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Toys Upgrades Hardware

Bluetooth, GSM, and Gameboy 78

Posted by Hemos from the advancing-the-boy dept.
brnsurgon1 writes ""The aim of the project was to investigate mobile gaming over GSM- and Bluetooth- networks, by developing a concept prototype, connecting a Gameboy to a mobile phone over Bluetooth. The results show that it is possible to connect two Gameboy Color over a GSM network by connecting to the phone using the Bluetooth plugin we developed for the Gameboy."" A couple other have submitted this story - it looks interesting. But, heck, I'm still trying to finish Golden Sun on my GBA.
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Bluetooth, GSM, and Gameboy More

Bluetooth, GSM, and Gameboy

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  • GPRS gaming (Score:5, Interesting)

    by nordicfrost ( 118437 ) on Wednesday January 29, 2003 @04:59AM (#5180467)
    I love my Ericsson T68i (i is for "Intercooler"...) It has the classic game Naval Fleet, where you try to sink the opponents boats by guessing where they are. This game can be played by one player, vs the computer, two players on the same phone, or with another player connected vi IR or Bluetooth. Now, this is cool and all, but why not connect players via GPRS? GPRS is based on who much traffic (in MB) you transfer so a game of Naval Fleet shouldn't cost that much. Too bad Ericsson didn't include GPRS gameing instead of just posting the highscores via GPRS.

    • Re:GPRS gaming (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 29, 2003 @05:14AM (#5180497)
      GPRS is based on [how] much traffic (in MB) you transfer so a game of Naval Fleet shouldn't cost that much.

      It looks like some phone companies have decided to charge for GPRS access based on time, not on volume of traffic. This is not very wise, but that's a fact that some users have to live with. So for them, the costs of a game would probably be quite high.

      • Re:GPRS gaming (Score:4, Informative)

        by ardiri ( 245358 ) on Wednesday January 29, 2003 @06:59AM (#5180708) Homepage
        > It looks like some phone companies have decided to charge for GPRS access based on time, not on volume of traffic.

        thats bad. very bad.

        first, it is important to understanding how GPRS works. telco's will put higher precedence over voice calls than GPRS calls - so, if the network is full, they will disconnect GPRS connections to allow voice connections to go through (this, depends on the network of course - but, when you understand more money can be made from voice calls - its obvious).

        paying by the minute for a GPRS connection is stupid. the whole idea with GPRS was to stay connected at all times, and, receive data as soon as it was available; when i tested GPRS way back in 2000, it was cool to be able to ride the subway/bus to work, and, continue to icq my buddies (sad, i know; but it had a geek factor to it *g*).

        the second problem with GPRS is that although there may be more bandwidth available - its a common misconception that in reality, you are actually sharing bandwidth with others. that means, if 10 people are sharing a 144kbps line, your connection may effectively be 14kbps. keep in mind that normal GSM phone call you pay by the minute, but, your guarenteed a connection of 9600bps. while doing tests with GPRS and GSM, i found, when in congested areas - i got better transfer rates with GSM (dialing isp) than GPRS. it isn't hard to do the math and figure out at which point GPRS actually becomes slower than using GSM.

        the true fun will come when they can stablise UMTS. but, that is well overdue - constant delays, hmm.. i wonder why?
      • How's that possible??
        I admit I don't know much about this stuff but P in GPRS stays for "packet". How do you measure usage time? Do you check time windows between packets and if they are small enough you assume that phone is "online" or what?

        • Re:GPRS gaming (Score:1, Informative)

          by Anonymous Coward
          It is possible to charge by time as although GPRS is a packet based communication system devices need to set up a connection to the the SGSN (like an SMSC for SMS). This connection can be set on most hadsets to be 'when needed' or 'when available'. So you could charge by time. Note on most systems you will get charged for the 'administration' packets needed to maintain this connection.

          I've just started using GPRS on a Nokia 7650 and having a full POP3 email client on my phone is fantastic. However here in the UK GPRS is being charged at about 8UKP per megabyte!! - about 12US$ which makes GPRS a hell of a lot higher revenue generating for a given network capacity.
    • ahh the advances in technology.. we used to play Battleship for free...
      Paper torn from note boook : $0
      Chewed up pencil : $0
      Yelling co-ordinates to your opponent : $0

      Ruling the Seas during detention : Priceless

      Suchetha

      <and we didnt have 802.11b destroyers [slashdot.org] either>

    • Re:GPRS gaming (Score:5, Informative)

      by Rouven ( 515895 ) on Wednesday January 29, 2003 @06:04AM (#5180591)
      My company has developed the GPRS-based Chess game that comes bundled with the O2xda (essentially the same as the T-Mobile Pocket PC in the U.S.). It works extremely well, using connectionless UDP via GPRS packets. The game only sends tiny little packets when you chat or make a move, and as far as we have seen there is not even packet loss on a GPRS network. The costs boil down to about 1 EUR/US$ per hour of play. The only problem is that the device still costs EUR 500.-, so it's not really a mass market product. But expect things to change, my guess is that there will be plenty of multiplayer mobile games by summer, at least here in Europe.

