GBA flash carts?

[Tahnok]

I am looking into getting a flash cart for my GBA. I am wondering if these things are worth it though.

How big is big enough? I mainly want to be able to play NES stuff, but the idea of having 5 of my GBA games on a single cart also sounds cool.

Also I heard that it could play MP3s. I don't see how they could possibly be even OK sounding since the GBA doesn't have that great of a sound system. I am hoping that someone will say otherwise though.

One site also says that it can run "arcade games". Is this a version of MAME?! That would be so cool to play MAME on a GBA!

One other thing, are these carts just standard flash memory that can hook up to a GBA? If so, wouldn't there be a way to hook up san disks? I'm just throwing out an idea here, but it would be really cool if you could just plop a standard flash disk into a cartridge adapter and play some NES.

Thanks for the help!

[itismejs]

http://www.easybuy2000.com/store/nintendo%20accessories/x-rom512.shtml
dont use it as a mp3 player just get a cheap one to listen to yer music.

[ray_slup]

they work great but not for mp3s
256 is big enough
but if you want it for nes games you don't need that big of a one
you can play a couple arcade games like phonix and pac-man
you can't use a standard flash disk i think because the read times are to slow
nes game are small and there is a emulator for the gba that lets you play them
you can find more info at http://gbaemu.com/
be sure to browse the message boards
the're are some good emulators for the gba to be found

[Tahnok]

>http://www.easybuy2000.com/store/nintendo%20accessories/x-rom512.shtml
dont use it as a mp3 player just get a cheap one to listen to yer music.

Wow! Not cheap are they?

>you can play a couple arcade games like phonix and pac-man

So is it MAME or is it just a few games that have been ported?

>you can't use a standard flash disk i think because the read times are to slow

That's too bad, it would have been really cool.

>nes game are small

Oh, yes, so they are. I just took a glance at my NES folder to find out that it's not as big as I thought. It looks like that for my use I could go as low as 64MB (will probably end up going bigger).

>you can find more info at http://gbaemu.com/
be sure to browse the message boards

Thanks! I was looking for a good forum to ask more specific questions on!

[itismejs]

The xrom is 512 and is cheaper than almost all 256s!!  For nes games there is a program that converts each .nes file into a single gba file. The layout looks alot like mamewah.

[Bgnome]

you can find pretty good prices from overseas, but the shipping costs and the money transfer fees make it somewhat prohibitive.  there are a few helpful sites out there, (havent looked into it in a while so nothing comes to mind atm), and there are a few local sources.  i would avoid easybuy2000 as they tend to overcharge, but last i checked, they were the only supplier of the xrom so thats the only way to go if you wanted one of those..
i have a 128mb flash advance and although i dont use it all too much, it does work great..

[itismejs]

you can find pretty good prices from overseas, but the shipping costs and the money transfer fees make it somewhat prohibitive.  there are a few helpful sites out there, (havent looked into it in a while so nothing comes to mind atm), and there are a few local sources.  i would avoid easybuy2000 as they tend to overcharge, but last i checked, they were the only supplier of the xrom so thats the only way to go if you wanted one of those..
i have a 128mb flash advance and although i dont use it all too much, it does work great..

What did you mean by overcharge? Do you think they charge you more than the price they list on the site....Thats BS. Also they are the CHEAPEST cart! Whats cheaper than the x-rom?

[Bgnome]

from what i understood, to "overcharge" means to charge more for a particular item than most other vendors charge.  ive dealt with them years ago, and they tend to have much higher prices than other websites.  but like i said, i havent dealt with them in a while and dont know of anyone else that sells the xrom, so its not really possible to do a price comparison..

if you want an example of something cheaper, (although i dont know enough about it to recommend it):
http://www.kicktrading.ca/efa_512.htm

[itismejs]

That cart is good too. Now most carts are i the sub $180 price range. The pricing differance  for a 256 and 512 is so small that you should spring for a 512. You can easily get any game boy SP or nes game that you want online but if it isnt online the cable that comes with the cart is able to copy the game. (This is true for the xrom and maybe the others but I am not sure.)

[Alucard90]

I remember there is an attachment for like $80 that allows you to use compact flash cards and would play games from it as long as other things. i dont know where i saw it from. i will check into it

EDIT: flash GBA cartridges are mesured in Megabit, much smaller than  a regular Megabyte

[itismejs]

its was called the GB bank or something. If I remember correctly you cant play games off it....you have to buy a cart (a small one) and you can transfer a few games to the cart at a time.

