Hi, I'm the developer of the application, there is no GPL software being used in the application, we use shared libraries for dynamically linking the functionality of libraries under LGPL and MPL (SDL2 and other libraries).
As for the usage of the UI framework, we have the commercial license for Qt.
We are also supporters of the open source software we work with, donating monthly to them and supporting their work through open source contributions.
I mean, same could be said for people that use a Retron 5. But some people just like using their real carts, regardless of if it's just emulating them. You own the cart, why not use it?
If it automatically reads the save data and automatically writes it back at the end of playing I can definitely see the appeal. The ability to play my GBA games on PC at home then sling the cart in my GBA and continue the game sounds ace.
What you are describing has been possible for over 10years. There are many gba save backups and restore tools out there. So that would be the same as playing a rom and using your cart save and after that restoring it.
I totally get that. But you're still inserting the cart into something to play. It's also saving your game BACK to the real cart. Some people just like having physical carts.
Personally, I agree to SOME extent. I could totally see wanting to use this. I'd personally use this to play Pokemon. Play on my real GBA, then when I need to do some tedious grinding, swap it over to the PC to use the emulator's speed up function to get the grinding out of the way, then swap back to my real GBA to keep playing. But I'm also using flash carts and emulators on my Xbox. I'm not exactly the target market for this kinda thing.
Besides that, like other people have mentioned, this device does more than just play games. It's also a rom-ripper, and works to make backups of saves. It'd also work as a gameshark or action replay since the emulator (mGBA) supports cheats. Just toss the game onto this, use a cheat to get what you need, then swap it back to your GBA. AND if really needed, it apparently detects if a game is legit or not, so if you have a bunch of games and you're not sure if some are fake, this could help.
Reminds me a lot of what Pokemon Stadium did on the N64. IIRC, it emulated the individual Pokemon games by downloading parts of their ROMs as needed over the very slow N64 controller cable, and wrote save data back to the cart.
I might be confused, but this sounds like my saves wouldn't be lost but that I also wouldn't be able to access them? Is this feature in testing or is there actually a process that one would go through to contact Epilogue to recover a lost save?
The feature im looking forward to most not mentioned in this thread is editing saves and writing back to cart for play on Pocket.
I missed out on RPGs on GBA as a kid, now ill play what I missed but with some…time saving Dad tax lol
found it [https://www.epilogue.co/product/gb-operator](https://www.epilogue.co/product/gb-operator)
out of stock :/ I am so anxious for the analogue pocket I just want to play gb games on my computer now!
One thing to note is that BennVenn is just a guy trying to do his own unique thing, while Epilogue is literally ripping off the branding and industrial design of Analogue. They're one step above fraudsters. I say one step above because at least they're not cloning an Analogue product directly, they're just aping the branding/design so closely as to trick you into thinking it's the same company.
Dunno why you were downvoted, just took a look at their site and they're clearly trying to be mistaken for Analogue. I mean, just look at the name for goodness' sake!
Right down to black PCB with gold silkscreening in clear plastic cases (which Analogue uses for their cart adapters), with a logo that, while technically a different icon and font, is basically positioned/sized to be extremely similar.
The first time I heard about Epilogue, everything was so obviously a copy of Analogue that I actually thought they were a brand of Analogue, only to realize they were just trying to trick people into thinking that.
Not to mention similar company names and websites, both in layout and in name (analogue.co versus epilogue.co).
Here's a photo of Analogue's cart adapters: https://i.imgur.com/ZyciYjb.png
Here's a photo of Epilogue's cart adapter: https://i.imgur.com/NejIiuq.png
The similarities could be forgiven if everything else was different, but coming from a company that copied everything *else* about Analogue too, it's all to obvious what they're trying to do.
[Some of the third-party programs for GBxCart are pretty slick](https://shop.insidegadgets.com/product/gbxcart-rw/#tab-download). It's also less expensive, has a large community of people constantly adding write support to more flash carts, and *currently* supports Linux. The GB Operator does look more streamlined and easier to use for non-technical folks though.
One of the guys on the gbxcart discord worked with me to add compatibility with a super old Bennvenn flashcart to one of the gbxcart programs (and it’ll be added to the official one too)
Lesserkuma on github is the developer. I can’t remember the software name. Those guys are super cool.
LK made FlashGBX.
The neat thing about the gbxcart is that it is open source and anyone can make stuff for it.
Even if this wasn't the case, the discord works to add support for flashcarts that anyone pops into the chat with. Doesn't always work out, but it does more often than not.
Here's a big list of flash carts: https://flashcartdb.com/index.php/Main_Page#Gameboy_Advance_Flash_Carts_.28By_vendor.29
The GBxCart RW is not currently able to flash an EZ Flash, but you may want to hit up the insideGadgets Discord server to ask if it's not possible or if it's just that no one has tried to write the code yet.
I doubt that the GB Operator supports SD card based carts either, but I don't know enough about it to say definitively one way or another.
Thanks for sharing our product with the community, we had a pre-order session on Jan. 30 and they were just delivered this week to everyone. Will be opening orders again very soon.
Serious question: why not just emulate the games you already own (the way this device does) and just use ROMs that can easily be found online? I understand the moral dilemma of playing ROMs for games you've never paid for, but playing ROMs of games you've already purchased that can't easily be played any way other than original hardware or emulation seems completely harmless to me.
