly never noticed the difference playing the SNES emulator or the gameboy ones but then again I havent played the original things almost 15 years ago.


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## Clydefrosch (May 21, 2020)

does this also halve battery time compared to a normal gba cart because it somehow draws too much power with is also killing systems occassionally?


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## slaphappygamer (May 21, 2020)

Deleted content.


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## Pokemon_Tea_Sea_Jee (May 21, 2020)

Was going to press like until I read $99.

Also, can't it be made to run GBC and GB without emulation? Because don't GBAs rune GBC and GB games without emulation.



OldGnashburg said:


> I disagree, as a purist, unless your emulator is as good as the Higan SNES core in terms of accuracy, then I prefer real hardware.


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## Snintendog (May 21, 2020)

Pokemon_Tea_Sea_Jee said:


> Was going to press like until I read $99.
> 
> Also, can't it be made to run GBC and GB without emulation? Because don't GBAs rune GBC and GB games without emulation.


The GB can run on the gba perfectly fine as you think but the flash cards are a whole nother story to have a 2 in one right now to support both krikzz would need to have the two boards in one cart can be done but cart would be massive think like the pokemon pinbal cartridge that had a AA battery in it and make a bit longer and wider. The whole reason is the way GBA and GB/C carts are laid out and mapped to how they can talk to each parts on the everdrive and the specialized pieces to get certain games running.


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## Pokemon_Tea_Sea_Jee (May 21, 2020)

raxadian said:


> How much for one that just plays GBA games?


Given the answer in the post above, I want that too.

If I want GBC games I will use a GBC flash cart.


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## Snintendog (May 21, 2020)

Pokemon_Tea_Sea_Jee said:


> Given the answer in the post above, I want that too.
> 
> If I want GBC games I will use a GBC flash cart.


I think the GBeverdrive x7 is 99$-120$ depending on the outlet like stoneage gamer or direct from krikzz, mostly like different shelsl or front decals sdcards too cause its price to vary when buy from other sellers. For the inevitable "Krikzz doesnt want to compete against himself" comments his sega everdrive x7 allows you too play master system roms on a genesis/megadrive (not emulated this goes for the 32x romsaswell if you own that addon in the first place) he is not afraid to implement it more of whether its possible and easily doable without making his cards tumors on the console.


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## xspider (May 21, 2020)

Pokemon_Tea_Sea_Jee said:


> Was going to press like until I read $99.
> 
> Also, can't it be made to run GBC and GB without emulation? Because don't GBAs rune GBC and GB games without emulation.



Response from Krikzz:

To play GB/GBC in native mode on gba need: 
1. Some physical mechanism to switch mode. Mode actually depends of cartridge shell shape. 
2. Have a deal with multi voltage hardware (gba works at 3.3v, GBC at 5v) 
This all means large cart size, extra cost and power consumption


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## Jayro (May 21, 2020)

Someone on GBATemp should try to collaborate with krikzz to make a GBATemp version, and give it away during a Patreon Backer's Raffle.


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## LanHikariDS (May 22, 2020)

Too bad it doesn't have a solar sensor for the Boktai games


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## simbin (May 22, 2020)

I wish this mini design existed to begin with. My OG GBA X5 still sticks out of my DS Lite. But since MiSTer FPGA, I rarely use it anyway.


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## OrGoN3 (May 22, 2020)

Why is this $99? What advantages are there over an ancient M3? Seems to work just as well.


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## wonkeytonk (May 22, 2020)

It ain't called Gamecube player. It's called GameBOY Player.


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## Snintendog (May 22, 2020)

OrGoN3 said:


> Why is this $99? What advantages are there over an ancient M3? Seems to work just as well.


1 Quality work Not from china.
2 High compatibility within the 95-99% conservative estimate 
3 no need to patch the roms using dodgy software just drag and drop the raw roms into a sd card
4 Real save memory types all compatible games will save properly they will then be copied to the SD card
5 even the phat model has low power draw compared to the older flash cards meaning alot longer battery life
6 RTC support for those that use it like pokemon.It is also 100% replaceable and all batterry saves are placed on SDcard like the rest
7 Fast flashing of the rom it doesnt take 30 seconds to flash the rom from the sd card to the onboard rom chip.
8 homebrew/emulators are bootable
9 not advertised but rom hacks will work its an lesser talked about unofficial feature
10 A good amount of OS updates a direct support forum to the maker and a good warranty,and program diagnosis roms to check all the major components if you feel like DIYing it should something break or just to give more info on the issue.

Also for those wanting savestates planned on the X7 everdrive will have it unknown if what else he will add to that the gyro and light sensor has been mulled about but given he was able to shrink the X5 the x7 might not be as big as he feared it would with all the crazy things the GBA carts tacked on.


