Engadget

Nintendo brings Mobiclip on board to help with Wii U development

Amar Toor — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 07:44:00 EST

Nintendo beefed up its proprietary arsenal yesterday, with the acquisition of Mobiclip -- a Paris-based video codec provider. As Gamasutra reports, the deal was actually finalized back in October, but only became public this week, when Mobiclip confirmed its new ownership on its website. The company already has a history with Nintendo, having lent a hand with video rendering and playback on the DS and Game Boy Advance. Now that it's officially under its wing, Mobiclip will reportedly collaborate with Nintendo on its forthcoming Wii U, as suggested by a recently posted job listing for a "console software engineer."

Nintendo brings Mobiclip on board to help with Wii U development originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 14 Feb 2012 07:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nintendo completes 3DS Ambassador program, delivers ten GBA games to early adopters

Sean Buckley — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 23:53:00 EST

If you've still got the 3DS price drop blues, perhaps a fresh (and final) infusion of free games will help. Early adopters that signed into the Nintendo eShop before August 11th will find ten GameBoy Advance games tacked on to their handheld's purchase history, retrievable via the same clunky redownload system that delivered the 3DS Ambassador program's NES titles. Thankfully, the unintuitive process is relatively simple -- just hop into the eShop's menu, scroll down to "Settings / Other", and select "Your Downloads," to claim your (potentially-exclusive) games. Short of having a 3DS guide us through the Louvre, we can't think of a better use for Nintendo's fledgling handheld.

Nintendo completes 3DS Ambassador program, delivers ten GBA games to early adopters originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Dec 2011 23:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nintendo's Game Boy Advance thank you package rolls out to 3DS early adopters this Friday

Chris Barylick — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 18:53:00 EST

Following August's dramatic price drop for the 3DS, Nintendo has announced that, come Friday, members of its Ambassador Program will finally be able to download the ten Game Boy Advance games they were promised. The complimentary titles in question are F-Zero Maximum Velocity, Super Mario Advance 3: Yoshi's Island, The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap, Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones, Kirby & the Amazing Mirror, Mario Kart: Super Circuit, Mario vs. Donkey Kong, Metroid Fusion, Wario Land 4 and WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgames, each of which will be automatically added to your purchase history. In other news, Nintendo expects you to receive your bouquet of three dozen long-stemmed roses and promises that "It'll never happen again" by this afternoon.

Nintendo's Game Boy Advance thank you package rolls out to 3DS early adopters this Friday originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Dec 2011 18:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nintendo's 3DS Ambassador Program line-up revealed, games available September 1st

Joseph Volpe — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 17:09:00 EST

Early 3DS adopters, your smorgasbord of throwback make-goods is now only a day away. Nintendo recently announced via its Twitter account the full line-up of ten Famicom / NES virtual console games headed for the company's Ambassador Program. Owners of the 3D handheld in Japan and North America can look forward to re-acquainting themselves with such 8-bit classics like Metroid, Super Mario Bros., Ice Climber, The Legend of Zelda, Zelda II : The Adventure of Link, Balloon Fight, Donkey Kong Jr., NES Open Tournament Golf, Wrecking Crew and Yoshi. Those golden games of yore will be available to download from the eShop tomorrow, but gamers looking for the GBA goods will have to wait until later this year.

Update: Turns out the games are available to download now.

Filed under: Gaming, Handhelds, Software

Nintendo's 3DS Ambassador Program line-up revealed, games available September 1st originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Aug 2011 17:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mini Space Invaders arcade cabinet big on nostalgia, small in size

Michael Gorman — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 17:55:00 EST

Always wanted an 80's arcade cabinet for your living room, but the square footage in your studio apartment won't cooperate with your gaming plans? Well, a master mini craftsman has created a seven-inch replica of Space Invaders that can fit on your desktop, coffee table, or bedside stand. It was cobbled together using the guts of a Game Boy Advance, some lilliputian controls, and a custom cabinet coated in shrunken decals that's made of medium density fiberboard. Best of all, thanks to those Nintendo internals, there's an entire arcade's worth of games at your tiny fingertips. Between this and its diminutive Donkey Kong cousin, perhaps mini arcade cabinets are the future of gaming. Video of the little gem in action is after the break.