    • I love this game. Just wish the phone would put up more of a fight... It doesn't seem to be aware of its own rule that prevents me from putting my ships right next to each other - having sunk one, it then goes right around it looking for another.

      The only way to make it interesting is to put all the boats 1 square apart so it doesn't waste as many shots. Even then, it's a case of beating it by 2 boats rather than 3.

      Nobody here to play against, and I can beat the phone every time - GPRS gaming would rock.

    • why play that dinky little game over GPRS when you can use connect your computer via bluetooth and use your phone as a GPRS modem and play better games across the network? I use a T68i too, and it's nice feeling to know you can be anywhere with GPRS access and have direct connectivity.
  • can i connect a gb advance sp (picture [heise.de]) with a normal gb advance or a gb color? can it be done using gsm? can i use the bluetooth thingie to connect it to the pc and play over internet w/ flatrate to play with friends around the world? TETRIS!

  • Nintendo and Motorola (Score:5, Interesting)

    by borgdows ( 599861 ) on Wednesday January 29, 2003 @05:06AM (#5180484)
    Motorola works on an 802.11 wireless gaming system, developed with input from Nintendo, that will serve for future wireless gaming systems.

    I can't wait for the GBA/net .. wow

  • Interesting, but not really new... (Score:5, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 29, 2003 @05:20AM (#5180509)

    Did anybody notice that the thesis was done in 2000 and the last update to the page was two years ago?

    It is interesting anyway because the thesis contains all the diagrams and explanations needed for building your own interfaces. But this is not really new...

  • Nokia and Sega (Score:5, Interesting)

    by horcy ( 545339 ) on Wednesday January 29, 2003 @05:26AM (#5180521) Homepage
    I cant wait for Nokia's/Sega's N-Gage. This will be
    a mobile phone where you can shove in tiny
    cartridges with games developed by Sega.
    That will own. They want to compete with Nintendo's
    GBA. I hope this will end Nintendo's
    monopoly on the handheld market.

    • Re:Nokia and Sega (Score:3, Interesting)

      by ThundaGaiden ( 615019 )
      I have a GBA and just recently bought a few new
      games , I now have Doom and a Diablo type LotR's
      game which are both amamzing.

      I really don't mind Nintendo having a
      monopoly in the handheld market at the moment,
      They haven't abused it , the games are reasonably
      priced and the acutal unit is really cheap

      But if the N-Gage has a backlight , I'll sign on
      with it.

      One problem I do have is that these multipurpose devices usually have a heavy premium and some of the functions are underpowered or missing to make space for the other stuff

      • Re:Nokia and Sega (Score:1, Informative)

        by n_jed ( 301657 )
        The new Gameboy Advance SP also has a backlight. Although the shaped has change so that it is vertical again - not to sure on this myself. It folds in half to give you a very neat package... I 'accidently' scratched my GBA screen so I guess I'll have to get a new one also... At least then I can get the stars for 2 player games in Game and Watch Gallery....
        • The new Gameboy Advance SP also has a backlight.

          Actually, its a front light. Either way its a huge improvement over the original GBA screen (unless, like me, you have installed an Afterburner internal front light).

      • Re:Nokia and Sega (Score:2, Interesting)

        by Wuukie ( 47391 )
        If N-Gage will compete with GBA I'll be really happy. Here in Finland GBA games seem to cost about 50-70 EUR which is about as much as PC games. And seeing that there are quite a few games from SNES, it really is depressing.

        I actually don't have GBA, but I sure would like to. But games just cost too much for me.

        We really need competition.
    • Sega has no hand in the design, manufacture, or sale of the yet-to-be-released N-gage hardware. All the PR you've been seeing is from the one press release that Sega sent out announcing that they would produce games for the thing. Talk about lending credibility.