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## Lumstar (May 22, 2020)

Pokemon_Tea_Sea_Jee said:


> Given the answer in the post above, I want that too.
> 
> If I want GBC games I will use a GBC flash cart.



The flash cart plays GBC games because it can. GBA is powerful enough to emulate GBC.


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## CactusMan (May 22, 2020)

OrGoN3 said:


> Why is this $99? What advantages are there over an ancient M3? Seems to work just as well.


Features:

All save types supported, no ROM patching required
Fast Loading (most games load within 1 - 2 seconds)
256Mbit PSRAM (32MByte) ROM memory
1Mbit SRAM (128KByte) save memory
Real-time clock support
Low power consumption
micro SD cards are supported. Tested with micro-SD cards up to 64GB
FAT32 support
Supported with GameCube player, some revisions of Super Retro Advance adapter and other GBA accessories
NES, GB and GBC ROM formats are support (emulation mode)


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## Levente (May 22, 2020)

Are the NES classic gba games supported?


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## InsaneNutter (May 22, 2020)

I always wanted an EverDrive that wouldn't stick out the GBA or my DS Lite. Even though I own all the GBA games I actually want to play it would still be nice to have them all in one place. Likewise it would be much easier to use the GBA Pokemon distributions from this vs flashing my ancient Flash2Advance flash card.

Tempted to get this at some point along with an Analogue Pocket when released, although hopefully i'll talk myself out of spending all that money by then lol.


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## wiewiec (May 22, 2020)

Hyro-Sama said:


> EZ-Flash OMEGA on suicide watch?



No I don't think so... compare prices of this two... I have few Everdrive products but 99$ - not thank you. Previously i had EZ-Flash IV microSD and after this years still works well... Omega is also good flashcart.


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## samedifference (May 22, 2020)

Chary said:


> ...can be used with the GameCube Player through use of the super Retro Advance adapter...


I'm a bit confused.. what does the super Retro Advance adapter have to do with the GameBoy Player? Like, isn't that device meant for the SNES?


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## FAST6191 (May 22, 2020)

Snintendog said:


> 1 Quality work Not from china.
> 2 High compatibility within the 95-99% conservative estimate
> 3 no need to patch the roms using dodgy software just drag and drop the raw roms into a sd card
> 4 Real save memory types all compatible games will save properly they will then be copied to the SD card
> ...



1) The M3 was a solid little flash cart family on the GBA. If not having it made in China is a thing then OK.
2) Compatibility is the same for most things that are not supercard or a clone thereof. http://gbatemp.net/threads/buying-a-gba-flash-cart-in-2013.341203/page-18#post-4756995
Unless they are going to do something like make those Shrek videos work, stick a tilt sensor, stick a light sensitive device to play boktai, or spend all the time and effort to get that GBA personal organizer there really is nothing in it.
3) That would be a perk over the M3 at least. Drag and drop is pretty common right now though, and I am not sure it counts as an absolute huge win as most of the save functionality was easily replicated by other means.
4) A nice feature and way I would design a modern cart but more or less kicks the battery issue to the clock. It is not like saves before could not be fired around between flash carts, emulators, real carts and beyond.
5) I will have to find numbers here, and don't have any for the M3, but some of the older stuff was in the official cart or sub official cart range.
6) The GBA slot M3 was one with RTC. The EZ4 line was the one that dropped it, also there are patches that get most of the way there. Not having to solder when the battery might die in a few years is nice too.
7) A minor perk but a perk never the less.
8) From the cart itself? A nice feature if GBA emulators are still your thing.
9) The only ROM hacks I have seen that will not work (assuming they fit on the cart in the first place) are ones that will not work on hardware in general and also some emulators, this usually being when someone makes the hack using an inaccurate emulator. No flash cart is going to change this.
10) M3 do seem to be a bit absent these days but as far as problem ROMs go then for the most part that was all over probably around the time we got the last EEPROM save type (there was one before but most met it with a Harry Potter game), which is to say ancient even when that now ancient 2013 post above was being made.


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## Tomy Sakazaki (May 22, 2020)

raxadian said:


> How much for one that just plays GBA games?


It would cost the same, the GB/GBC emulators use GBA hardware, the everdrive x5 is programmed to chainload the GB/GBC rom and the emulator together so  you won't need to create GBA packages that contains both the roms and the emulators.


simbin said:


> I wish this mini design existed to begin with. My OG GBA X5 still sticks out of my DS Lite. But since MiSTer FPGA, I rarely use it anyway.





InsaneNutter said:


> I always wanted an EverDrive that wouldn't stick out the GBA or my DS Lite.


Unfortunately for DS lite users it will still stick out because it's the same size as a standard GBA cart (but way less than the older x5 model though).



Levente said:


> Are the NES classic gba games supported?


Yes, you can use the original roms, no patching required.