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Mini Space Invaders arcade cabinet big on nostalgia, small in size originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 11 Jul 2011 17:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nintendo's Game Boy Advance SP once had an autostereoscopic screen

Sean Hollister — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 18:48:00 EST

It may seem like 3D sprung from the ashes of discontentment -- not to mention red / blue glasses -- but Nintendo never stopped believing. It's been secretly refining stereoscopic tech for years in the likes of the Game Boy Advance and GameCube. And while president Satoru Iwata already mentioned early last year that the GameCube had hidden 3D circuits, he recently revealed that the 3DS's autostereoscopic panel actually dates back to the clamshell Game Boy Advance SP. Which, as you might recall, also once sported a touchscreen. At the time, his story goes, LCD resolution was too low to generate a sharp image, but the optometrist-friendly glasses-free tech was already in place. Of course, if you truly want to consult the history books, you can consider Nintendo's entry into the market to be the Famicom 3D System shutter glasses pictured above... which hit stores in Japan way back in 1986. Yeah, we know.

Nintendo's Game Boy Advance SP once had an autostereoscopic screen originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 11 Jan 2011 18:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Visual Boy Zune brings Game Boy emulation to Zune HD (video)

Sean Hollister — Tue, 11 May 2010 06:44:00 EST

Once hacked, the Zune HD's rabid fanbase wasted no time in ensuring the device could play Doom. Now, the ZuneBoards want to give it Zelda, too. User BackAtIt has taken the wrappings off the first working emulator for Zune, which is currently capable of playing Game Boy and Game Boy Color ROMs, but little else -- though this "Visual Boy Zune" app is ported from the same VisualBoyAdvance code that's enabled handheld emulation since 2004, it's in early alpha with quite a bit of work left to do. A recent update enabled state save emulation and a ROM selector, but there's no audio output, let alone Game Boy Advance support; BackAtIt says he'll need to rewrite much of the codebase to take advantage of the Zune HD's Tegra architecture. Still, it's never too early for a proof of concept video, and you'll find two blurry ones after the break -- unless you'd rather try it out for yourself at the source link.

[Thanks, MK1000]

Continue reading Visual Boy Zune brings Game Boy emulation to Zune HD (video)

Visual Boy Zune brings Game Boy emulation to Zune HD (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 11 May 2010 06:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Original Game Boy gets the Advance treatment courtesy of retro-loving modder

Tim Stevens — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 08:16:00 EST

The original Game Boy will forever hold a special place in our hearts, but spend a few minutes squinting at an original model and you'll quickly realize that even nostalgia can't make up for that horrible green screen. That's been banished in this custom version, courtesy of modder CRTdrone, which features GBA SP internals housed in an original GB chassis. This gives it compatibility with Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and of course GBA games, along with a rechargeable battery and even working shoulder buttons inserted into the sides. All we have to go on at the moment is this picture plus a few comments from the man himself, but CRTdrone is promising full details of the mod are to come, which entails "just removing parts and re-wiring basically." They always make it sound so simple.

Original Game Boy gets the Advance treatment courtesy of retro-loving modder originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 21 Apr 2010 08:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nintendo DSi XL review

Sean Hollister — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 15:53:00 EST

Since Nintendo first asserted sole domination over the handheld gaming market with the release of the paperback-sized Game Boy in 1989, the company has striven time and again to make its pocket systems smaller, meeting fantastic financial success along the way. Nintendo did it with the Game Boy Pocket, the Advance SP, the Micro, the DS Lite and again ever so slightly with the DSi -- the last even at the expense of backwards compatibility and battery life. Now, for the first time in the company's history, it's made an existing platform bigger, with questionable reasons as to why. Does the Nintendo DSi XL squash its predecessors flat? Or is Nintendo compensating for something? Find out inside.

Gallery: Nintendo DSI XL / LL unboxing and hands-on

Continue reading Nintendo DSi XL review

Nintendo DSi XL review originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 26 Mar 2010 15:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iPhone 3GS PlayStation, Game Boy Advance emulators demoed on video

Nilay Patel — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 10:46:00 EST

A final iPhone 3GS jailbreak hasn't been released yet, but that isn't stopping enterprising hackers from trying to get at all that extra horsepower, and some of the first notable hacks we've seen are these updated PlayStation 1 and Game Boy Advance emulator ports, which run way faster than the versions for the original and 3G. The revved up hardware in Apple's latest is apparently capable of running either of these at 150 - 225fps with zero frameskipping, which is pretty impressive. Of course, we'll be way more impressed when the Dev Team releases a 3GS jailbreak and we can hit these up ourselves, but in the meantime there are plenty of videos to with which to while away the time at the read links.