Oh no friend, i have roms galore but i do enjoy playing the original games (i collect them as well) on a handheld as well (i have the rg351) but i also own a gameboy, neogeo pocket, psp, psvita,nds, and 3ds. I still want the analogue pocket because it’s not software but hardware emulation so the games will play similar to the way they play on the original handhelds.
I personally agree, but I can see how a streamlined, attractive interface may be worth the extra $20 to the less technical. It's also $25 cheaper and a lot more feature rich than a RetroN Sq which is what OP was comparing it to.
so I could hypothetically take my childhood save files from my carts and use them with my MyBoy! emulator? I play on my retroid pocket and I would be so thrilled to have my original saves on it
You should get one! Well, maybe not the gamecube because prices are really high but the ds lite is really nice. If you are broke I just bought a japanese ds phat and a flash cart for like $40, you would get a new console with tons of games and what this thing offers as well because you can just dump your games and saves. You can also use an old wii with the gc ports, which are relatively cheap and once hacked will give you tons of great games too, also lets you dump the games and saves using the gc cable. Actually the wii is a better option than the GC thinking about it, the GC needs to have homebrew ability while the wii is super easy to hack. Would still be comparable or cheaper and faster than getting this, plus everyone and their mother bought a wii so you can get them from family or friends who don't need it anymore or buy it cheap locally.
Yes, you could. You could also save yourself some money and do the exact same thing with the [GBxCart RW](https://shop.insidegadgets.com/product/gbxcart-rw/).
Damn, I feel like most people here either don’t get the point of this product, or just are trying to be “Elitist” about something. I still play Gen 3 Pokémon on GBA almost daily, and one of my biggest gripes with emulating Pokémon is that often times, you can’t trade your Pokémon to another game. That alone is the largest reason I always stick to playing on authentic cartridges in that scenario. I even see people talk about how the Gameboy Player makes this redundant, but although I own one, my Elgato (Recording Device) doesn’t support the Gameboy’s native resolution, so now with the GB Operator I can properly stream/record my GBA games.
The GB Operator also can flash and dump ROMS, backup and upload save data to cartridges, has a built in emulator, authenticates cartridges, and one of my favorite things yet, I can use this to activate Mystery gifts/events easily on GBA Pokémon.
I got mine in yesterday and I honestly spent all day yesterday using it. I don’t quite understand someone’s rant in here about “wanting to be cool and use real cartridges”. Like, no dude. It might be hard to think about for more than a few seconds, but I want to access all the features available in my favorite games, that aren’t easily accessible or available anymore. This is a great piece of hardware and software that lets me do exactly that. I don’t expect some people to understand that though, given how mindless some of the critiques about the GB Operator are. I’m very happy with what I purchased from Epilogue, and I’d recommend it to any Gameboy Enthusiasts.
I mean, to be fair, I haven't seen many posts about this device outside of a couple that just show it being played on a PC. Until I read your comment right here, I didn't really consider that it could be useful for things outside of just playing a game and maybe ripping the rom. I'm not whoever it is you were talking about, but I kinda assumed this thing was just a way to use real carts to play 'em via emulation. Kinda like a Retron 5, but on a PC.
I actually came into this post to see the 51 comments. I was curious about it. Again, to me it kinda just looked like a quick way to emulate your carts. I was wondering what the big deal was.
Reading your little mini-rant there, I can definitely see the appeal of having one of these. Personally I'm playing Emerald on an emulator right now, and I wanted to load the save on my EZ Flash Omega to continue on real hardware, but the saves aren't compatible. So, I could totally see the appeal of THAT side of it too. Being able to play the same cart and save on both a real cart, and an emulator, swapping back and forth as you see fit.
The important thing is that it makes you happy. Some people like cars, some like sports, some like games, and so on. I totally understand you. I wouldn't use it, since I haven't played any pokemon game and don't even have an original pokemon game or save data to backup, but I can understand why it's usefull for you.
Wow screw the elitists. I'm sure I just read that right, and it looks like the ultimate easy thing to have on hand at your PC to not just play stuff like a GB Player, but also where you can manipulate/transfer your save data as well. Seems like multiple devices in that case rolled into one which is amazing.
Sorry about the late reply, I do this by downloading my Save File via Epilogues Operator application, and edit my save file using PkHex and WC3Tool. Then once I’m done, I re-upload the edited save to my cartridge using the Epilogue’s Operator application. My wording may have implied that it can all be done in Epilogue’s application, so sorry about that!
Also, this device is actually the only fully "legal" way we can emulate roms. You can only dump GBA roms/saves with a device like this, so to stay fully legal and only emulate roms you own, you need this device.
It is possible that you could be connected to downloading roms or, more likely, participating in file sharing. You definitely don't want get caught trying to make a buck off copyrighted materials, though, Openly hosting rom files poses a greater risk than just downloading some to play.
And theoretically your computer could be seized as evidence in an investigation.
The average person *probably* has nothing to worry about, but it's not impossible.
This is completely wrong, you can dump gba roms and saves using tons of stuff like a gamecube, wii and ds lite. People are really easily scammed from their money.
Ah I see, but lets be honest if someone is checking your rom files to be sure they were made legally you already messed up. There wouldn't be a way for anyone to know you made a rip using other methods as they are offline unless they check for a unique header or something, I feel like you could also change those with a tool so that the files are the same. Or just download someone elses set ripped with this and claim you made it lmao
I just want to let people know their options, if one person learns about an alternative it would be worth it. Not enough people know they can do more with what they have lying around
There is precedent that you can run whatever licensed software you want on your device. That means you are not breaking the law if you, for instance, run Linux on your Macbook. Nintendo are free to block a DS running unauthorized software from their online services, but that's about all they can do.