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## SuperDan (May 22, 2020)

$99 are you kidding me or what ? .. $20 at best is all i would play


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## raxadian (May 22, 2020)

Tomy Sakazaki said:


> It would cost the same, the GB/GBC emulators use GBA hardware, the everdrive x5 is programmed to chainload the GB/GBC rom and the emulator together so you won't need to create GBA packages that contains both the roms and the emulators



But does not this thing gave it's own RAM?


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## gnmmarechal (May 22, 2020)

hmm, I'm still using my EZ-Flash IV, I'll probably upgrade from it at some point.


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## raxadian (May 22, 2020)

gnmmarechal said:


> hmm, I'm still using my EZ-Flash IV, I'll probably upgrade from it at some point.



That's like 20 bucks plus shipping. Is it good?


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## realtimesave (May 22, 2020)

Problem with this product is the price. If he was able to lower it to compete with the Ez Flash Omega, then it would be some fierce competition.  Otherwise, not so much.  I got the ez flash omega and have no problems with it.


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## cvskid (May 22, 2020)

realtimesave said:


> Problem with this product is the price. If he was able to lower it to compete with the Ez Flash Omega, then it would be some fierce competition.  Otherwise, not so much.  I got the ez flash omega and have no problems with it.


Quality doesn't come cheap, and krikzz is well known for having the best flashcarts on the market.


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## realtimesave (May 22, 2020)

cvskid said:


> Quality doesn't come cheap, and krikzz is well known for having the best flashcarts on the market.


That's true I mean he never sacrifices quality in his products.  Especially for N64.  Never ever buy an Everdrive64 clone.  They are pure garbage.


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## isoboy (May 22, 2020)

Omega draws twice as much power as a normal game. The previous ED (not this new one) draws 20% more than an original game. The tests are out there.


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## JCR1 (May 22, 2020)

I think I wait until black friday for discount, I already have the original model, well, just maybe, now barely use it.


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## Sizednochi (May 22, 2020)

realtimesave said:


> That's true I mean he never sacrifices quality in his products.  Especially for N64.  Never ever buy an Everdrive64 clone.  They are pure garbage.


Define "pure garbage". I have one one for over 4 years now and it works great.



gnmmarechal said:


> hmm, I'm still using my EZ-Flash IV, I'll probably upgrade from it at some point.


I have one too, and you probably shouldn't upgrade. No real benefits to upgrading when everything works on it, unless it dies out or something, which might be never. lol


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## FAST6191 (May 22, 2020)

raxadian said:


> That's like 20 bucks plus shipping. Is it good?


GBA flash carts don't suffer half as many problems as the likes of the NES, SNES, N64, megadrive, GB/GBC, master system.... when it comes to having special chips that need to be emulated/replicated.
The list of trouble games pretty much sits at
http://gbatemp.net/threads/buying-a-gba-flash-cart-in-2013.341203/page-18#post-4756995
Most of those being the devs bolted on some random sensor or a clock that most don't care too much about. There is no this game had 10x the storage capacity, more audio abilities and extra graphical options courtesy of the devs including a bunch of extra processors on the game cart and thus many of the best games (see SNES special chips and to a lesser extent some megadrive stuff) won't work.

At the same time the GBA, or at least the DS which fed from the GBA and played it along with having flash carts run DS code, is new enough that cart designs from the time (which the EZ4 is) kind of still hold up.
On most of the older consoles most flash carts were either ancient in actual age, based around hacking up existing carts, or based on ancient designs, limited in capability... and thus krikzz was able to walk in, make modern designs and clean up.
The GBA however had none of the downsides, and was new enough that designs were more or less modern.

To that end EZ4. Is it a bit rough around the edges compared to some super slick modern embedded devices? Sure.
These days though can you play basically all the GBA library (trouble games noted in link above), indeed probably carry most of the library around with you at any one time, at the speed they would have been played on the original console? Yeah, and barring the introduction of drag and drop in more recent times you could have since the GBA was still getting new games.


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## playstays_shun (May 22, 2020)

isoboy said:


> Omega draws twice as much power as a normal game. The previous ED (not this new one) draws 20% more than an original game. The tests are out there.



Does this impact battery life? or just strains the system more quickly?


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## Clydefrosch (May 22, 2020)

playstays_shun said:


> Does this impact battery life? or just strains the system more quickly?


both, actually.
the omega one cuts playtime in half


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## playstays_shun (May 22, 2020)

Clydefrosch said:


> both, actually.
> the omega one cuts playtime in half



Dang!

Definitely worth supporting Krikzz then if you can

--

and is omega using stolen Krikzz development? Or its own thing?


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## slaphappygamer (May 22, 2020)

OrGoN3 said:


> Why is this $99? What advantages are there over an ancient M3? Seems to work just as well.


It’ll be easier to change your battery.