      Along that line of thinking, I will keep playing Nintendo's/Capcom's/Konami's/Namco's/Sega's Gameboy Advance for now. Nintendo may have a monopoly in handheld games, but the market thrives regardless. Current generation of GB hardware AND games are cheap, numerous, high-quality. Add a phone to the mix, and you create a more sophisticated phone, not a better game system (and definitely not an inexpensive or universally-accessible one). Bah, whatever. In the games industry it's always fun to watch what companies are willing to try what.
    • Knowing Nokia they will probably make it comaptible to HSCSD and not GPRS (like the 9210i)
    • Have you seen the thing? I don't think it's going to be very fun to play...

  • There's another company... (Score:5, Informative)

    by Kalewa ( 561267 ) on Wednesday January 29, 2003 @06:01AM (#5180585)
    ...that's doing bluetooth on the GBA [x-trafun.com], but for a lot more than playing games. Their "edutainment" angle makes me suspicious, but they've got some interesting looking features.

  • GBA wardriving? (Score:2, Interesting)

    by xpurple ( 1227 )
    I'm just waiting for an 802.11 adapter for my GBA. It's got plenty of CPU power, and battery life shouldn't be an issue either.

  • So where's the Nintendo phone? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Inflatable Hippo ( 202606 ) <`ku.oc.oohay' `ta' `oppih_elbatalfni'> on Wednesday January 29, 2003 @06:43AM (#5180678) Journal
    Nintendo have been pushed into 3rd place in the console market, how long before they start slipping in the handheld market too?

    The majority of people demonstrably are willing to only carry one piece of electronics around with them, and the phone is clearly it. That's why over the last 18 months more and more of the functions that used to be separate have been folded into the phone.

    Witness products from Nokia, Motorola and Ericsson that combine phone, camera, walkman, PDA etc. into their phones in various combinations.

    I've long expected Nintendo to announce their own phone or establish an alliance with one of the big phone handset manufacturers, but I haven't heard anything as yet.

    They'd better hurry if they don't want to miss the boat, assuming they haven't already.

    • Re:So where's the Nintendo phone? (Score:2, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Nintendo's in 3rd place only in European home console sales. But the GBA is #2 system including handhelds, right behind PS2.

      In the US, it's a 2-way tie between Nintendo and M$ for 2nd place in home consoles. PS2 is #1, but again, GBA is #2 overall system.

      In Japan, it's a near blowout. PS2 is #1 overall, Gamecube is the clear #2 home console, GBA is #2 overall system (pushing cube down to #3 in overall system sales).
    • Call me old fashion but I want my phone to hold phone numbers and allow me to make calls. Nokia are release some game hybrid phone (N-Gauge?). It looks rubbish and I had a laugh when a Nokia spokesperson said that the it is a games machine first and that if you wanted to play multi player games he'd rather be playing poker with then than a non-multiplayer system. Me thinks I'd rather be playing Metroid Fusion on the train every morning on the way to work. Because when I am on a train in the morning, I don't have anyone there I want to talk to...
    • the gba is not a pocket-carried device, unless you want to walk funny. i'd prefer to cary my gba, my digital elph, and my nokia rather than have one device that does a shoddy job of all three.

  • Cool, but... (Score:2, Interesting)

    by mrselfdestrukt ( 149193 )
    This is very clever and everything, but too messy for me. I want a phone with a proper PDA, a color screen for watching my portable 101x80 res pr0n ans decent bluetooth games like mobile doom or outrun or something like that. When will we have that? We have most of the technology available today. Why not combine it? I know some people will say that all they want is a phone that they can use to talk to someone, but some of us want something that we can use to organise our lives,send e-mail and play a game against a friend or alone sometimes..
  • Call me old fashion but I want my phone to hold phone numbers and allow me to make calls. Nokia are release some game hybrid phone (N-Gauge?). It looks rubbish and I had a laugh when a Nokia spokesperson said that the it is a games machine first and that if you wanted to play multi player games he'd rather be playing poker with then than a non-multiplayer system. Me thinks I'd rather be playing Metroid Fusion on the train every morning on the way to work. Because when I am on a train in the morning, I don't have anyone there I want to talk to let alone play games with/against ...
  • I think there's something wrong with your connection; you've dropped a couple of "s"'s. This could pose a major problem with the future of gaming. Now teachers *do* have to imploy local signal jamming techniques in class.

    I'm looking foward to a major GBC tourny at Graduation! There's nothing else to do while waiting to walk across the stage like cattle.