[Alucard90]

http://www.gameboy-advance.net/flash_set/gamewallet_gba_backup.htm
http://www.gameboy-advance.net/flash_card/game_bank.htm

yea, your right. it kinda beats going to a computer everytime though and for that even a 128mbit cart will only carry like 4-5 games

[Bgnome]

most of the more recent games are 128mbit i believe.  so if you are gonna get a 128mbit card, expect it to hold 1 game, maybe 2.  older games like advance wars, chu chu rocket, etc, are 32 mbit so you can fit 4 of those, but its rare that you would choose to have a bunch of older games as opposed to 1 or 2 new ones.
if you are buying brand new, i would definitely recommend getting at least a 256 mbit cart, since it seems like the current max for games.  a 512 isnt much more expensive and may be more cost effective.
i would advise against getting a game wallet however.  it doesnt add too much functionality to your card: i believe it requires specific f2a cards which are getting harder to come by,  its kinda clunky so you wouldnt want to carry it around everywhere, and it does the same thing your pc would do, except that you store the roms on a flashcard than on your hd.  if they had something smaller and more of a direct interface with the flashcard, (which doesnt seem likely), then i would spring for it, but unless you are stuck on a roadtrip with no access to your pc for weeks, i would put the money towards a better flash cartridge.

[Tahnok]

Hmm... strange...

What about the X-Rom? The X-Rom 512 says that it can hold 512Mb. They mean 512 megabytes, right? Not 512 megabits? How much do you think an X-Rom could hold and are they worth the money?

[Bgnome]

x-rom is 512 megaBITS.  that is equal to 64 megabytes.  assuming that you will be generally playing 128 mbit games, thats a max of 4 games, not including the boot loader which also requires some space.

as mentioned, it will vary with the size of the game.  there are some 256 mbit games out there, and i believe this is the max on the current retail cartridge hardware.  but the general consensus is that the x-rom is a good cart, has good support, and is fairly priced.

but dont take my word for it..  do plenty of research and you wont be sorry.

[Tahnok]

Oh... so that means that the one they claim to be 1gig is one gigabit.

It seems like these things aren't worth it. $140 for the convience of having 4 games on 1 cart? How many NES games could you hold?

Why do my .gba roms say they are only 4 megabytes though? At that size you could hold about 16 games on a 512M cart (64Mb). When you load them onto the cart does it change the format?

[Bgnome]

are they zipped/compressed?  like i said, they will vary in size.  most of the roms i have run around 8 megs/64 mbits.  but they are a few years old.  a couple of the newer ones i have are 128 mbits.  as i have not been in "the scene" as much lately, i just assume that the current trend is towards 128 mbit games.  you might be able to find a 128 mbit cart for <$100 if you dig around.  but be careful, there are some, namely xg-flash, to avoid..

[itismejs]

One reason that makes the cart worth it is that you dont have to ever buy another gameboy game again. Even 3 GB games and a handful of nes classics is great. When you finish a game you can just put another one in its place.

[AlanS17]

Here's a little bit of notation:

Mb = megabits
MB = megabytes

Tricky if you don't catch it, but easy to follow after you know.

[Tahnok]

One reason that makes the cart worth it is that you dont have to ever buy another gameboy game again. Even 3 GB games and a handful of nes classics is great. When you finish a game you can just put another one in its place.

I don't plan on playing games that I don't own. GBA games are still being sold brand new and are readily available. I just wanted to be able to carry my GBA in my pocket and not have to worry about having my carts on me.


I know someone will point out that I use both NES and arcade emulators, so: I do own a very large NES collection, I own almost all the roms I play. Plus NES games are no longer being sold, if I could go and buy the NES games that I want I would (all the ones I don't own are rare). The same thing goes for arcade roms.


Thanks for the help everyone, but it looks like I will not be buying a flash cart for quite a while.

[MrBond]

News Flash...lol, get it...

The 512 megabit x-rom is on special for $99, which includes the usb connectin cable...
http://www.easybuy2000.com/store/nintendo%20accessories/x-rom512.shtml

Just a thought to anyone considering this...

[Hoagie_one]

make sure you get a newer one that doesnt require you to patch roms

[Dave_K.]

make sure you get a newer one that doesnt require you to patch roms

I believe patching was required so save game features would be compatible with the type of flash card used.  So you are saying no patching is needed now?  This card is compatible with all save game features of roms?

[Hoagie_one]

some of the newer carts dont require patching anymore

[JoyMonkey]

I see that the X-Rom 512 is on special for $89 now. I'm thinking of getting one for my sister in-law for Christmas; has anyone actually bought and tried out an X-Rom?
I've got an old FlashAdvancePro, which is a little complicated to use (transfering roms with LittleWriter). Is there any simpler software out there? She's not exactly a computer genius, so I want to make sure that if I buy her the thing that she'll actually be able to use it.

[lcddream]

anyone interested in gba flash carts should have a look at pogoshell...it  is one of the more widely used shells for the gba

http://gbatemp.m4d.sm/pogofaq/whatis.html