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## Sizednochi (May 22, 2020)

Clydefrosch said:


> both, actually.
> the omega one cuts playtime in half


What do you mean by straining the system? It really only draws more juice from what I understand.

Btw have the original EZ Flash IV (micro SD version), not the Omega. I also have a IPS screen moded GBA, which consumes more power than even the AGB 101 mod. I still get over 8 hours of gameplay before the console dies, playing from NOR Flash. Without NOR, it's a bit over 7 hours.

With original games I get 12 hours overall. So not that bad if you ask me. That's with Sony rechargeables AAs which aren't even the best ones around. Now would getting ~3 hours more of gameplay justify paying $100? Probably not if you ask me.

I heard the Omega draws more battery than the original EZIV, though. And I guess that on a GBA SP, where you can't use newer high-duty AA rechargeables, the battery life is probably abysmal, maybe even less than 3 hours. So yeah in that case I'd recommend the Evedrive.



playstays_shun said:


> Dang!
> and is omega using stolen Krikzz development? Or its own thing?


EZ Flashes have nothing to do with Krikzz. They existed way before the GBA Everdrive was a thing. That's also why they are a bit outdated as far as speed and power consumption go, but if I can play all the games, I honestly don't see the need to "upgrade". If mine dies, then sure, maybe, but it's been 4 years and it works like new.


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## gudenau (May 22, 2020)

When can we play those video carts with flash carts?

That would be interesting.


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## Pokemon_Tea_Sea_Jee (May 22, 2020)

I am surprised that it is 2020 and GBA still does not have a decent flashcart that doesn't drink battery and is reasonably priced.

Now I am glad that I sold my cheap but properly functioning used GBA that I bought, instead of refurbishing and modding it like I had originally envisaged.


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## playstays_shun (May 22, 2020)

what is the best way to play GBA: AGS-101, the regular with AGS-101 fitted, regular with IPS v2 or SP with IPS v2?


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## Sizednochi (May 22, 2020)

playstays_shun said:


> what is the best way to play GBA: AGS-101, the regular with AGS-101 fitted, regular with IPS v2 or SP with IPS v2?


GBA SP is too uncomfortable if you have adult hands... Way too cramped. The original model is the best, it's the best to hold and you can use high duty rechargeable AAs for better battery life. You also have a headphone jack, which the SP lacks.

The screen is a matter of taste. The 101 screen looks more authentic, with the "dot matrix" effect if you like that, but I dislike the heavy ghosting effect it has due to low refresh rate.
IPS V2 screen is crystal clear without any ghosting, and much brighter, also with killer viewing angles... but doesn't have that dot matrix thing. IPS also has slightly less battery life, but not by much. Something like 10 to 15%.

Having owned but a 101 GBA SP and an IPS V2 modded original GBA... The IPS modded GBA is the best possible combo I feel. I sold my 101 after getting it.


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## Amilord (May 22, 2020)

Geeeeez ! 99$ ? I'm gonna stick with my 20$ chinese flashcart then. I'll be happy to pay up to 50$ for a non chinese cart but here it's really too much


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## playstays_shun (May 22, 2020)

Sizednochi said:


> GBA SP is too uncomfortable if you have adult hands... Way too cramped. The original model is the best, it's the best to hold and you can use high duty rechargeable AAs for better battery life. You also have a headphone jack, which the SP lacks.
> 
> The screen is a matter of taste. The 101 screen looks more authentic, with the "dot matrix" effect if you like that, but I dislike the heavy ghosting effect it has due to low refresh rate.
> IPS V2 screen is crystal clear without any ghosting, and much brighter, also with killer viewing angles... but doesn't have that dot matrix thing. IPS also has slightly less battery life, but not by much. Something like 10 to 15%.
> ...



I had the OG one back in the day too so it would be nostalgic

so IPS V2 vs AGS-101 screen, the IPS V2 doesn't look like playing retro sprites on an HDTV? IE blocky?

In general I'm sure IPS is a higher quality panel than whatever came with AGS-101

Is the price better too? ie OG with IPS v2 easier and cheaper to find?

thanks

Didn't know there was no headphone jack either. Why are people all about SP? They just like the clamshell?

I love my N3ds so much (and XL is cool too, but the smaller one is my preference)

but theres a lot to hold onto there, its not vertically strained like GBA SP seems to be as you mentioned

--

funny a thread finally actually on GBA on **GBA**temp.


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## Sizednochi (May 22, 2020)

playstays_shun said:


> I had the OG one back in the day too so it would be nostalgic...


IPS would look "blockier" yeah, but not by much. It's a tiny screen still compared to say, a smartphone, so the PPI are very high. It looks very enjoyable for me, and I'm a purist as well (I play my old console on a CRT, lol). After playing with it for a while, I prefer the look myself, makes it hard to go back to 101 if I'm honest.

