Console Setups
Note: This article lacks a summary of submission requirements. Generally, you will find them on the game rules on speedrun.com and if you need full video or not, will depend on what system you are playing, which category an d which difficulty. So, for now, please keep referring to rules on speedrun.com, since they are the most accurate.
Aside from pointing a camera at your Gameboy, it is pretty trick to record footage of your GBA Speedruns. This article will try to sum up common solutions to record your runs on different kind of Hardware, but due to the ever-evolving state of GBA recording methods (new products and methods), it should only be viewed as a starting point for you to do further research.
Gameboy Player for Nintendo Gamecube
The most common solution is to use the Gameboy Player attachment on a Gamecube. It allows you to play GBA, GBC and GB games on your Gamecube, so you can play on your TV or monitor. It also allows you to hook up a GBA as a controller, which is the closest to the original playing experience.
Official Gameboy Player Software
You purchase the official Gameboy Player Disc and use it to run the official software made by Nintendo.
Pro:
- Easy to use, it just works without any issues.
Cons:
- Bad video quality
- Official Software has noticable lag.
- The official disc also has become rather expensive, which is why Gameboy Interface (see below)+ might be a worthy option.
Gameboy Interface
This is a Homebrew Application that allows you to use your Gameboy Player without the original Gameboy Player Disc. You will need to software or hardware mod your Gamecube to run Homebrew applications. There is a variety of ways to get Homebrew applications running on your Gamecube, such as the "SD Media Launcher" by Datel with the "Action Replay" Disc or the "Save Game Exploit". The most common way is to use the application "Swiss", which will act as a menu to boot all your Homebrew applications from and allows you to change parameters of your Homebrew applications before you launch them, including Gameboy Interface.
Pro:
- good video quality
- very minimal lag, if even noticable
- undoubtedly the better playing experience
Cons:
- hard to set up, it will take some fiddeling to figure out your preferred settings
Summary and further information
Generally speaking for Homebrewing your Gamecube, the Action Replay method is easier to use, but you will have to figure out if it is cheaper for you to instead go with the Save Game Exploit method, which will require you either an already homebrewed Gamecube console or a RVL-001 Wii console (it should have gamecube controller and memory ports) + a compatible game for the Save Game Exploit. After all, both of those options will allow you to run Gameboy Interface.
More information about Gamecube Homebrewing and how to get it running for cheap:
More information about Gameboy Interface and Swiss:
- https://www.gc-forever.com/wiki/index.php?title=Game_Boy_Interface
- https://www.gc-forever.com/wiki/index.php?title=Swiss
- https://www.speedrun.com/fusion/guides/wf5aa
Gameboy Consolizer
The Gameboy Consolizer uses the original GBA hardware and allows you to play your GBA games with high video quality. It is important to note that not a lot of people have performed runs on this system, so the knowledge is limited. Important for Speedruns is that the console runs at the correct framerate of roughly 59.7275hz instead of 60hz. Not all Gameboy Consolizers necessarily have both options available, so please make sure that they offer support for the correct framerate.
Nintendo Switch Online
On July 15, 2024, Nintendo published Metroid: Zero Mission on their "Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack" for Nintendo Switch. You only need a HDMI capture card for your Nintendo Switch and start recoding your entire runs with it. The Nintendo Switch Online GBA games run at 60hz instead of 59.7275hz, so you will have to convert your time by multiplying with the factor (60/59.7275). For conversion, you can also just use this tool: https://github.com/monkeysmb/Switch-to-GBA-time-Converter
Wii U Virtual Console
The Online Services for the Wii U are no longer available. If you happened to purchase Metroid: Zero Mission for the Wii U Virtual Console in the past, you can simply get a HDMI capture card and record your runs.
Nintendo DS
The original Nintendo DS can be hardware modded with a capture card, which lets you capture the system.
The Nintendo DS Lite has an unofficial video output. You can hardware mod the system to have composite video output (red, yellow, white cables). You will need an additional composite capture device, which can be bought relatively cheap. More information about this mod can be found here: https://lostnintendohistory.github.io/DS-TV-OUT.html
In both cases, you can simply put the GBA game into the DS (Lite) and start playing. Both mods require hardware modding, skills and tools to accomplish those modding jobs, which can be more on the pricey side.