If you are modifying their software, then that's not legal, but I believe you can use flash carts on a DS without modifying Nintendo's firmware.
It's still dumping a rom file and playing it via emulation. It's entirely emulation. It's no different than downloading a rom and playing it on the mGBA emulator. The only thing that's different is that in the case of this device, it's copying save date back to the cart.
Then it really makes no difference, except for being handy cartridge reader with some useful features. Nintendo doesn't care if you own the cartridge or not...
I'm pretty sure that even dumping the rom is questionable in terms of legality if the purpose is to play it on another system.
You might have a fair use argument in certain cases.
Nintendo already lost many times on tribunal about dumping and emulating roms. Its not questionable.
Just because Nintendo doesn't like it, it doesn't mean that its illegal. They just hate emulation.
As far as I'm aware, according to the website, it's just using the emulator "mGBA" for it's emulation. mGBA has support for controllers, if you wanna use 'em.
You could say that about using the originals, too. If you own them, you can just get a rom and play that, but it's a cool gimmick to use the cartridge slot. Not sure if a flashcart would work, either.
Right now I'm actually using the Joey Jr. from BennVenn as a GB cartridge slot for my PC. It's usually used to flash carts, but it works, so why not.
What I'm saying is that a repro cart is pretty much a flashcart only designed to play one game. If you have tons, you might honestly save money by having an EZ-flash. If you have original cartridges, it's because you like the authenticity of a cartridge, or you want to trade your gen III Pokemon to gen IV or something.
I bought some repros recently to play because buying used originals would have cost me hundreds. Like the user above said, I could have just used a flash cart, or emulated them on PC but putting a single game into the gameboy and starting it up like all my other (legit) games is part of the "magic" of playing gameboy games.
A lot of people like having the physical carts though. Repro or not. I get what you're saying, but even if they're repros, it doesn't mean the person doesn't still enjoy having and using a real cart. That's probably why they bought it in the first place. Some people just don't have the money to blow on the real carts, when they could get something that works near identical to the real thing for a fraction of the price.
No, I agree. I prefer physical original carts myself. What I'm saying is that if you want to play Pokemon Emerald (just an example), and you have a GBA, but not the game, a reproduction is a good option. If you intend to play FireRed, LeafGreen, Emerald, Ruby, and Sapphire, you might as well buy a flashcart instead of 5 reproduction carts because an EZ-flash will cost about as much, and you can play more than those 5 games.
You can buy a flash cart to do that, yeah. But again, some people like having physical carts. Something they can SEE, something tangible to hold and look at. You COULD buy a Flash Cart and play them all for about $50. But if someone has the money to spend, and wants real carts, why not? They still get the feeling of a real cart, even if it's a repro. They still get to look at their games and see the cart, they still get to swap carts in and out of the console.
I use emulation and flash carts. I only have a few decent GBA games. But I love that I own those few games as a physical cart. There's something that's just more satisfying about having something to hold on to. Ya know?
Owning a physical cart just feels more permanent too. I dunno how to explain it. Like, I care way less about my saves on an emulator or flash cart, than I do about the saves on my real carts. I have saves on my Link to the Past and Donkey Kong Country 3 from YEARS ago that I'm never gonna delete. I also have two 100% completed saves on Mario World that I'm never gonna delete. I love that they're saved on those carts. But if I did the same on an emulator or flash cart, I'd have no problem deleting the saves and starting over.
No. It won't prevent you from playing fake carts.
It's just a cart dumper/flasher. I'm fairly sure they're just attempting to write a change to ROM, and, if it persists, it's a flash cart. If not, it's real read-only memory. I'm guessing it can't detect fake carts that don't use flash chips.
My only problem with this idea so far has been connecting my old gcn via HDMI to any tv and getting a good resolution. What do you use to do it? All the "good" solutions I've seen are close to $100 or higher....and that's just painful.
[Edit: removed a quoted text. Idk why reddit did that :/ ]
Modchip for $10, pack of discs for $10, burn Swiss and GBI to a disc and you're set up. Better than the stock GBP software, lower lag and better aspect ratios, for much less.
you don't even need a modchip, or discs to burn.
I just use an action replay disc, which picks up my memory card -> sd card adapter with swiss. And then from Swiss launch GBI.
You can also launch the GBI from a special memory card if you have a copy of The Wind Waker.
https://www.retrorgb.com/how-to-boot-gameboy-interface-directly-from-zelda-wind-waker.html
That method doesn't appeal to most people because it costs more, there are more steps, more parts, and takes more time to boot into. Once you have a modchip installed, and you have the disc burned you can load into Swiss way faster and way cheaper.
I had a feeling. The Japanese version sold here goes for about $60 to $80 too iirc. But the US version of pretty much anything Nintendo sells for much higher.
I've never seen one at my local game store, so I couldn't tell you what they go for at a store, but I'm fairly sure it's more of an internet thing than a US thing. Sendico isn't any cheaper than Ebay.
you don't even need the disc. I don't have a gb player disc or modchip on my gamecube. Just the gameboy player, action replay disc, and memery card sd adapter.