But yeah, it is also cheaper to buy the IPS screen these days, because they are still being manufactured, while the 101 screens are much more rare. You can buy a full modkit on Aliexpress, including a pre-cut case and the mod is fairly simple to do, no soldering required if you don't want the brightness adjustment. I play on default brightness and it's great.


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## playstays_shun (May 22, 2020)

Sizednochi said:


> IPS would look "blockier" yeah, but not by much. It's a tiny screen still compared to say, a smartphone, so the PPI are very high. It looks very enjoyable for me, and I'm a purist as well (I play my old console on a CRT, lol). After playing with it for a while, I prefer the look myself, makes it hard to go back to 101 if I'm honest.
> 
> But yeah, it is also cheaper to buy the IPS screen these days, because they are still being manufactured, while the 101 screens are much more rare. You can buy a full modkit on Aliexpress, including a pre-cut case and the mod is fairly simple to do, no soldering required if you don't want the brightness adjustment. I play on default brightness and it's great.




Thanks! If I dabbled I'd probably buy a pre-mod. I suck at this kinda stuff

and do you play GB, GBC, or GBA library most?

--

is accuracy with emulating on N3DS no good? have a softmodded N3ds.


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## Sizednochi (May 22, 2020)

playstays_shun said:


> and do you play GB, GBC, or GBA library most?
> is accuracy with emulating on N3DS no good? have a softmodded N3ds.


I play GBA the most. GB and GBC run ok via Goomba, but you'd probably be better getting a dedicated GB flashcard. There are chinese Everdrive GB clones which are pretty cheap and work just as good as the real thing. I'm yet to get  one but it's in my wishlist.

The accuracy of GBA injections on N3DS is fantastic, as there is no emulation involved, but i personally don't like the look of the image, since it uses filters. I also don't like how you can't remap buttons, the B and A buttons are in too steep of an angle which make playing action games like Megaman Zero much harder. If you can look past those issues then it's pretty good. Honestly I'd say try it, if it's not enough for you then go the real GBA route.


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## Xuio (May 22, 2020)

Also IPS for GBA is little bit larger then original 101.


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## playstays_shun (May 22, 2020)

Sizednochi said:


> I play GBA the most. GB and GBC run ok via Goomba, but you'd probably be better getting a dedicated GB flashcard. There are chinese Everdrive GB clones which are pretty cheap and work just as good as the real thing. I'm yet to get  one but it's in my wishlist.
> 
> The accuracy of GBA injections on N3DS is fantastic, as there is no emulation involved, but i personally don't like the look of the image, since it uses filters. I also don't like how you can't remap buttons, the B and A buttons are in too steep of an angle which make playing action games like Megaman Zero much harder. If you can look past those issues then it's pretty good. Honestly I'd say try it, if it's not enough for you then go the real GBA route.



Can you elaborate on the filter? 

I forgot 3DS has GBA hardware in it... very cool 

And with a dedicated flash card are GB/GBC still emulated on 3ds?

I know that TwilightMenu++ works wonders for DS games without the need for a cart but that took forever


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## Diego788 (May 22, 2020)

Sizednochi said:


> I play GBA the most. GB and GBC run ok via Goomba, but you'd probably be better getting a dedicated GB flashcard. There are chinese Everdrive GB clones which are pretty cheap and work just as good as the real thing. I'm yet to get  one but it's in my wishlist.
> 
> The accuracy of GBA injections on N3DS is fantastic, as there is no emulation involved, but i personally don't like the look of the image, since it uses filters. I also don't like how you can't remap buttons, the B and A buttons are in too steep of an angle which make playing action games like Megaman Zero much harder. If you can look past those issues then it's pretty good. Honestly I'd say try it, if it's not enough for you then go the real GBA route.



using some software for injecting roms (like NSUI) you can remove those filters and even add a manual sleep mode with a button combination

no button remapping, sadly
but hey, at least they run perfectly


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## gnmmarechal (May 23, 2020)

raxadian said:


> That's like 20 bucks plus shipping. Is it good?


I mean, as far as I've used it, it works fine. Mine's the old one with the miniSD slot, so I guess that's my main issue with it rn.


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## raxadian (May 23, 2020)

gnmmarechal said:


> I mean, as far as I've used it, it works fine. Mine's the old one with the miniSD slot, so I guess that's my main issue with it rn.



MiniSDs have got quite big, so whatever is the problem? It can only take up to 32GB or something?


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## Charli (May 23, 2020)

raxadian said:


> MiniSDs have got quite big, so whatever is the problem? It can only take up to 32GB or something?



MiniSDs aren't actually that easy to get anymore and they never were really common in the first place. I guess because they became quite obsolete as soon as MicroSDs started coming out.

