I’ve honestly wanted a GBA for a really long time, my sister used to have one she got from some family members, and it was my birthday a couple of days ago, so I’m kinda considering buying myself a GBA SP off of Ebay or something. I think it’d be cool as hell to play Fire Emblem on the original hardware, and also neat just to have the console in the first place
Has anyone else here bought a used GBA? Any advice before I do? Any reasons why I shouldn’t?
Id say go for it if you have the extra money. If you’re gonna buy though make sure you know the specific model of SP. There are two specific models, the AGS 001 and the 101. They’re the same hardware size but the 101’s screen is backlit rather than front lit. Allowing for a much more vibrant screen and brightness.
Though if you’re looking for a bit more bang for your buck I personally recommend an emulation machine. I can’t speak for all of them but I got my Miyoo Mini+ for around $60 and with the simple installation of the homebrew Onion OS I can play all kinds of consoles, from the NES all the way up to even the DS (the DS has some mixed results). Though definitely do your research on these things, some are made extremely cheap, and other extremely underpowered hardware for your money’s worth.
oh, i had no idea there was a model of the SP that wasnt backlit, i always heard that the GBA wasnt backlit but the SP was. gonna have to make sure i ask any seller what model they have then if i decide to buy
as for the potential of an emulation machine, i’d consider it if i could find one that looks as nice as an actual SP. take your example of the Miyoo Mini, im sure it works like a charm, but im not too sure i like it aesthetically. and if my concern was just “does it play GBA games and is it handheld” then i’d probably just stick with my smartphone lol
The 001 model was front lit. So still a lit up screen, just not ideal for brightness and color vibrancy.
Anyway if you’re looking for a clamshell emulation device, get a 3ds.
No I’m serious, it’s incredibly good for emulation when homebrewed, especially on new 3ds xl models
another thing i gotta make sure to look into is getting some empty carts and a reader/writer for them, so that i can actually like, have games on it. like hell im paying a small fortune for second-hand copies of 20+ year old games
thats cool and all, but like with the Miyoo, i dont really like how it looks? plus i think the original SP has some merits. particularly i like that it folds up, i always did enjoy the DS and 3DS being able to do that
that and its not like a used GBA SP is that much more expensive, its like $60-70 in my currency for an R36S and ive found a few SPs for like $100
anyway im gonna sleep on it. lmk if any of yall have suggestions for the cartridge problem, dunno if i should get a flash cart or try for regular cartridges with a separate tool for writing on them
Have you considered the Miyoo Flip? An AGS-101 is pretty rare, I had to cobble mine together from 3 non-working GBAs, two 001 + one 101.
Also the cheaper flashcarts (like the EZ Flash Omega) notoriously suffer with Fire Emblem. I bought an Everdrive x5 mini to do my testing of Sacred Echoes, which is about $99-125 by itself.
There some mod version with ips screen ofcourse it’s more expensive but maybe you looking for quality but honestly just go with china product that can play almost all Nintendo old consoles
I’ll play devil’s advocate.
I have disposable income. I used and continue to use some of that for my GBA SP and Gamecube. I have authentic copies of Path of Radiance, FE7, and more, same with games like Pokémon Emerald. I won’t lie, that collection cost me the better part of $900, and that’s factoring the discounted rate I found used copies on Facebook Marketplace.
If you have the money to spend, the experience of playing authentic copies of games on the original hardware is unmatched. It gives you a nostalgia no emulator can replicate. But that’s just it: It’s good for nostalgia baiting and collecting. If those aren’t your immediate intent, you will be better served with an emulator.
It’s cheaper, easier to modify, and oftentimes just as portable if not moreso. You have more options for mods, ROM hacks, and even other systems’ games.
But if you want to please your inner child, or experience games as intended if money provides, I recommend buying an SP.
Ultimately, it depends on what you want from it.
The basic GBA is cheaper and can be played outside in the blazing sun for those sweet sweet grass touching credits (I’m Californian so no backlit screen is usable outside after noon). JP Boktai copies are also pretty cheap online. Just saying
never really looked into it. doesnt seem too bad, but its actually more expensive than a used SP where im at as far as i can tell. i’ll consider it though
I think I’m gonna try to research just how different the backlit vs frontlit screens look, cuz looking at it now the AGS-101 is significantly more expensive than the 001, the only 101 i’ve found under CAD$200 so far is one with some pretty bad damage to the screen
i take that back, found a pretty good condition one for $140. just have to check out my options for carts
A cousin got a SP a year ago. I remember correctly he only got Shark Tale [the actual video game not the movie through GBA video]. If you have the money go ahead I’d say.
Perhaps another option would be modding say, a GBA to add additional features like backlit screen, custom shell, buttons, filters, rechargeable, HDMI out, etc. Look up MachoNacho on YouTube, he has some really cool content and just came out with a video on a new custom shell design that came out recently (yes, it’s expensive, but there are other options).
Personally I had one custom-made for me and with an Everdrive Mini, I’ve compiled a crazy list of romhacks from here alongside most of the GB, GBC, GBA, NES library to play on the go. Well worth the investment!
Honestly, I’d go for the cheaper SP model and get someone to mod it if I knew anyone near me that did that kinda thing. Downside of living in a small town is that there aren’t a lot of options for stuff like that, I’d probably have to go out to the city
Definitely would much prefer an SP over the original GBA regardless though, I just like the convenient shape and size
Honestly I get that! Smaller and easier to carry around, plus the screen wouldn’t scratch either (RIP to my custom GBA screen after a week lol
Went to Facebook Marketplace to see if I could find a better deal, and I did, but I also found out unfortunately that Canada Post is currently on strike which means that they cant ship it to me 
Honestly just gonna ask them to hold onto it for me and ship it when the strike is over
Doing my research, and it sounds like the play might unironically be to buy a bunch of Chinese bootleg game carts and use those to port my ROMs onto? That’s really funny to me, just the concept of crappy bootlegs having such a valuable purpose