Console Setups: Difference between revisions

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Aside from pointing a camera at your Gameboy, you can imagine it's pretty tricky to record quality GBA footage for your speedruns. The most common solution is to use the Gameboy Player attachment on a Gamecube so you can record the Gamecube's footage just like any other console. There are a variety of solutions to get this working, and to start I'll share a link to Tupto's guide on SRC that has some great information in it: https://www.speedrun.com/fusion/guide/wf5aa
'''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.


Your two main options for using the Gameboy Player are to either use the official Disc that comes with it, or running a software called Gameboy Interface (a.k.a. GBI). More info on GBI can be found here: https://www.gc-forever.com/wiki/index.php?title=Game_Boy_Interface.
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.


The Disc is nice because it "just works", and if you're lucky enough to have the disc then that's all you need. The major downside to using the disc is that it's got some input lag which may affect your gameplay.
=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.


GBI can be tricky because it requires some more steps to get set up, but once you get GBI running you should end up with a better experience with better looking video quality and reduced input lag. One way to get GBI running is to use an Action Replay. I personally don't have an Action Replay, so if anyone who does wants to update this page and replace this sentence with an actual description of how it works, that can be helpful, but for now I'll say I hear it should be as easy as just copying GBI onto the Action Replay and it boots right up.
==Official Gameboy Player Software==


Another way to get GBI running is to copy it into a regular Gamecube Memory Card along with a game save exploit that tricks a regular Gamecube game into loading GBI. To do this, you will need a Wii that has homebrew installed, and I've had success following the guide in this video https://youtu.be/Y3jq8dVe2ug. Once your Wii has homebrew, use it to install Gamecube Memory Manager, a.k.a. GCMM, found here: http://wiibrew.org/wiki/GCMM. Now that you have GCMM, use it to copy over your game save exploit and GBI from an SD card over to a regular Gamecube Memory Card, and now that Memory Card can be used to trick whichever game you chose to boot into GBI.
You purchase the official Gameboy Player Disc and use it to run the official software made by Nintendo.


If you're starting completely fresh, the Action Replay is very likely the easiest way to get going. In my situation I already had a Wii and extra memory cards and a gamecube game that has a save exploit for it, so it was cheaper for me to use everything I had instead of buying an Action Replay. Whichever option you choose should get you running on a console and ready to speedrun with recorded footage.
'''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:
* https://www.gc-forever.com/wiki/index.php?title=Booting_homebrew
* https://gchomebrew.com/ultimate/
 
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.

Latest revision as of 15:47, 16 August 2024

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:

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.

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