I'd read that a real MiniSD should be used for the EZ4 instead of an MicroSD with an adapter. So I bought a 2GB MiniSD for my EZ4. And then I learned that MicroSD support was added later with a software update. But... the update breaks compatibility with MiniSDs... *sigh* So I didn't update the software on my EZ4 since I would need to get a MiniSD to MicroSD Adapter and a new MicroSD card.


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## raxadian (May 23, 2020)

Charli said:


> MiniSDs aren't actually that easy to get anymore and they never were really common in the first place. I guess because they became quite obsolete as soon as MicroSDs started coming out.
> 
> I'd read that a real MiniSD should be used for the EZ4 instead of an MicroSD with an adapter. So I bought a 2GB MiniSD for my EZ4. And then I learned that MicroSD support was added later with a software update. But... the update breaks compatibility with MiniSDs... *sigh* So I didn't update the software on my EZ4 since I would need to get a MiniSD to MicroSD Adapter and a new MicroSD card.



I feel your pain, I keep using an original R4 for DS because Wood is really good but has a 2GB limit on the micro sd things it can take so I can only play a few games at a time.  

Now back on topic, there are cheaper alternatives to this Everdrive if one just wants to play GBA games.


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## Charli (May 23, 2020)

Almost bought the x5 mini just now, but I'll try to be patient until the x7 gets released by Krikzz  Would really like to play Touhoumon Purple and some other Pokémon Hacks on real Hardware  (Touhoumon is crashing on my EZ4 :\)


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## PROTOBOY (May 23, 2020)

Wish I had one this in my gba days..


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## FAST6191 (May 23, 2020)

Charli said:


> Would really like to play Touhoumon Purple and some other Pokémon Hacks on real Hardware  (Touhoumon is crashing on my EZ4 :\)



If a hack does not work on one non supercard* flash cart which is otherwise in good working order it is unlikely to work on another. It might be that whatever real time clock bothering happened (don't know if this is one of them in the base game) caused something but I would be surprised there.
I did help someone a while back that had made a hack but used the wrong compression/handled compression wrongly but it still worked on less accurate emulators. That, the obviously emulator only Lua hacks, and said RTC stuff, is the only sort of thing I expect not to work on an otherwise good flash cart. I could see something like the compression thing happening here as the tools that led to my helping someone are also common within pokemon hacking circles. Simple test though what does no$gba debug version tell you http://problemkaputt.de/gba.htm
If it is RTC related then yeah a flash cart with it might do something, however in most cases I would expect you can still patch the game to work as you might have done with the original. There might be some additional work and there might be a collision if the RTC patch uses extra space/the same space as the fancier hack but that should also be able to be worked around easily enough.

Basically it is not like the NES or SNES where some ROM hackers routinely played into inaccuracies in emulators of the day to allow them to do things more easily at the cost of hardware compatibility, and thus far I have not seen anything fancy like the texture replacement stuff that is endemic in N64, GC, Wii and the like hacking/translation/emulator using circles.

*for others just joining us. The GBA era/slot supercards (and the team cyclops clones of them) cheaped out on memory so most games are slow, crash and the program patching the games themselves makes extensive use of speedpatching. A hack might do some extra reads and not be within whatever speedpatching was done by supercard's patcher, and then cause problems. Essentially every other flash cart out there barring some really really early stuff used nice fast memory and does not have this issue.


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## 2Hack (May 23, 2020)

x65943 said:


> Every time a new everdrive releases I am reminded of how poor I am ;A;
> 
> I just want to throw money at krikzz


Literally. I want the whole collection but sometimes my landlord asks for money


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## gnmmarechal (May 23, 2020)

raxadian said:


> MiniSDs have got quite big, so whatever is the problem? It can only take up to 32GB or something?


Are you thinking about microSDs or something? miniSDs aren't super easy to source.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------



Charli said:


> MiniSDs aren't actually that easy to get anymore and they never were really common in the first place. I guess because they became quite obsolete as soon as MicroSDs started coming out.
> 
> I'd read that a real MiniSD should be used for the EZ4 instead of an MicroSD with an adapter. So I bought a 2GB MiniSD for my EZ4. And then I learned that MicroSD support was added later with a software update. But... the update breaks compatibility with MiniSDs... *sigh* So I didn't update the software on my EZ4 since I would need to get a MiniSD to MicroSD Adapter and a new MicroSD card.


Yeah, I never upgraded mine to support >2GB because it broke support for non-SDHC cards.


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## FAST6191 (May 23, 2020)

Re SD cards.

There are three main form factors

1) SD cards. I am sure we are all familiar with these.
2) MinSD cards. Mainly made for mobile phones where SD cards were too large. For a hot moment miniSD was cheaper than micro but also smaller than SD. Kind of stopped being made when microsd got cheap, good speed and good storage density.
3) MicroSD cards. I am sure we are all familiar with these.

Electrically speaking they are all the same thing, hence the adapters that are little more than shells with some wire in.

