this post was submitted on 13 Aug 2024
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I'm impressed they're sticking with cartridges, since that has been a source of issues with some games. I appreciate it myself. I like them.
This guy is kind of silly for saying that this has been the only time there have been games that fit into the old system, since you could totally put Gameboy Color games into the Gameboy Pocket, they just wouldn't work. They'd scold you and be like "This game can only be played on the GameBoy Color!".
I hope there's no forward compatibility, where games must target the lower spec hardware, since that's the same thing holding the Xbox Series X/S, I hope there's backwards compatibility though, it'd be nice to tuck my old Switch into storage.
The first generation DS could play GBA games.
The original Wii could play GameCube games.
The 3DS ran DS games.
The GBA ran GB and GBC games.
The WiiU could run most Wii games.
Nintendo has history making backwards compatibility a selling point of it help sell consoles.
The Switch is a thin tablet, so there isn't any room for a CD drive. It's either cartridges or no physical media at all, probably.
Oh yeah, I know it.
We could get something like UMDs from the PSP again though. Haha!
Those things were so cool, and were absolute junk. I remember the case crackin on Secret Agent Clank, so I carefully pried open my copy of National Treasure 2 that came with the PSP and transplanting it over. Good time
What games has the cartridge form factor been a source of issues?
Modern consoles install games off the disk, because discs are so slow.
It's not really an issue for the games, but an issue with the publishers, I guess, since quite a few 3rd party games have you download basically the whole thing instead of storing it on the cart.
The problem was Nintendo charged publishers more money for the larger carts. So a lot of publishers simply took the option of the smallest cheaper cards and made you download the rest.
Trying to preserve Switch games by buying the carts has been a bit pointless really. I know Diablo 3 was entirely on the cart, publishers were very pleased with that.
This kind of thing didn't used to bother me at all before it very much bothered me and now I'm somewhere in the middle. I think cartridges/discs for consoles should not require an Internet connection to play them. That said, this isn't the PS2 era anymore. Many games release with patches day 1 and most will have at least some updates post launch. A lot of games kept offline end up missing out on a ton. Keeping a physical copy of a game is only preserving a portion of the game for a future without the servers to supply the final version, which is my main concern when it comes to physical vs digital media. We still have to rely on hacked consoles running custom firmware or emulation to properly preserve games.
I remember a story a few years ago about them being very expensive which drove up the price of cheaper indies, that could all have been sorted by now though
Huh? I thought there was a bump out on the GBC cartridge that prevented you from inserting it into a Game Boy? Also the notch cut out of the corner that prevents the power switch from operating. Am I mis-remembering?
The original large gameboys had a lock that utilized the slot via the power switch. The pocket removed the lock therefore allowing the non slotted Color games to be used in a pocket gameboy.
I forgot the Gameboy Pocket existed
Japan also got Game Boy Light, which is a Game Boy Pocket with green EL backlighting (like Indiglo).
It was my first video game device as a child!
There was a bump out, but I don't think it physically stopped you from putting the cartridge into the console, I don't have a GameBoy on me to check right now though. You're right about the missing notch though, but that would only stop you from starting it on the original Gameboy and not the Gameboy Pocket or Super Gameboy. I know for sure I saw the Pokemon Crystal error screen when I tried to play it on the wrong device after being able to play Pokemon Gold on the older hardware.
Maybe I'm the one misremembering?
Oh you said Gameboy Pocket. I forgot about those. I never had one so I'm not sure.
I like it. They could have easily cited the needs of a mobile console and wanting to dedicate every last cubic centimeter to cooling and battery as an excuse to make the next console digital only.
I'm glad they didn't.
Huh. I am that guy and was not aware some GC Color games would do that. Never had one, always thought of the Color as the first Pro model rather than its own generation.
But it's neat to hear they did that because it matches up with my assumptions about how it may be handled
There were a few games that worked on the OG gameboy, but were GameBoy color games, the ones that come to mind first are Pokemon Gold and Silver. You could play them on the og gameboy, without color and missing some hardware features, or you could play them on the Gameboy Color as they had intended you do. It was a really nice addition.
I always thought of the GBC as its own generation, since the games were mostly incompatible, just as I thought of the GBA as its own generation for the same reason, but really, it's almost just arbitrary.
This is why you may remember some games on Game Boy Color being monochromatic and others having rich color palletes while all of those still working on non-Color Game Boys. That said, there actually were some games that truly did require a Game Boy Color to play and would give an error screen on Game Boy Pocket.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_Boy_Game_Pak