Read - Emulator videos
Read - ZoTTD blog post with more info

Filed under: Games, Handsets, Apple, iPhone OS

iPhone 3GS PlayStation, Game Boy Advance emulators demoed on video originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 25 Jun 2009 10:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iPhone 3GS PlayStation, Game Boy Advance emulators demoed on video

Nilay Patel — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 10:46:00 EST

Filed under: Cellphones, Gaming

iPhone 3GS PlayStation, Game Boy Advance emulators demoed on video originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 25 Jun 2009 10:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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DSi project leader reveals unreleased Nintendo handhelds

Joseph L. Flatley — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 05:31:00 EST

Man, the folks over at this year's Game Developer's Conference are having all the fun -- and now the Joystiq crew just got a rare look at two Game Boy models that never made it to production, unveiled during a talk by the project leader for the development of the DSi, Masato Kuwahara. The first, developed around 1995, was labeled "Game Boy Advance Predecessor," and was based on a 32-bit ARM RISC processor. The project stalled in development due to poor graphics performance. The second device was essentially a touch-screen Game Boy Advance SP, with a clamshell case thrown in for good measure. Apparently, this one didn't make the cut due to its lack of a backlit display. We've got a picture of that one for you too -- and it does look somewhat familiar. Check it after the break.

Continue reading DSi project leader reveals unreleased Nintendo handhelds

Filed under: Gaming

DSi project leader reveals unreleased Nintendo handhelds originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Mar 2009 05:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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DSiWare to include Game Boy and Game Boy Advance downloads?

Paul Miller — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 10:34:00 EST

We really would like to think this is inevitable, but it's just been sourced from Nintendo itself (albeit at a GameStop meetup) that the DSi might be getting Game Boy and Game Boy Advance titles as downloadable DSiWare -- in addition to previously announced apps like browsers and calculators. This was heard second-hand from a Club Nintendo member, and Nintendo has pointed out to the folks at Kombo that reported it that so far such functionality has only been announced for Japan, but didn't go on the deny it outright. If it does come true we're supposed to expect some first party titles out of the gate, with all games being region locked and ranging from $5 to $8. There were also mumblings of playing downloaded titles off of SD cards, which Nintendo shot down as well, but hopefully we'll at least be able to make backups -- we're still waiting on similar functionality for the Wii.

[Via Joystiq]

Filed under: Gaming, Handhelds

DSiWare to include Game Boy and Game Boy Advance downloads? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Mar 2009 10:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Bacteria's "Mini-Platform" gets GBA'd

Tim Stevens — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 15:08:00 EST

British modder Bacteria really likes cartridges. The bigger the better. He turned an entire N64 console into a gigantic, beige cart, then took a slew of cheap plug 'n play games and did the same -- though smaller and minus the neutral tones. He dubbed that latest creation the Mini-Platform Plug'n'Play Console System, and promised that Game Boy Advance integration was coming soon. Two weeks later it's here courtesy of a little solder and hot glue, opening up the massive library of Game Boy and Advance titles. Yeah, the system isn't much to look at, and with an entire GBA hanging off the back it's pushing the limits of the word "mini." But, it is an intrepid hack and, like his others, he's more than happy to tell you how he did it. Video of this meaty portable in action after the break.

Continue reading Bacteria's "Mini-Platform" gets GBA'd

Filed under: Gaming

Bacteria's "Mini-Platform" gets GBA'd originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Sep 2008 15:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Gemei ups the PMP / gaming ante with the X760+

Joshua Topolsky — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 16:14:00 EST

Finally we can toss out that old, boring Gemei X760 we've been fooling around with, and step up to some legitimate action. That's right, the X760+ is on the scene, and that + isn't just for show. The new iteration of the Chinese-made PMP / game playing device boasts 4GB of onboard storage, a 3-inch, WQVGA screen, a 400MHz CPU, FM tuner, and a TV output. The handheld is capable of playing MP3, WMA, APE, RM, MPEG, FLV, AVI, and VOB files (amongst others), but the main selling point here seems to be its built-in ability to emulate the Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, as well as play "3D games." The price? 599 yuan (or about $87). Availability? Call an importer.