In addition to that there have been various revisions of the protocol (there is also another technical earlier/at the same time as SD but we will skip that).

SD. These were up to 2 gigabytes, technically there were some off spec ones that went to 4 but these are rare as anything and usually tricky to use (not to mention finding them in microSD is even harder and miniSD I am told exist but money no object I doubt I could find one).
SDHC. These were up to 32 gigabytes.
SDXC. Up to 2 terabytes.
SDUC has been around for a few years but is still rare.

Generally speaking anything newer can use older cards, though there are still some problems with file systems to try to stay with things.

As far as the EZ4 was concerned it started off not even supporting 2 gig cards and needed an update to make it there (though to be fair at the time they were as expensive as the largest stuff is today and it was mainly some kid tried one his dad got for work that we first saw it work with).
They stuck at 2 gigs (the limit for SD) for years and years.
Eventually the EZTeam came back and released updates for the EZ4. Among those was drag and drop and the ability to use SDHC memory (up to 32 gigs, do note this as there are some really nice deals on 64 gig cards in real world shops that people are tempted by. 32 gigs might be small for your phone but the entire GBA ROM set more or less fits in that and you don't want the entire site. 1000 of the best games + all the NES, Master System, Game Gear, PCE, gameboy, gameboy color and whatever else will comfortably sit in it).
The DS lite revisions of the EZ4 all use microSD but the original GBA size ones and a later respin all used miniSD, today it (and the Omega that replaced it) use microSD and are available in full GBA size carts.

Annoyingly as well the micro to miniSD adapters are frequently terrible. I have no idea why this is -- I have SD to microSD adapters that have been bent, crushed, stepped on, dropped, thrown, crashed off motorbikes at 100mph... all just fine for well over 10 years. It is however what it is and 95% of problems that are not just software related are solved by people finding a proper miniSD for those models with it. Back when you used to be able to go find them in shops selling old mobile phones but today they are rare as anything.

Anyway none of this really applies to the everdrive.

Re SD cards.

There are three main form factors

1) SD cards. I am sure we are all familiar with these.
2) MinSD cards. Mainly made for mobile phones where SD cards were too large. For a hot moment miniSD was cheaper than micro but also smaller than SD. Kind of stopped being made when microsd got cheap, good speed and good storage density.
3) MicroSD cards. I am sure we are all familiar with these.

Electrically speaking they are all the same thing, hence the adapters that are little more than shells with some wire in.

In addition to that there have been various revisions of the protocol (there is also another technical earlier/at the same time as SD but we will skip that).

SD. These were up to 2 gigabytes, technically there were some off spec ones that went to 4 but these are rare as anything and usually tricky to use (not to mention finding them in microSD is even harder and miniSD I am told exist but money no object I doubt I could find one).
SDHC. These were up to 32 gigabytes.
SDXC. Up to 2 terabytes.
SDUC has been around for a few years but is still rare.

Generally speaking anything newer can use older cards, though there are still some problems with file systems to try to stay with things.

As far as the EZ4 was concerned it started off not even supporting 2 gig cards and needed an update to make it there (though to be fair at the time they were as expensive as the largest stuff is today and it was mainly some kid tried one his dad got for work that we first saw it work with).
They stuck at 2 gigs (the limit for SD) for years and years.
Eventually the EZTeam came back and released updates for the EZ4. Among those was drag and drop and the ability to use SDHC memory (up to 32 gigs, do note this as there are some really nice deals on 64 gig cards in real world shops that people are tempted by. 32 gigs might be small for your phone but the entire GBA ROM set more or less fits in that and you don't want the entire site. 1000 of the best games + all the NES, Master System, Game Gear, PCE, gameboy, gameboy color and whatever else will comfortably sit in it).
The DS lite revisions of the EZ4 all use microSD but the original GBA size ones and a later respin all used miniSD, today it (and the Omega that replaced it) use microSD and are available in full GBA size carts.

Annoyingly as well the micro to miniSD adapters are frequently terrible. I have no idea why this is -- I have SD to microSD adapters that have been bent, crushed, stepped on, dropped, thrown, crashed off motorbikes at 100mph... all just fine for well over 10 years. It is however what it is and 95% of problems that are not just software related are solved by people finding a proper miniSD for those models with it. Back when you used to be able to go find them in shops selling old mobile phones but today they are rare as anything.

Anyway none of this really applies to the everdrive.


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## raxadian (May 23, 2020)

gnmmarechal said:


> Are you thinking about microSDs or something? miniSDs aren't super easy to source.



Yeah got confused sorry.


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## Rune (May 25, 2020)

@FAST6191 
I thought I'd ask you considering your extensive knowledge on the subject.
Can you tell me about how the saving works on the Everdrive GBA compared to the EZ Flash Omega?