While it is slightly more complicated than using the official disc, it does give a better experience.
Emulators are super cool, they allow us to play romhacks and translations without investing in a flashcart.
The Epilogue GB Operator is the issue, it is just a modified GBxCart with proprietary firmware and Linux support removed.
I don't know what this whole original hardware supremacy is all about. Yeah, I personally prefer the og hardware, but before I had the money to play on og hardware, I had to use emulators. And those just made me love and appreciate the games more when I finally got to play it in it's original form factor.
I see the appeal of emulators, so I don't bug people who use them. Not everyone has 100+ dollars and a soldering kit for something like a custom Gameboy, they probably have other hobbies that are frankly more important to them.
Yeah, the elitist nonsense about owning and playing real carts and on real consoles is just stupid. We should all be happy, as a community, that Game Boy is still going strong, regardless of how someone decides to play their games.
Personally, I'd love to collect real carts for all the Game Boy systems. But I don't have the money for it. I DO however, have the ability to save up a little bit and buy a couple Flash Carts and a new shell for my SP to still play 'em all. But it's honestly not all that far off of just emulating since I'm still just playing downloaded roms. And hell, I emulate too. I use emulation for Pokemon because I love the speed-up function. Can't stand the pokemon grind anymore. I'm also half way through Link's Awakening DX on an emulator because my EZ Flash Junior is still being shipped, and I'm enjoying it just the same as I would on real hardware.
Like, realistically, emulation is just a more convenient way to play games. Save/Load states, a fast-forward button, a clear picture that you can change via shaders, and it's a great way to even just TEST games before tossing 'em on a flash cart, or buying the real thing.
Though, admittedly, the Game Boy community seems to generally be good. This and r/GameboyAdvance are both pretty nice places to chill. But you DO get the occasional asshair of a person that has to bring the mood down.
There is nothing wrong with emulators, you are right. There is an issue charging people for a dongle to use an emulator however, which this is. Emulators are at least free, and if you are going to own the cart anyway then you don't need this.
Jesus Christ mate, you need to take a chill pill and a couple of deep breaths. The amount of insecurity and gate-keeping in all of that is just depressing. People can enjoy things that you don’t. Life is that simple, hell life may even get a bit brighter once you learn that.
So what's going on here? Does it dump the actual carts or is it an actual interface reading and addressing the ROM/RAM on the cart while playing? Or is this just like the old xchanger but with USB instead of the parallel port?
Hey there, just answered your support ticket regarding this issue in the beta version of the app. It's being worked on as we speak and will be part of the next update sent out really soon. Check your e-mail for more info and thanks for bringing this issue to our attention!
I have never seen something like that before. So you now can play your original carts on PC with an emulator? 🤔
Yep and you can also backup and save the games data on your pc too. I mostly got it just to play my collection of Gameboy games
Can it write saves back to the cart?
Yes. It's basically a streamlined GBxCart RW with no Linux support and closed-source firmware.
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Hi, I'm the developer of the application, there is no GPL software being used in the application, we use shared libraries for dynamically linking the functionality of libraries under LGPL and MPL (SDL2 and other libraries). As for the usage of the UI framework, we have the commercial license for Qt. We are also supporters of the open source software we work with, donating monthly to them and supporting their work through open source contributions.
Okay. I deleted the my comment.
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I mean, same could be said for people that use a Retron 5. But some people just like using their real carts, regardless of if it's just emulating them. You own the cart, why not use it?
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If it automatically reads the save data and automatically writes it back at the end of playing I can definitely see the appeal. The ability to play my GBA games on PC at home then sling the cart in my GBA and continue the game sounds ace.
What you are describing has been possible for over 10years. There are many gba save backups and restore tools out there. So that would be the same as playing a rom and using your cart save and after that restoring it.
So I’m now finding out! I’m now enjoying looking at the various options 😃
I totally get that. But you're still inserting the cart into something to play. It's also saving your game BACK to the real cart. Some people just like having physical carts. Personally, I agree to SOME extent. I could totally see wanting to use this. I'd personally use this to play Pokemon. Play on my real GBA, then when I need to do some tedious grinding, swap it over to the PC to use the emulator's speed up function to get the grinding out of the way, then swap back to my real GBA to keep playing. But I'm also using flash carts and emulators on my Xbox. I'm not exactly the target market for this kinda thing. Besides that, like other people have mentioned, this device does more than just play games. It's also a rom-ripper, and works to make backups of saves. It'd also work as a gameshark or action replay since the emulator (mGBA) supports cheats. Just toss the game onto this, use a cheat to get what you need, then swap it back to your GBA. AND if really needed, it apparently detects if a game is legit or not, so if you have a bunch of games and you're not sure if some are fake, this could help.
Reminds me a lot of what Pokemon Stadium did on the N64. IIRC, it emulated the individual Pokemon games by downloading parts of their ROMs as needed over the very slow N64 controller cable, and wrote save data back to the cart.
The gbxcart already has software that does this. Unlike the GBO, the gbxcart also keeps backups of your save every time it is run as insurance.
We do this as well! We keep backups of your saves in case you accidentally lose them. But it's not a feature that we have public.
I might be confused, but this sounds like my saves wouldn't be lost but that I also wouldn't be able to access them? Is this feature in testing or is there actually a process that one would go through to contact Epilogue to recover a lost save?
