Non-Game applications for GBA?

Sam

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Mar 30, 2004
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Archived from groups: alt.games.video.nintendo.gameboy.advance (More info?)

Does anyone ever make programs for the GBA which are not games? I have
looked around, and found sites that support such programming, but they never
seem to actually have any applications.

I have found book readers, jpeg and audio programs, but not the range of
more useful applications I had hoped for...


--
Sam-I-Am
In raising my children, I have lost my mind but found my soul. - Lisa T.
Shepherd


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Archived from groups: alt.games.video.nintendo.gameboy.advance (More info?)

On Thu, 11 Nov 2004 Sam <Sam@newnews.org> wrote:
>
> Does anyone ever make programs for the GBA which are not games? I have
> looked around, and found sites that support such programming, but they never
> seem to actually have any applications.
>
> I have found book readers, jpeg and audio programs, but not the range of
> more useful applications I had hoped for...

the original gameboy had a personal organiser and databank.
But that was about 10 years ago...

You're sort of limited by what you can do with 4 buttons and a 4-way
control though
--

"I hear ma train a comin'
.... hear freedom comin"
 
Archived from groups: alt.games.video.nintendo.gameboy.advance (More info?)

Stimp mentioned in passing :
>
>
> You're sort of limited by what you can do with 4 buttons and a 4-way
> control though

Yeah... I can see that. But since it is in your pocket anyway...


--
Sam-I-Am
Those who bring sunshine into the lives of others cannot keep it from
themselves. -Sir James M. Barrie 'If no one ever took risks,
Michelangelo would have painted on the Sistine floor.' (Neil Simon)


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Archived from groups: alt.games.video.nintendo.gameboy.advance (More info?)

What kind of "useful" applications are you looking for, then?

"Sam" <Sam@newnews.org> schreef in bericht
news:2vi9o9F2mme5cU1@uni-berlin.de...
> Stimp mentioned in passing :
>>
>>
>> You're sort of limited by what you can do with 4 buttons and a 4-way
>> control though
>
> Yeah... I can see that. But since it is in your pocket anyway...
>
>
> --
> Sam-I-Am
> Those who bring sunshine into the lives of others cannot keep it from
> themselves. -Sir James M. Barrie 'If no one ever took risks,
> Michelangelo would have painted on the Sistine floor.' (Neil Simon)
>
>
> ---
> Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
> Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
> Version: 6.0.794 / Virus Database: 538 - Release Date: 11/10/04
>
>
 
Archived from groups: alt.games.video.nintendo.gameboy.advance (More info?)

Inferno mentioned in passing :
>
> What kind of "useful" applications are you looking for, then?


Well that's the point then isn't it. The real reason I even asked the
question is so that I could get some ideas on applications to work toward
developing. I'm learning how to make gba programs, and things like text
editors, stopwatches and calculators are easier to make in the near term.

But text editors, stopwatches and calculators are boring.

So I was fishing for ideas to maybe spark my imagination, or even to
outright steal, to give examples of how those four buttons and control pad
can be used outside the box of game play.

Anything unusual, creative, even if it is a game, that uses the input
and display in a interesting way.

--
Sam-I-Am
"My Country, right or wrong" is a thing no patriot would think of
saying except in a desperate case. It is like saying, "My mother, drunk
or sober." - Gilbert Keith Chesterton


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On Fri, 12 Nov 2004 Sam <Sam@newnews.org> wrote:
> Inferno mentioned in passing :
>>
>> What kind of "useful" applications are you looking for, then?
>
>
> Well that's the point then isn't it. The real reason I even asked the
> question is so that I could get some ideas on applications to work toward
> developing. I'm learning how to make gba programs, and things like text
> editors, stopwatches and calculators are easier to make in the near term.
>
> But text editors, stopwatches and calculators are boring.
>
> So I was fishing for ideas to maybe spark my imagination, or even to
> outright steal, to give examples of how those four buttons and control pad
> can be used outside the box of game play.
>
> Anything unusual, creative, even if it is a game, that uses the input
> and display in a interesting way.

You should probably look at developing applications for the DS instead.
It would certainly be a more future-proof investment of time since GBA
sales will undoubtedly decline over the next few years.

Also you'd be given a much larger scope for development ideas since the
touch-pad screen would essentially be like a pda's, thus allowing one to
develop equivalent (or probably more powerful) apps for the DS
--

"I hear ma train a comin'
.... hear freedom comin"
 
Archived from groups: alt.games.video.nintendo.gameboy.advance (More info?)

Stimp mentioned in passing :
>
> You should probably look at developing applications for the DS
> instead.

Well, yeah, but then I would actually have to own one....

--
Sam-I-Am
Patriotism is a kind of religion; it is the egg from which wars are
hatched. - Guy de Maupassant


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Archived from groups: alt.games.video.nintendo.gameboy.advance (More info?)

Stimp wrote:
> You should probably look at developing applications for the DS instead.
> It would certainly be a more future-proof investment of time since GBA
> sales will undoubtedly decline over the next few years.

DS plays GBA, so is that really an issue? A GBA based app would insure
against the failure of the DS but still be usable on the DS...
 
Archived from groups: alt.games.video.nintendo.gameboy.advance (More info?)

Sam wrote:
>
> Inferno mentioned in passing :
> >
> > What kind of "useful" applications are you looking for, then?
>
> Well that's the point then isn't it. The real reason I even asked the
> question is so that I could get some ideas on applications to work toward
> developing. I'm learning how to make gba programs, and things like text
> editors, stopwatches and calculators are easier to make in the near term.
>
> But text editors, stopwatches and calculators are boring.
>
> So I was fishing for ideas to maybe spark my imagination, or even to
> outright steal, to give examples of how those four buttons and control pad
> can be used outside the box of game play.
>
> Anything unusual, creative, even if it is a game, that uses the input
> and display in a interesting way.

There was a GBC cart that was a modem that let you check email. Not any
email, just their email, but still...
 
Archived from groups: alt.games.video.nintendo.gameboy.advance (More info?)

On Fri, 12 Nov 2004 Ted <nospamforted@nospam.com> wrote:
>
>
> Stimp wrote:
>> You should probably look at developing applications for the DS instead.
>> It would certainly be a more future-proof investment of time since GBA
>> sales will undoubtedly decline over the next few years.
>
> DS plays GBA, so is that really an issue? A GBA based app would insure
> against the failure of the DS but still be usable on the DS...

I can just see a lot more potential in developing for the DS, than the
GBA, functionality-wise.
Also I doubt that GBA game sales will maintain their current levels when
the DS becomes the mainstream portable choice... this is always the way
in the console world, a new product usually becomes a total replacement
for it's predecessor (look at the PS versus the PS2)

So, following on from this, a GBA app may look like an inferior product
when/if Sam releases his application and so may not sell as well as if
he had jumped on the DS bandwagon.

I guarantee that the DS will have applications like databanks or
something non-'gamey' though,
because of it's similarities to a pda (with the touch pad I mean)
--

"I hear ma train a comin'
.... hear freedom comin"
 
Archived from groups: alt.games.video.nintendo.gameboy.advance (More info?)

On Fri, 12 Nov 2004 Sam <Sam@newnews.org> wrote:
> Stimp mentioned in passing :
>>
>> You should probably look at developing applications for the DS
>> instead.
>
> Well, yeah, but then I would actually have to own one....

if you're only developing as a hobby then don't bother with the DS,
but if you're in any way serious about development get on the DS
bandwagon pronto (read my other post)
--

"I hear ma train a comin'
.... hear freedom comin"