#27778 - grafare - Thu Oct 21, 2004 3:31 am
Hi, I am a newbie here, so please forgive my mistakes.
We are planning to develop for GBA and we have some questions in regard to hardware that unfortunately weren?t answered yet. I would appreciate your help.
1) What do we need to buy to start with?
2) Where can we buy what we need?
3) Which companies can record our games into the cartridge?
Thanks and regards
#27781 - tepples - Thu Oct 21, 2004 4:09 am
To start developing for GBA, you'll need a computer that can run devkitARM and VisualBoyAdvance. To run your games on a GBA, any GBA flash cart should do (visit the Retailer Feedback section to find a good price on EFA), or you can use Lik Sang's MBV2 cable to transfer small (<200 KB) programs without a flash cart.
Getting published by a licensed publisher is another matter entirely; you first have to have a business plan and a published PC, PDA, or cellphone game. If you want to forgo the Seal (as Color Dreams did on the NES and as Accolade initially did on the Sega Genesis), you'll need to contact SimonB to see where he's having the competition carts made.
_________________
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-- Who?
-- You know, the human.
-- I think he moved to Tilwick.
#27782 - grafare - Thu Oct 21, 2004 4:20 am
Thanks,
How do I record the game in the cart?
Do I need a special hardware for that?
What are the sizes, in Mb, for the carts?
We know some publishers that might help us, we just need to get started.
#27783 - tepples - Thu Oct 21, 2004 4:27 am
GBA Game Paks are anywhere from 32 Mbits (4 MBytes) to 256 Mbits (32 MBytes) depending on how much you want to pay the manufacturer per unit. A save unit costs a bit more, anywhere from $1 (4 Kbit EEPROM) on up, but it makes the experience much more enjoyable.
To record the game in the flash cart, use the included linker, which should connect the GBA to the PC (to record the cart in the GBA) or connect the cart itself to the PC's USB port (in the case of the EFA linker).
However, flash carts are expensive. When you actually get down to publishing the finished game, the manufacturer will use either mask ROM (a ROM embodied in a mass-produced ASIC) or OTP ROM (an EPROM in a package without a UV window so that it can't be erased). In the case of GBA games carrying the Official Nintendo Seal, Nintendo is the manufacturer.
_________________
-- Where is he?
-- Who?
-- You know, the human.
-- I think he moved to Tilwick.
#27784 - grafare - Thu Oct 21, 2004 5:08 am
Thanks
Where can I buy the ?Game parks?, flash carts and ?Save units?? What are the differences between them?
Will both linkers work the same on ?Game parks?, flash carts and ?Save units??
When the client buys the game, is it a ?Game parks?, flash carts or ?Save units??
Do you know any company/manufacturer that can record the game for us?
BTW, do we need Nintendo seal to start developing, publishing and selling our games?
#27797 - mymateo - Thu Oct 21, 2004 10:07 am
I'll field this one... correct me if I'm wrong Tepples
| Quote: |
| Where can I buy the ?Game parks?, flash carts and ?Save units?? What are the differences between them? |
Game Paks - These are empty game cartridges that can be written to once. This is how all commercial Licensed GameBoy Advance games come.
Flash Carts - These are rewriteable game cartirdges. Publishers do not use these carts because they are much more expensive, and typically promote game piracy.
Save Unit - Either a Game Pak, or a Flash Cart, but with SRAM (Save RAM) added to allow the user to save his/her game.
I do not know where you can buy blank Game Paks, but typically you would find a manufacturer and send in your ROM. The manufacturer would then write that ROM image to the blank carts, then send them to you. Generally, I think you have to order in quantities of 500, and the carts run about... er, $5 US or so. I could be wrong. In fact, I probably am since I've never tried to buy them, but it's a starting point at least...
Flash Carts, generally speaking, will already be equipped with SRAM, making them "Save Units", and you can buy them online from several stores, mostly from Hong Kong. My favorite site is http://www.lan-kwei.com
| Quote: |
| Will both linkers work the same on ?Game parks?, flash carts and ?Save units?? |
No, they would be completely different, as you have probably guessed from what you've read above. The one-time-write Game Pak need a special chip programmer to store the ROM into the memory, usually quite expensive. I don't know how much, but a $1000 price tag would NOT surprise me. Again, I haven't looked at the prices, so I could be WAY off.
The rewriteable Flash Carts can be simply programmed using your PC, software, and inexpensive cable ($10-$20 US), and a GameBoy Advance.
| Quote: |
| Do you know any company/manufacturer that can record the game for us? |
No, I do not. SimonB, the webmaster of this site, probably does.
| Quote: |
| BTW, do we need Nintendo seal to start developing, publishing and selling our games? |
You can develop your own games without Nintendo's consent, but they're not going to be overly happy about it. As for publishing it and selling it, you CAN do that without Nintendo's OK, but if they find out about it you might be in trouble. See, Nintendo doesn't want you to make games that earn you money unless they get a slice of it. Otherwise, you're cutting into their profits, and that would make them upset.
My best advice is to get yourself a 128 Mb or 256 Mb flash cart, and start making freeware demos and games. If you get good, and come up with something unique and original (original meaning you're not stealing copyrighted material), then submit it to a company that makes games like Ubisoft, Square, Capcom, anyone at all (everyone if possible). They might recognize your talent and hire you to work for them.
But, chances are if you're coming here for advice, you don't have the resources it takes to start publishing your own Nintendo-licensed games. Stick to homebrew, it's fun and safe!
#27803 - grafare - Thu Oct 21, 2004 3:50 pm
Thanks a lot.
Do you know where can I buy the linkers?
Do you know how can I get Nintendo?s seal what is generally their cut? Is it based on revenue sharing or fixed fee?
Regards
#27804 - SimonB - Thu Oct 21, 2004 4:12 pm
Hi grafare,
How many flash kits are you looking to buy? I would be glad to try and help you get a good deal.
I would also be glad to help you get your game manufactured, if you do not wish to go via Nintendo. Feel free to PM or e-mail me about this.
Best wishes
Simon