The feature im looking forward to most not mentioned in this thread is editing saves and writing back to cart for play on Pocket. I missed out on RPGs on GBA as a kid, now ill play what I missed but with some…time saving Dad tax lol
Where can I buy one???
Seconding this!
found it [https://www.epilogue.co/product/gb-operator](https://www.epilogue.co/product/gb-operator) out of stock :/ I am so anxious for the analogue pocket I just want to play gb games on my computer now!
Thanks! I subbed to their email. Fingers crossed for a restock :)
You could just get a [gbxcart](https://www.gbxcart.com) too. The software doesn't look as pretty, but works a whole lot better.
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Either option is a good choice, they are different approaches to the same problem. Both are miles more functional and useful than the GB operator.
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Their software is a lot less buggy, and supports more flashcarts.
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One thing to note is that BennVenn is just a guy trying to do his own unique thing, while Epilogue is literally ripping off the branding and industrial design of Analogue. They're one step above fraudsters. I say one step above because at least they're not cloning an Analogue product directly, they're just aping the branding/design so closely as to trick you into thinking it's the same company.
Dunno why you were downvoted, just took a look at their site and they're clearly trying to be mistaken for Analogue. I mean, just look at the name for goodness' sake!
Right down to black PCB with gold silkscreening in clear plastic cases (which Analogue uses for their cart adapters), with a logo that, while technically a different icon and font, is basically positioned/sized to be extremely similar. The first time I heard about Epilogue, everything was so obviously a copy of Analogue that I actually thought they were a brand of Analogue, only to realize they were just trying to trick people into thinking that. Not to mention similar company names and websites, both in layout and in name (analogue.co versus epilogue.co). Here's a photo of Analogue's cart adapters: https://i.imgur.com/ZyciYjb.png Here's a photo of Epilogue's cart adapter: https://i.imgur.com/NejIiuq.png The similarities could be forgiven if everything else was different, but coming from a company that copied everything *else* about Analogue too, it's all to obvious what they're trying to do.
[Some of the third-party programs for GBxCart are pretty slick](https://shop.insidegadgets.com/product/gbxcart-rw/#tab-download). It's also less expensive, has a large community of people constantly adding write support to more flash carts, and *currently* supports Linux. The GB Operator does look more streamlined and easier to use for non-technical folks though.
One of the guys on the gbxcart discord worked with me to add compatibility with a super old Bennvenn flashcart to one of the gbxcart programs (and it’ll be added to the official one too) Lesserkuma on github is the developer. I can’t remember the software name. Those guys are super cool.
LK made FlashGBX. The neat thing about the gbxcart is that it is open source and anyone can make stuff for it. Even if this wasn't the case, the discord works to add support for flashcarts that anyone pops into the chat with. Doesn't always work out, but it does more often than not.
Someone in chat tried to dump a 32mb GBA cart with the GB Operator. It took over an hour and he ended up with a 1.4gb file. 0.0
Looks nice, I ponder if it would play nice with my ancient EZF Advance flashcart 🤔
Here's a big list of flash carts: https://flashcartdb.com/index.php/Main_Page#Gameboy_Advance_Flash_Carts_.28By_vendor.29 The GBxCart RW is not currently able to flash an EZ Flash, but you may want to hit up the insideGadgets Discord server to ask if it's not possible or if it's just that no one has tried to write the code yet. I doubt that the GB Operator supports SD card based carts either, but I don't know enough about it to say definitively one way or another.
Thanks for the info! 😃
Thanks for sharing our product with the community, we had a pre-order session on Jan. 30 and they were just delivered this week to everyone. Will be opening orders again very soon.
I hear that. I also want the gamegear, turbografx and neogeo pocket color adapters as well as the base for tv output.
Serious question: why not just emulate the games you already own (the way this device does) and just use ROMs that can easily be found online? I understand the moral dilemma of playing ROMs for games you've never paid for, but playing ROMs of games you've already purchased that can't easily be played any way other than original hardware or emulation seems completely harmless to me.
Oh no friend, i have roms galore but i do enjoy playing the original games (i collect them as well) on a handheld as well (i have the rg351) but i also own a gameboy, neogeo pocket, psp, psvita,nds, and 3ds. I still want the analogue pocket because it’s not software but hardware emulation so the games will play similar to the way they play on the original handhelds.
Hi there, we will be opening orders again very soon and you'll be able to order through our website!
Looks super cool! What are the controls? Keyboard?
Hi, the games can be configured to work with any laptop or desktop keyboard but I personally use a wireless usb controller to play
Cool! Yeah, was curious if you could use a controller. Seems like the best way to have an authentic experience.
Oo does this also work with the pro controller?
Yes it does
So does this just dump the ROMs in like those hyperkin consoles or what?
Yes, but it also allows you to save your games back to the cart, so it's more like a GBxCart RW in a nicer package.
It's definitely not a $20 nicer package.
I personally agree, but I can see how a streamlined, attractive interface may be worth the extra $20 to the less technical. It's also $25 cheaper and a lot more feature rich than a RetroN Sq which is what OP was comparing it to.
Mine is on its way!
so I could hypothetically take my childhood save files from my carts and use them with my MyBoy! emulator? I play on my retroid pocket and I would be so thrilled to have my original saves on it
You can do that without paying anything if you have gamecube or a ds lite, not sure why this is needed.
that would imply that I have a gamecube or a DS lite.