    • I'm looking foward to a major GBC tourny at Graduation! There's nothing else to do while waiting to walk across the stage like cattle.
      I'll be playing the games on my TI-85, thank you very much. :^)
      • Much eaisier on the batteries. I've started to carry my TI-89 around (since it'll do integrals w/variables), but ALWAYS have the 85 handy for the crunch tests.


        I have many fond menories of playing that space battle game over the link cable. :)

  • gp32 (Score:3, Informative)

    by Cpt_Kirks ( 37296 ) on Wednesday January 29, 2003 @10:17AM (#5181476)
    The Gamepark gp32 [lik-sang.com] has a 2.4GHZ RF Module [lik-sang.com] for connecting to other devices.

    Frankly, the gp32 blows the GBA away:

    # CPU 32 Bit 133MHZ RISC CPU (ARM9)
    # Display: TFT 3.5" Reflective TFT LCD(65,536 colors)
    # ROM 512 Kbytes
    # Storage SMC(Smart Media Card)
    # RAM 8MB SDRAM
    # PC Connection Cable USB Port connection cable
    # Sound 16Bit PCM Stereo Sound, MIDI support (over 32 poly), 4 Channel WAV Mixing
    # Definition 320 X 240 Pixels
    # Power 2 AA Batteries (12 Hours use time between charges)
    # MP3 MPEG(I,II) Audio Support
    # Controls 8-Way directional pad (joystick) + Durable 6 key buttons
    # Wireless multi-player gaming
    # Internet Connectivity
    # Online multiplayer game can be played by high-speed Internet connection

    It runs SNES, GBC, C64, NES, 2600, etc. emulators, plus Doom and even Quake. Mame and GBA emulation are on the way. MP3 and Divx players too.

    • Frankly, the gp32 blows the GBA away:

      I've considered the GP32, but I couldn't find any native GP32 titles on the shelves of Wal*Mart or Best Buy.

      It runs SNES, GBC, C64, NES, 2600, etc. emulators

      A fellow can hook the C64 to a PC with a cheap serial cable and copy those programs that don't use some sort of copy protection, but the GP32's controller still has much fewer keys than the C64's keyboard. And where does one get the cart readers for SNES, GBC, NES, 2600, etc. games? Remember that you can't use a GBA cart reader with a GBC game because they use a different cartridge edge bus.

      • I've considered the GP32, but I couldn't find any native GP32 titles on the shelves of Wal*Mart or Best Buy.

        There aren't a lot of native gp32 games and you have to order the ones that do exist. A lot of the GBA games are just ports of older SNES games.

        And where does one get the cart readers for SNES, GBC, NES, 2600, etc. games?

        If you own the game cartridge, download the ROM files then copy them to an SMC card.

        • A lot of the GBA games are just ports of older SNES games.

          If Super NES games are no longer sold new, and neither Half.com nor my local used game store has the particular Super NES title I want, then that shouldn't make a difference. Besides, only one of the four GBA games I own (Puyo Pop) is a direct Super NES port (of Kirby's Avalanche); the others (Mario Kart Super Circuit, Tetris Worlds, and Pinobee) are new games in the Super NES style.

          If you own the game cartridge, download the ROM files then copy them to an SMC card.

          That's exactly what I asked. Given 1. that I can easily buy a SmartMedia drive for my PC and 2. that I own cartridges for NES, Game Boy Color, and Super NES, how do I download the ROM files from my cartridges into the PC?

          • how do I download the ROM files from my cartridges into the PC?

            I was talking about downloading the ROMs from the net. Try p2p (Kazaa has a lot), irc, usenet and ROM websites.

            • I was talking about downloading the ROMs from the net.

              Apparently, from what I've read, the Betamax doctrine that allows legitimate use of ROM dumps in emulators applies only to ROM dumps that haven't been distributed, that is, ROM dumps that have been purchased as computer files (such as some Konami releases of Castlevania and Contra for PC) or ROM dumps created directly from a particular cartridge owned by the user of the ROM dump (such as the dumps I make of my own carts with my Visoly Flash Advance Linker). Whether the data on the dumper's cartridge is identical to the data on the recipient's cartridge does not matter in court; the dumping process cannot include a "distribution" as defined by copyright law.

  • I would really like to see some sort of adapter that lets me play on the internet against someone halfway across the nation. I don't want to have to buy a phone to do this.
  • You can't "finish" Golden Sun.
  • Why so little comments? It has been posted for a while and less than 60 comments. More recent news are in the 200 range... It is a very interresting story, i think.

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