Took me a couple of weeks playing less than an hour at a time except for a single 2 hour road trip, but now I get to start the campaign, and I am excited being one step closer to beating this and moving onto the sequels 🤩
Im at the point where I prefer using my modded gba, DS, or r36s for gaming *substantially* more than my phone. While modern phone games are often more graphically impressive, I just feel like the GBA and DS libraries habe so much more though put into the world's than most android apps. Also, I dont need internet, and the only "updates" are when I add more ROMS to my EZ-FLASH or update firmware.
The GBA is definitely not powerful hardware by today's standards, but the quality of the games developed for it are so well thought out and often have such high replayability that they stand the test of time and are still easy to play as a modern gamer, and compared to most early mobile games the GBA dominates in terms of pure enjoyment.
I also feel like having a dedicated device to play games on is better than using a phone just for battery reasons, but regardless, the Gameboy is timeless.
So ever since I got back into gaming handhelds, I have been super nervous to drop any of my devices. The R36S is very fragile, and while the GBA has decent durability... I dont wanna scratch up the new pretty shell or damage the backlit display, and I want to use these in more places than just my bed, at a desk/table, or sitting on the couch.
My main concern with these isn't so much it just slipping from my hands, but specifically being bumped by a friend or animal and having whatever is in my hands crash to the floor.
By adding lanyards/ wrist straps, your device is tethered to your wrist, and while it isn't impossible to drop your handheld with a lanyard, it is substantially less likely.
If I am using a device regularly, it's got a lanyard, I had to get a bit creative and use the vent holes on the bottom of my r36s but most Nintendo handhelds up to the switch have some way to add one (:
So I recently got back into playing GameBoyAdvance, mainly at work during breaks. I have an EZFLASH ODE already, but the authentic carts have much better battery life.
Most of the cheaper legit carts around me are often beaten up or missing labels. What are people's opinions on shell swapping and getting custom labels for your own **personal** game collection? I know it should be a priority to maintain authentic hardware, but if its too far gone and it only for yourself, what's your take?
All three of these devices take turns coming to work with me or on long road trips/ vacations.
I like the R36S just for the sheer amount of systems it has on it, and if i lose it, it's not heartbreaking. However, my DS Lite and especially my custom Gameboy trade spaces for my favorite EDC.
The DS has a stellar game library, but GBA emulation is less than perfect with my DS Pico and GBA Runner, and my EZ-FLASH ODE doesn't sit flush in slot 2, so I got a dedicated GBA for Gameboy family titles, might possibly get an EZ-FLASH Junior or dedicated flash carts for a few GBC rom-hacks, but for now this is all I want or need for handheld entertainment.
In the future, I might get a DSi XL or LL and mod it so I can play DS games and emulate GBA/GB/GBC all in one console, and let the two customs stay at home on shelves when not in use. I never had a 3ds, and I feel like for $350+, I'd be better off getting a more powerful emulator handheld /handheld PC like an AYN Thor or RP5... something that I could stream modded fallout NV from my PC on and hook a controller to, possibly with two screens for emulation if I ever want to see if dropping on a 3DS/2DS is worth it...
So, I did a shell swap on my DS recently. I forgot to take the border off the lower screen, and i didn't trim the shoulder buttons at all just like I did when building my GF's console, but my L button is sticky as all hell.
After trying every suggested fix, I realized that the actual metal rod that the spring wraps around and that keeps the shoulder button in place has a bit of play left to right in the notch that is supposed to keep it at a perfect 90° angle to the bottom and top of the lower shell. Thankfully, I have a clear shell and can notice the rod moving a hair while the other one is rock solid. I noticed the pin fell through the left trigger a lot easier than the right one, and it is easy to see now that its because the trigger rod!
So before you swap shells or buttons, try a new pin/ rod. That may be the issue!
I did a shell swap and RGB kit mod on my GF's. This is mine (:
I did my GBA and my GF's custom DS lite build, im gonna do the re-shell of my own DS Lite today, and save the RGB mod for another day, or another console.
I wanted to play this on legit hardware. Need a workaround for Pokémon Polished Crystal to work the EZ-FLASH ODE but for now, all but one of my roms/roms hacks work on native hardware.
Amazed at how well the GBA library holds up conpared to modern titles, I am starting my first playthrough of Advance Wars! I have the sequel on my EZ-FLASH ODE as well, and then I have the two tiles for the DS on my DSPico...
I've just completed 11 of the 13 tutorials so far... when im done, I'm possibly gonna drop this save file onto my PC and R36S so I can just play the campaign even when I dont have my GBA on me.
But this game is an amazing way to spend 15-30 minutes of downtime instead of doomscrolling, and thats before the campaign opened up. Im gonna keep this in my regular rotation along with Metroid Fusion, Tetris, and Emerald/ LeafGreen as I have about 90+ titles on my EZ-FLASH ODE alone, and Im gonna try to actually finish a game before I move onto a sequel or otherwise replace it in my 5 game per console rotation.
For DS its currently Cooking Mama, Pkmn Platinum, dementium, Drawn to life (haven't started yet as I just downloaded with the original sequel) and im trying to decide between committing to GTA Chinatown Wars or Resident Evil Dead Silence for a whole playthrough.
Hopefully today will be the last day I need to open these specific handhelds for a while...