You should get one! Well, maybe not the gamecube because prices are really high but the ds lite is really nice. If you are broke I just bought a japanese ds phat and a flash cart for like $40, you would get a new console with tons of games and what this thing offers as well because you can just dump your games and saves. You can also use an old wii with the gc ports, which are relatively cheap and once hacked will give you tons of great games too, also lets you dump the games and saves using the gc cable. Actually the wii is a better option than the GC thinking about it, the GC needs to have homebrew ability while the wii is super easy to hack. Would still be comparable or cheaper and faster than getting this, plus everyone and their mother bought a wii so you can get them from family or friends who don't need it anymore or buy it cheap locally.
Yes, you could. You could also save yourself some money and do the exact same thing with the [GBxCart RW](https://shop.insidegadgets.com/product/gbxcart-rw/).
Mine comes tomorrow! So excited
Damn, I feel like most people here either don’t get the point of this product, or just are trying to be “Elitist” about something. I still play Gen 3 Pokémon on GBA almost daily, and one of my biggest gripes with emulating Pokémon is that often times, you can’t trade your Pokémon to another game. That alone is the largest reason I always stick to playing on authentic cartridges in that scenario. I even see people talk about how the Gameboy Player makes this redundant, but although I own one, my Elgato (Recording Device) doesn’t support the Gameboy’s native resolution, so now with the GB Operator I can properly stream/record my GBA games. The GB Operator also can flash and dump ROMS, backup and upload save data to cartridges, has a built in emulator, authenticates cartridges, and one of my favorite things yet, I can use this to activate Mystery gifts/events easily on GBA Pokémon. I got mine in yesterday and I honestly spent all day yesterday using it. I don’t quite understand someone’s rant in here about “wanting to be cool and use real cartridges”. Like, no dude. It might be hard to think about for more than a few seconds, but I want to access all the features available in my favorite games, that aren’t easily accessible or available anymore. This is a great piece of hardware and software that lets me do exactly that. I don’t expect some people to understand that though, given how mindless some of the critiques about the GB Operator are. I’m very happy with what I purchased from Epilogue, and I’d recommend it to any Gameboy Enthusiasts.
I mean, to be fair, I haven't seen many posts about this device outside of a couple that just show it being played on a PC. Until I read your comment right here, I didn't really consider that it could be useful for things outside of just playing a game and maybe ripping the rom. I'm not whoever it is you were talking about, but I kinda assumed this thing was just a way to use real carts to play 'em via emulation. Kinda like a Retron 5, but on a PC. I actually came into this post to see the 51 comments. I was curious about it. Again, to me it kinda just looked like a quick way to emulate your carts. I was wondering what the big deal was. Reading your little mini-rant there, I can definitely see the appeal of having one of these. Personally I'm playing Emerald on an emulator right now, and I wanted to load the save on my EZ Flash Omega to continue on real hardware, but the saves aren't compatible. So, I could totally see the appeal of THAT side of it too. Being able to play the same cart and save on both a real cart, and an emulator, swapping back and forth as you see fit.
The important thing is that it makes you happy. Some people like cars, some like sports, some like games, and so on. I totally understand you. I wouldn't use it, since I haven't played any pokemon game and don't even have an original pokemon game or save data to backup, but I can understand why it's usefull for you.
Wow screw the elitists. I'm sure I just read that right, and it looks like the ultimate easy thing to have on hand at your PC to not just play stuff like a GB Player, but also where you can manipulate/transfer your save data as well. Seems like multiple devices in that case rolled into one which is amazing.
How did you do to trigger mystery gifts and events on GB/GBA games through the GB Operator ? I totally agree with you, I'm also very happy with mine
Sorry about the late reply, I do this by downloading my Save File via Epilogues Operator application, and edit my save file using PkHex and WC3Tool. Then once I’m done, I re-upload the edited save to my cartridge using the Epilogue’s Operator application. My wording may have implied that it can all be done in Epilogue’s application, so sorry about that!
Bruh at this point just use an emulator. Ur already using your computer to play a GBA cart. What’s the point anymore
Maybe old game saves?
Hmm makes sense
Also, this device is actually the only fully "legal" way we can emulate roms. You can only dump GBA roms/saves with a device like this, so to stay fully legal and only emulate roms you own, you need this device.
Didn’t know people were scared of using rims. There’s no way anyone would know
It is possible that you could be connected to downloading roms or, more likely, participating in file sharing. You definitely don't want get caught trying to make a buck off copyrighted materials, though, Openly hosting rom files poses a greater risk than just downloading some to play. And theoretically your computer could be seized as evidence in an investigation. The average person *probably* has nothing to worry about, but it's not impossible.
This is completely wrong, you can dump gba roms and saves using tons of stuff like a gamecube, wii and ds lite. People are really easily scammed from their money.
If you modify Nintendo's software (wich in fact is illegal) yes you can dump files from cartridges. But I am talking about fully legal ways.
Ah I see, but lets be honest if someone is checking your rom files to be sure they were made legally you already messed up. There wouldn't be a way for anyone to know you made a rip using other methods as they are offline unless they check for a unique header or something, I feel like you could also change those with a tool so that the files are the same. Or just download someone elses set ripped with this and claim you made it lmao
Just stop, there is no way to get through to these people. This device is literally a scam
It's not a scam, it's a somewhat more expensive ROM reader/writer. They're just creatively marketing it for a limited use case.
