Hacking How to play GBA games on the DSi XL

[Arm73]

Following the other tread , I came up with some crazy idea and I thought of sharing it with you, and I' d like to know what do you guys think !

Hey guys I got a solution...........
It's a little bit of a stretch but........I was thinking............if some how would be possible to modify a DSi XL case.........and fit in there a DSL motherboard ( which has a gba port ) and connect it with the larger, improved screens....( granted you'll lose the cameras and DSi only features ) maybe, just maybe we could play GBA games natively on the larger DSi XL screens ! That would be awesome, as the screens are not only bigger, but also brighter and vivider than any model of GBA ever came close too.............
I know there are all sort of technical problems that prevent this, but I' ve seen people on youtube with portable N64 or gamecubes or even PSX modified to look like an handled........
One could only ream right ? But I guess the DSi XL must have enough space in the case to hold a DSL motherboard.......if only the connector for the display would be the same.............Arrghhhhhh why did Nintendo not include a GBA port in the first place ! That's driving me nuts !
By the way I'm the first one to come up with such idea and all rights are reserved, I'll make a proper post soon with pictures........

 

[retiredjerk]

or you could just save yourself the trouble and buy an iplayer and do the same thing and save yourself a few hours..however if you pull it off let us know.

 

[Thoob]

This would render the cameras useless, you know. And the ribbon cables for the screens probably have different connectors than the DSL. Just buy a damn iPlayer if you want GBA.

 

[Arm73]

or you could just save yourself the trouble and buy an iplayer and do the same thing and save yourself a few hours..however if you pull it off let us know.

That wouldn't be the same thing, wouldn't it ? I mean perfect, native support for the GBA beats any emulators even on the PC, so why bother ?
It could be an interesting project though, if all you care is DSL and GBA games, and don't really need the extra DSi features ( which by the way are not accessible trough homebrew or any current flashcart ) , why not build yourself the ultimate portable gaming system ?

 

[ProtoKun7]

That wouldn't be the same thing, wouldn't it ? I mean perfect, native support for the GBA beats any emulators even on the PC, so why bother ?
It could be an interesting project though, if all you care is DSL and GBA games, and don't really need the extra DSi features ( which by the way are not accessible trough homebrew or any current flashcart ) , why not build yourself the ultimate portable gaming system ?

If all you care about are DSL and GBA games, why not buy a DSL and get slot 1 and slot 2 flashcarts?

 

[ZeWarrior]

I mean perfect, native support for the GBA beats any emulators even on the PC, so why bother ?

Not true. VBA w/ HQ2X >>>> Any GBA/DS natively playing GBA games.

 

[Pliskron]

I have an idea. You could buy a GBA SP II with the nice bright screen and tape it to a DSi XL to form a new handheld system. Wait wait!!!! I have a better idea you could tape a Game Boy to that and a PSP to the Game Boy creating the most formidable heandheld ever concived. It's diabolical hahahahaha.

 

[Arm73]

That wouldn't be the same thing, wouldn't it ? I mean perfect, native support for the GBA beats any emulators even on the PC, so why bother ?
It could be an interesting project though, if all you care is DSL and GBA games, and don't really need the extra DSi features ( which by the way are not accessible trough homebrew or any current flashcart ) , why not build yourself the ultimate portable gaming system ?
If all you care about are DSL and GBA games, why not buy a DSL and get slot 1 and slot 2 flashcarts?



I already have that, I also have an original GBA, GBA SP( the latest version with the brighter screen, but still is not perfect ), a broken spare DSL, a Supercard SD and an M3 Perfect SD. Plus of course a few slot-1 cards, and even some GB bridge and Flash2Advance cards to play natively GB and GBcolors games on the GBA.........

However, the thought of playing GBA games on the DSi XL is just too irresistible .......

QUOTE(Arm73 @ Mar 18 2010, 01:33 PM)

I mean perfect, native support for the GBA beats any emulators even on the PC, so why bother ?

Not true. VBA w/ HQ2X >>>> Any GBA/DS natively playing GBA games.

That isn't the same thing either, OK you get improvement like save states and graphic filters but it certainly is not the same as playing on an handled on the go or when in bed or on the couch.......

 

[Pliskron]

GBA on an XL will look like crap I'm thinking. I'm betting it'll look all pixelated.

 

[tajio]

It may be possible for Ben Heck ( http://benheck.com/ ) he can modify games consoles to do many things and even make them portable such as the N64, Gamecube, PSX you mentioned and many more!!!

 

[Arm73]

GBA on an XL will look like crap I'm thinking. I'm betting it'll look all pixelated.


Well if DS games look alright on it, don't forget that GBA games have a border on the DSL, making the image slightly smaller but mantaining that 1:1 pixel aspect ratio, so I would say it will look smaller then DS games, but still quite bigger then on a GBA SP.
Since the pixels size is the same, I don't see why GBA games would be more pixelated then the average DS game.

I know it's a funny idea and it's not like plug and play a motherboard into the new handled and BAM !
First , it has to be seen if the display connectors are exactly the same ( that would be a huge advantage ) , then we'll have to see of the battery would be enough to power the larger screen as it is, and lastly there is more space between the d-pad and ABXY buttons from left to right that a physical mapping of the old motherboard with the new buttons will be out of question, but still I think the new case hold up a lot of space to play with, heck even an M3 perfect CF would fit flush in that thing !
Anyway once I get my hand on a DSi XL , I'll disassemble it and try to see what can realistically be done.

QUOTE(tajio @ Mar 18 2010, 12:51 PM) It may be possible for Ben Heck ( http://benheck.com/ ) he can modify games consoles to do many things and even make them portable such as the N64, Gamecube, PSX you mentioned and many more!!!

Yeah that's what I'm talking about ! Thanks for posting this !

The thing is, if you rather have GBA games on it instead of the DSi only features, then it might be a good trade off !

 

[DeltaBurnt]

It might be a "good" idea, but it's waaaay too much work and money wasted just to get GBA games to play natively on your DSi. Plus, you'd still need to buy a slot 2 ram expansion or a gba flashcart to play them from a microsd.