[Thanks, Raz]

Filed under: Gaming, Portable Audio, Portable Video

Gemei ups the PMP / gaming ante with the X760+ originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 Jul 2008 16:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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PMP51 "MP4 MP3 super game" does it all

Paul Miller — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 19:34:00 EST

While a bit vague in the whole naming department, this new no-name OEM PMP51 PMP is actually packing a quite a spec sheet. The primary focus of the handheld is supposedly 32 bit gaming, but sadly SNES is nowhere to be found. But lucky for us there's Game Boy Advance play, in addition to Game Boy, Game Boy Color and NES. The 3-inch screen should show off that emulated Advance Wars just nicely, and the addition of a 1.3 megapixel camera and support for plenty of audio and video formats round out the piece nicely. You can also add memory with miniSD and play your ROMs on the big screen with video out. No word on price or availability.

Gallery: PMP51 "MP4 MP3 super game" does it all

Filed under: Gaming, Handhelds, Portable Audio, Portable Video

PMP51 "MP4 MP3 super game" does it all originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 11 Jan 2008 19:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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DDR your GBA

Paul Miller — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 09:45:00 EST

This one's a little messy, and involves the death of a perfectly likeable DDR pad, but it's all for a good cause. Jason1820 modded up his DDR pad to control his Game Boy Advance, and got himself a good game of Pac-Man going. The video after the break demonstrates the very type of hijinks that can ensue, and also serves as a helpful reminder why Nintendo was insane not to include a backlight in original Advance. Yeah, we're still bitter about that.

[Thanks, Joe]

Continue reading DDR your GBA

Filed under: Gaming

DDR your GBA originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 17 Dec 2007 09:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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GlucoBoy blood-sugar testing game finally ships

Nilay Patel — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 08:20:00 EST

We first noticed the GlucoBoy blood-sugar testing game for the Game Boy Advance way back in 2004, but it's taken three years for inventor Paul Wessel to get the necessary approval from Nintendo to start manufacturing the game. Targeted at kids with juvenile diabetes, the device rewards timely testing and target blood sugar levels by doling out points that can be used to unlock 2 full length games and 3 additional mini-arcade games, and kids can share point totals and high scores on a related website called GRIP. GlucoBoy is now available in Australia, but the company hopes to have wider availability soon.

[Via Joystiq]

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

GlucoBoy blood-sugar testing game finally ships originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Dec 2007 08:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nintendo Wii and DS sales on Thanksgiving rampage -- trumps own GBA record

Thomas Ricker — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 04:44:00 EST

Nintendo of America just announced record sales of their DS and Wii gaming rigs. According to internal sales numbers, Thanksgiving week resulted in more than one million DS and Wii units sold. That's one week, from Sunday, November 18 through Saturday, November 24th and breaks down to more than 653,000 DS units and another 350,000 Wiis. The previous all-time Thanksgiving week sales record was held by the Game Boy Advance in 2005 with sales of 600k at the time. Nintendo also said that Wii sales are on track to hit 17.5 million before March 31, 2008. Now, for those of you saying that Nintendo is purposely limiting production to drive up demand, Reggie has this for you, "A shortage benefits no one, we're disappointed. This was all about how we didn't accurately estimate demand. We need to be more bullish about the potential for the Wii." Come on Reg, you're only just now figuring this out?

Filed under: Gaming

Nintendo Wii and DS sales on Thanksgiving rampage -- trumps own GBA record originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Nov 2007 04:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nintendo MP3 player for DS coming this fall?

Donald Melanson — Mon, 04 Sep 2006 12:11:00 EST

Music-hungry Nintendo fanboys in Japan have already been able to get their fix in the form of the Play-Yan adapter for the DS and Game Boy Advance/Micro, but it looks like the rest of us might soon be able to rock some beats between bouts of New Super Mario Bros as well if this latest bit of info pans out. According to a brochure that reportedly surfaced at the Leipzig Games Convention, Nintendo is set to release an MP3 player adapter for the DS and Game Boy Advance this fall -- October 6th to be specific (in Europe, at least) -- and like the Play-Yan, the add-on will use SD cards (up to 2GB) for storage and have its own headphone port, although it apparently lacks the Play-Yan's video capabilities. Price is reported to be €30, or just under forty bucks, although there's still no official word from Nintendo, which we'd guess would be coming fairly soon if that release date is solid.

[Via Joystiq]

Filed under: Gaming, Portable Audio

Nintendo MP3 player for DS coming this fall? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 Sep 2006 12:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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