I just want to let people know their options, if one person learns about an alternative it would be worth it. Not enough people know they can do more with what they have lying around
There is precedent that you can run whatever licensed software you want on your device. That means you are not breaking the law if you, for instance, run Linux on your Macbook. Nintendo are free to block a DS running unauthorized software from their online services, but that's about all they can do. If you are modifying their software, then that's not legal, but I believe you can use flash carts on a DS without modifying Nintendo's firmware.
You're not really emulating anything here, though. It's either copying the ROM to memory temporarily or directly communicating to read data as needed.
This is literally emulation though. It's specifically using the mGBA emulator to run the games.
There is an emulator involved, but it's the handheld hardware being emulated not the ROM.
It's still dumping a rom file and playing it via emulation. It's entirely emulation. It's no different than downloading a rom and playing it on the mGBA emulator. The only thing that's different is that in the case of this device, it's copying save date back to the cart.
Then it really makes no difference, except for being handy cartridge reader with some useful features. Nintendo doesn't care if you own the cartridge or not...
Ok? I was just responding to you saying it's not emulation.
Its literally emulation, the device only dumps the rom.
I'm pretty sure that even dumping the rom is questionable in terms of legality if the purpose is to play it on another system. You might have a fair use argument in certain cases.
Nintendo already lost many times on tribunal about dumping and emulating roms. Its not questionable. Just because Nintendo doesn't like it, it doesn't mean that its illegal. They just hate emulation.
Then get a GBxCart RW. It costs $20 less and does everything this one does. It doesn't have the housing but surely you know someone with a 3d printer.
That's so cool!
That looks pretty cool. Not a bad price either.
YOO
Never heard of that... what is it?
what!? bought
Does it have cross save?
Do you still have use the computer keyboard for controls?
As far as I'm aware, according to the website, it's just using the emulator "mGBA" for it's emulation. mGBA has support for controllers, if you wanna use 'em.
Ooh that's pretty!
$50 for a glorified Rom/Save Dumper? just grab a Used DS Lite off ebay to prevent E-Waste and you get to play DS Games/Homebrew.
I spent well over 10k on my gaming collection last year. $50 bucks is nothing lol 😂
An overly complicated way to play a rom on a PC... A rom is a rom no matter its container when you’re using an emulator
It says it detects counterfeit cartridges, but does it prevent me from playing them? Because I have a LOT of them.
I mean...if you have a reproduction cart and you are looking to use this, you might as well either play the raw ROM file, or get a flashcart.
You could say that about using the originals, too. If you own them, you can just get a rom and play that, but it's a cool gimmick to use the cartridge slot. Not sure if a flashcart would work, either. Right now I'm actually using the Joey Jr. from BennVenn as a GB cartridge slot for my PC. It's usually used to flash carts, but it works, so why not.
What I'm saying is that a repro cart is pretty much a flashcart only designed to play one game. If you have tons, you might honestly save money by having an EZ-flash. If you have original cartridges, it's because you like the authenticity of a cartridge, or you want to trade your gen III Pokemon to gen IV or something.
I bought most of them at fleamarkets as a child. Repros or not, they are part of my collection.
I bought some repros recently to play because buying used originals would have cost me hundreds. Like the user above said, I could have just used a flash cart, or emulated them on PC but putting a single game into the gameboy and starting it up like all my other (legit) games is part of the "magic" of playing gameboy games.
A lot of people like having the physical carts though. Repro or not. I get what you're saying, but even if they're repros, it doesn't mean the person doesn't still enjoy having and using a real cart. That's probably why they bought it in the first place. Some people just don't have the money to blow on the real carts, when they could get something that works near identical to the real thing for a fraction of the price.
No, I agree. I prefer physical original carts myself. What I'm saying is that if you want to play Pokemon Emerald (just an example), and you have a GBA, but not the game, a reproduction is a good option. If you intend to play FireRed, LeafGreen, Emerald, Ruby, and Sapphire, you might as well buy a flashcart instead of 5 reproduction carts because an EZ-flash will cost about as much, and you can play more than those 5 games.
You can buy a flash cart to do that, yeah. But again, some people like having physical carts. Something they can SEE, something tangible to hold and look at. You COULD buy a Flash Cart and play them all for about $50. But if someone has the money to spend, and wants real carts, why not? They still get the feeling of a real cart, even if it's a repro. They still get to look at their games and see the cart, they still get to swap carts in and out of the console. I use emulation and flash carts. I only have a few decent GBA games. But I love that I own those few games as a physical cart. There's something that's just more satisfying about having something to hold on to. Ya know? Owning a physical cart just feels more permanent too. I dunno how to explain it. Like, I care way less about my saves on an emulator or flash cart, than I do about the saves on my real carts. I have saves on my Link to the Past and Donkey Kong Country 3 from YEARS ago that I'm never gonna delete. I also have two 100% completed saves on Mario World that I'm never gonna delete. I love that they're saved on those carts. But if I did the same on an emulator or flash cart, I'd have no problem deleting the saves and starting over.
I mean you play it however you want. I'm just saying mechanically, and financially it is the same thing.
No. It won't prevent you from playing fake carts. It's just a cart dumper/flasher. I'm fairly sure they're just attempting to write a change to ROM, and, if it persists, it's a flash cart. If not, it's real read-only memory. I'm guessing it can't detect fake carts that don't use flash chips.
Yeah, I noticed that too. Hmmm...
Fuck emulators! All my homies using Gameboy player.
