Originally posted by: FeathersMcGraw
Originally posted by: Dead Parrot Sketch
Just noticed Best Buy has some new kind of Gameboy Advance player for the Gamecube, it's $29.99
Only available in stores but you can see it in their weekly ad online, it's on page 19.
Also available online.
DATEL DESIGN/COMPUTER SOFTWARE Advance Game Port
Play Game Boy Advance games on your TV right through your GameCube. Plug the Advance Game Port into the GameCube's controller port, put in a Game Boy Advance cartridge, download it to your GameCube and you're ready to go. Now you can have Game By Advance games on your TV in an instant.
Advance Game Port works with hundreds of Game Boy Advance titles, including Pokémon Ruby, Pokémon Sapphire, Mario Advance, Zelda: The Four Swords and many more. Witness your favorite games on a big screen and dive into the action.
Additional information:
It uses GBA emulation technology so it only supports GBA games. They could have easily included a GBC emulator, but they'll probably save that functionality. Just like there isn't a perfect GBA emulator for PC, there isn't for Gamecube. When the next big game comes out it will probably need an updated boot disc.
It dumps and transfers the game cartridge's ROM content into memory on the GCN where the emulation takes place. It is smart enough to update the SRAM, EEPROM, FlashROM and RTC on the original cart when completed.
There will probably not be an updated boot disc with GB/GBC support (The carts require different voltages, normally switched by a keyed cartridge).
Nintendo plans to use emulation technology for Pokemon Channel, allowing the GBA's to link to the GCN via the link port but the game ROMs will actually be stored on the GCN disc (The link to the GBA will only confirm that you own the game and retrieve/update the save memory and RTC). This emulator as with all of Nintendo's past emulators will be highly optimized for this one game, so it is not an example of console emulation's adequacy for retail use.
BTW, Pokemon Stadium used this same technique with the GB Transfer Pak for emulating Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow.
I have no doubt that this could have been made "hardware-less" using the player's own GBA-to-GCN link cable and the Start+Select trick on the GBA, but I'm sure it would be quite a bit slower. Perhaps they'll make a "Pro" version with GBC support in the future and a cheap "disc only" version like the GameShark Pro and GameShark Lite (Both Datel products sold by Interact).
I say avoid it unless upgrades turn out to be free (GS upgrades became an on-going business!). Generic console emulation will never mature enough to stand on its own like that.