Topic: GBA comm port USB cable - network play?

[Shecky]

Sooo.... I'm looking for a cable that'll let me go from the GBA comm port to a PC via USB.  Theoretically one would then be able to play their games against others over the net.

Unfortunately to my knowledge:

1) Such a cable doesn't seem to exist
2) Such an app doesn't exist

1) isn't much of a problem really, a GBA link cable can be obtained for less than $10 (same for USB).  Splice the two together and it should be good... maybe.  There is a potential that I would need some smarts in between the GBA and the PC.

2) This wouldn't be a problem - hardest part would be figuring out the frame format the GBA uses.  Otherwise it's just pick up a frame, wrap it up, and ship it over the network.

Shecky

Who's so pissed he can't get a match of Advanced Wars [1 or 2] with another human.....

[MarioAllStar]

Well, I am 99% sure that the GBA link cable isn't USB, so you would definently need to do more than rewiring. In addition to what you mentioned above, I beleive that GBA games require the speed of the link cable when doing multiplayer or else everything fails, unless the game is programmed otherwise. This is why the wireless adapter only works on specially-programmed games. This is what I've heard.

[Nephilim]

"GBA games require the speed of the link cable when doing multiplayer or else everything fails"

Nope GBA cable can lag, we were playing 4swords and it was way out of sync...  by like 1min
There must be a problem with emulating the link cable because emu's dont support it either (They do thu lan).

[Shecky]

Hmm, good point.  If there is a straight forward standard keep alive it may be simple to mitigate - unless they use a nonce of sorts.  It may also be game specific at which point it would become hairy.

I always figured that the close proximity and way they hook up the link cables was likely for collision detection by the units.  In the setup above though, collisions wouldn't be a problem.

What I really need is to actually *use* a link cable one day.... try some experiments.  There's that "no human" problem again though as clearly if I had that, I'd be busy playing AW and not trying to do this

[stevey]

"1) Such a cable doesn't seem to exist"

no I saw a usb once it was from a 3rd party.

[UncleBob]

Yeah, USB -> GBA cables exist.  They typically come with those Flash Cards that let you download ROMs and such a blank GBA cart.

It seems to me that if this was possible *someone* would have done it already... perhaps I'm horribly mistaken - god, I'd *love* to be able to play some Four Swords against any one of you (I've never been beat, but then I've never had any good competition! )

EDIT:  http://www.consolesource.com/ecomm/customer/product.php?productid=1956 -> USB/GBA link

[Shecky]

Well I have seen a bunch of USB cables/docks that will let you recharge a SP or DS.  I've seen those in stores, but those just wire the power through.

UncleBob: I've ran across a few of those when doing searches after starting this thought process.... However, I'm a bit wary of what those cables can actually do.  I'll have to look into it a bit more.  Thanks for the link!