Game Boy Player

Game Boy Player
Developer(s)	Nintendo
Platform(s)	GameCube
Release date(s)	JP March 20, 2003 EU June 20, 2003 NA June 24, 2003
Genre(s)	Utility
Input methods	GameCube Controller, Game Boy Advance
Compatibility	4 Playable
GameIDs	UGPP01, UGPE01, UGPJ01
See also...	Dolphin Forum thread Open Issues Search Google Search Wikipedia

The Game Boy Player (ゲームボーイプレーヤー, Gēmu Bōi Purēyā) (DOL-017) is a device made by Nintendo for the Nintendo GameCube which enables Game Boy (although Super Game Boy enhancements are ignored), Game Boy Color, or Game Boy Advance cartridges to be played on a television. It connects via the high speed parallel port at the bottom of the GameCube and requires use of a boot disc to access the hardware. Unlike devices such as Datel's Advance Game Port, the Game Boy Player does not use software emulation, but instead uses physical hardware nearly identical to that of a Game Boy Advance.

Emulation Information

Game Boy Advance Features in Game Boy Color Games

Certain Game Boy Color games have special feature enabled when played on a Game Boy Advance, such as a the "Advance Shop" in The Legend of Zelda - Oracles games. To access these features, a "special" Game Boy Color BIOS is used on the original GBA to tell the game they are running on on the newer handheld. mGBA can emulate this by changing bits in a standard GBC BIOS. Currently, Dolphin does not support configuring a GBC BIOS, leaving these feature inaccessible.

Problems

Missing Rumble

Game Boy Player Rumble does not currently work, and games attempting to check for the feature may freeze.

Audio Issues

Audio sounds extra crunchy due to inaccuracies. Fixed by 2603-273.

Video Flickering

When playing Game Boy and Game Boy Color games, the video flickers. Game Boy Advance games are mostly unaffected. Can be fixed by setting Texture Cache Accuracy to Safe. Fixed in 2603-183.

Freeze on Start

This software will freeze Dolphin with the error below due to the lack of Game Boy Player hardware emulation. See issue 2163. Fixed in 2603-175.

Error message due to the lack of Game Boy Player hardware emulation

Configuration

Only configuration options for the best compatibility where they deviate from defaults are listed.

Graphics

Config	Setting	Notes
Texture Cache Accuracy	Safe	Fixes flickering when playing Game Boy and Game Boy Color games

Version Compatibility

The graph below charts the compatibility with Game Boy Player since Dolphin's 2.0 release, listing revisions only where a compatibility change occurred.

2.0

2603-175

2603-273

Δ

2603-412 (current)

Δ

Δ

Δ

Δ

Δ

2.0 (r5384)

Compatibility can be assumed to align with the indicated revisions. However, compatibility may extend to prior revisions or compatibility gaps may exist within ranges indicated as compatible due to limited testing. Please update as appropriate.

Testing

This title has been tested on the environments listed below:

Test Entries
Revision	OS	CPU	GPU	Result	Tester
3.0-68	Windows 7	Intel Pentium 4	NVIDIA GeForce 7600GS	Wouldn't even start emulation, kept showing error message	NaokiS
3.0-374	Windows 7	Intel Core i5-2400	NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX+	Emulation runs, gets error message saying that Game Boy Player is not plugged in.	sonicdude558
4.0.2	Windows 7	AMD Phenom II X4 B55 3.2 GHz	NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250	Runs and correctly displays that there is no player connected.	Huenex
4.0.2	Windows 8.1	Intel Core i7-3630QM @ 2.4 GHz	NVIDIA GeForce GT 635M	It runs but stop in "Game Boy Player not connected" screen	mbc07
5.0-rc-0	Ubuntu 14.04	Intel Pentium B960 @ 2.2 GHz	Intel HD Graphics	Can't play any Game Boy games, because the Game Boy Player hardware is not emulated.	GameCubeFan