I know with the Omega, I need to save the game and then wait about 5 seconds for it to write to the mSD card. Am I right in assuming that the saving is instant with the Everdrive?
And are the various different save types all supported on both flash carts?


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## FAST6191 (May 25, 2020)

Not sure offhand what the everdrive does but I know they both work effectively the same way and emulate the original save rather than patching the ROM to behave as a given type of SRAM, which is what all other GBA flash carts (even the EZ4's more recent drag and drop functionality) do. What delay the everdrive has been grabbing the save and transferring it to the cart I don't know.

As far as I am aware all the save types are supported, each minor type does feature a fairly popular game so I would imagine we would have heard about it if it was a problem. One of the really weird invented save types for some kind of unlicensed hardware might be troubled but with the really weird stuff there that is usually the least of your troubles.


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## Rune (May 25, 2020)

FAST6191 said:


> Not sure offhand what the everdrive does but I know they both work effectively the same way and emulate the original save rather than patching the ROM to behave as a given type of SRAM, which is what all other GBA flash carts (even the EZ4's more recent drag and drop functionality) do. What delay the everdrive has been grabbing the save and transferring it to the cart I don't know.
> 
> As far as I am aware all the save types are supported, each minor type does feature a fairly popular game so I would imagine we would have heard about it if it was a problem. One of the really weird invented save types for some kind of unlicensed hardware might be troubled but with the really weird stuff there that is usually the least of your troubles.


Its just that I read people instructing us to wait a few seconds for the Omega to write the save to mSD before powering off. The same isnt advised with the Everdrive, which is what led me to believe the saving on that might be instant, unlike the Omega.


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## tiduscrying (May 25, 2020)

Dang, here's hoping these make it onto StoneAgeGamer sooner than later. Tried three times to order one off the site Krikzz linked on twitter but couldn't process the payment successfully. My cards must not like being used there for whatever reason... :/


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## otenko (May 25, 2020)

FAST6191 said:


> Not sure offhand what the everdrive does but I know they both work effectively the same way and emulate the original save rather than patching the ROM to behave as a given type of SRAM, which is what all other GBA flash carts (even the EZ4's more recent drag and drop functionality) do. What delay the everdrive has been grabbing the save and transferring it to the cart I don't know.





Rune said:


> Its just that I read people instructing us to wait a few seconds for the Omega to write the save to mSD before powering off. The same isnt advised with the Everdrive, which is what led me to believe the saving on that might be instant, unlike the Omega.


The current save file stays on the Everdrive memory and it is only copied to the MicroSD card when you load a different rom. You can even play without a microSD card if you a have a rom loaded to the Everdrive. It's pretty neat, but I already read people complaining of the save file being overwritten.


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## Rune (May 26, 2020)

otenko said:


> The current save file stays on the Everdrive memory and it is only copied to the MicroSD card when you load a different rom. You can even play without a microSD card if you a have a rom loaded to the Everdrive. It's pretty neat, but I already read people complaining of the save file being overwritten.


So with the Everdrive, can you not just power off your GBA instantly after saving in game?
Or is there something I need to do every time like the EZ Flash Omega where I need to wait a few seconds for it to write to the mSD?


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## otenko (May 26, 2020)

Rune said:


> So with the Everdrive, can you not just power off your GBA instantly after saving in game?
> Or is there something I need to do every time like the EZ Flash Omega where I need to wait a few seconds for it to write to the mSD?


You can turn off instantly after saving in game, because the save file is stored on the Everdrive own memory. It doesn't have any delays. Your current savefile will only be backed to the microSD when you load a new diferent game rom.


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## Charli (May 27, 2020)

FAST6191 said:


> Re SD cards.
> 
> ...



Thanks for this writeup! Even though it's a little bit off topic


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## playstays_shun (May 27, 2020)

whats the cheapest most economical but decent flashcard solution for GBA? do I have to resort to aliexpress?


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## tiduscrying (May 28, 2020)

playstays_shun said:


> whats the cheapest most economical but decent flashcard solution for GBA? do I have to resort to aliexpress?


Probably an EZ-Flash Reform (just a re-released IV) or Omega if you are concerned the MOST about price. Omega is neat but as others have mentioned it uses a lot more power than other carts and can be funny with saves if you don't wait after saving your game for a sec or two.


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## playstays_shun (May 28, 2020)

tiduscrying said:


> Probably an EZ-Flash Reform (just a re-released IV) or Omega if you are concerned the MOST about price. Omega is neat but as others have mentioned it uses a lot more power than other carts and can be funny with saves if you don't wait after saving your game for a sec or two.



is N3DS (the non XL) with IPS screen and holding start to preserve original aspect ratio a decent option? What are the true benefits of GBA hardware (be it IPS v2 or a 101 screen on SP or regular)

should be playing natively not emulating like how Wii U can play GC natively just doesn't support the physical media.


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