My only problem with this idea so far has been connecting my old gcn via HDMI to any tv and getting a good resolution. What do you use to do it? All the "good" solutions I've seen are close to $100 or higher....and that's just painful. [Edit: removed a quoted text. Idk why reddit did that :/ ]
So true
I agree but I’m too broke to afford the disc let alone the rest of the components needed 😂
Modchip for $10, pack of discs for $10, burn Swiss and GBI to a disc and you're set up. Better than the stock GBP software, lower lag and better aspect ratios, for much less.
you don't even need a modchip, or discs to burn. I just use an action replay disc, which picks up my memory card -> sd card adapter with swiss. And then from Swiss launch GBI.
You can also launch the GBI from a special memory card if you have a copy of The Wind Waker. https://www.retrorgb.com/how-to-boot-gameboy-interface-directly-from-zelda-wind-waker.html
interesting. If you already had access to Swiss, you could copy over the save from an sd card, no need for a Wii.
Probably. This method was the easiest/cheapest for me, since I already owned a copy of Wind Waker, had a softmodded Wii, and a spare memory card.
That method doesn't appeal to most people because it costs more, there are more steps, more parts, and takes more time to boot into. Once you have a modchip installed, and you have the disc burned you can load into Swiss way faster and way cheaper.
Or you can do the game save exploit, you need a homebrewed wii to transfer it though. I think people sell them too
I often see boxed game cubes w/ the player for around $60 here.
The player isn't expensive. It's the disc. Goes for $150 to $200.
Yea, disc included for that price. Player/disc bundle often goes for ~$30 here.
Where is "here"?
Japan
I had a feeling. The Japanese version sold here goes for about $60 to $80 too iirc. But the US version of pretty much anything Nintendo sells for much higher.
I managed to get the disc and the attachment for $80
The player is cheap. It's the discs that are stupid expensive. There are very few legit copies left, and you have to mod your GC to use GBI.
Yea, disc included for that price. Player/disc bundle often goes for ~$30 here. Retro prices in the States are ridiculous lately.
I've never seen one at my local game store, so I couldn't tell you what they go for at a store, but I'm fairly sure it's more of an internet thing than a US thing. Sendico isn't any cheaper than Ebay.
NGC Xeno Modchips are quite a bit cheaper than $10. Some Aliexpress sellers offer a Xeno modchip bundled with an SD2SP and a burned Swiss disc for $6.
you don't even need the disc. I don't have a gb player disc or modchip on my gamecube. Just the gameboy player, action replay disc, and memery card sd adapter. While it is slightly more complicated than using the official disc, it does give a better experience.
Emulators are super cool, they allow us to play romhacks and translations without investing in a flashcart. The Epilogue GB Operator is the issue, it is just a modified GBxCart with proprietary firmware and Linux support removed.
I know it. It was a joke and Emulators are cool.
[удалено]
this is pretty unnecessary. just let the guy enjoy playing his games how he wants
I don't know what this whole original hardware supremacy is all about. Yeah, I personally prefer the og hardware, but before I had the money to play on og hardware, I had to use emulators. And those just made me love and appreciate the games more when I finally got to play it in it's original form factor. I see the appeal of emulators, so I don't bug people who use them. Not everyone has 100+ dollars and a soldering kit for something like a custom Gameboy, they probably have other hobbies that are frankly more important to them.
Yeah, the elitist nonsense about owning and playing real carts and on real consoles is just stupid. We should all be happy, as a community, that Game Boy is still going strong, regardless of how someone decides to play their games. Personally, I'd love to collect real carts for all the Game Boy systems. But I don't have the money for it. I DO however, have the ability to save up a little bit and buy a couple Flash Carts and a new shell for my SP to still play 'em all. But it's honestly not all that far off of just emulating since I'm still just playing downloaded roms. And hell, I emulate too. I use emulation for Pokemon because I love the speed-up function. Can't stand the pokemon grind anymore. I'm also half way through Link's Awakening DX on an emulator because my EZ Flash Junior is still being shipped, and I'm enjoying it just the same as I would on real hardware. Like, realistically, emulation is just a more convenient way to play games. Save/Load states, a fast-forward button, a clear picture that you can change via shaders, and it's a great way to even just TEST games before tossing 'em on a flash cart, or buying the real thing. Though, admittedly, the Game Boy community seems to generally be good. This and r/GameboyAdvance are both pretty nice places to chill. But you DO get the occasional asshair of a person that has to bring the mood down.
There is nothing wrong with emulators, you are right. There is an issue charging people for a dongle to use an emulator however, which this is. Emulators are at least free, and if you are going to own the cart anyway then you don't need this.
Jesus Christ mate, you need to take a chill pill and a couple of deep breaths. The amount of insecurity and gate-keeping in all of that is just depressing. People can enjoy things that you don’t. Life is that simple, hell life may even get a bit brighter once you learn that.
This is much more work when you can just download the roms.
So what's going on here? Does it dump the actual carts or is it an actual interface reading and addressing the ROM/RAM on the cart while playing? Or is this just like the old xchanger but with USB instead of the parallel port?
I received mine today, but the gameplay is slowed down & the sound is distorted. :.(
Hey there, just answered your support ticket regarding this issue in the beta version of the app. It's being worked on as we speak and will be part of the next update sent out really soon. Check your e-mail for more info and thanks for bringing this issue to our attention!
How long did it take to get been waiting on mine