Why is GBC underappreciated?

[Tanooki | 4,943]

2 hours ago, Ankos said:

Only a little like EVO, but I'd say there are some definite similarities

I'm a bit surprised it didn't make it here, but around that period there were some utterly stupid calls NoA made where english releases only hit the PAL areas.  Not to knock the historically screwed region either, but was also a period where they got games days, weeks, months before the US did too on some releases popular in the US market.  Strange times.

I will look into the game, isn't squat I can find so far on gamefaqs, no guide, no cares.  I'm sure there's a long play, but it seems to be like evo meets pokemon battles.

[Ankos | 452]

1 hour ago, Tanooki said:

I'm a bit surprised it didn't make it here, but around that period there were some utterly stupid calls NoA made where english releases only hit the PAL areas.  Not to knock the historically screwed region either, but was also a period where they got games days, weeks, months before the US did too on some releases popular in the US market.  Strange times.

I will look into the game, isn't squat I can find so far on gamefaqs, no guide, no cares.  I'm sure there's a long play, but it seems to be like evo meets pokemon battles.

For the most part, yeah. The world is interconnected, and instead of evolving one dinosaur you hatch new ones

[phart010 | 1,708]

I think GBC  is like the DSi versus DS

or the *NEW* 3DS versus the regular 3DS

[GPX | 1,371]

I’m probably repeating some points in this thread, but my thoughts on the OP question:

- people may get mixed up remembering a GBC game as a Gameboy game.

- a lot of the good games on the GBC got upgraded to the GBA, or got sequels which were likely to be more fun with tons better graphics on the GBA. 

- worldwide, it was competing with the Game Gear and perhaps other more powerful handhelds, and it didn’t add anything more new to the gaming landscape. Kind of like an analogy of the Jaguar or 3DO, when they came out, they weren’t really adding anything new to the table except maybe some arguable “better graphics” for its time.

[Tanooki | 4,943]

5 hours ago, phart010 said:

I think GBC  is like the DSi versus DS

or the *NEW* 3DS versus the regular 3DS

100%. Each of them copied the GB to GBC design boost basically.  Each one would at least double the cpu speed and ram if not a bit more. Then the usual other differing perks.  GBC had color and IR, DSi added a camera browser and lame region locking, then 3DS got better head tracking that finally worked right.
 

Even switch kind of did this with the OLED model with that panel, double storage, better speakers, wired net on dock, quality kickstand except no speed boost so maybe a pro version this year or next. 

[RH | 4,932]

5 minutes ago, Tanooki said:

Even switch kind of did this with the OLED model with that panel, double storage, better speakers, wired net on dock, quality kickstand except no speed boost so maybe a pro version this year or next. 

Man, I hope there’s no “Switch Pro” coming.  The Switch is getting old and unless Nintendo ghost drops a system on the next Direct, or next major tech convention that they have a new version coming out “in a month”, having a “new Switch” isn’t gonna fly.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the Switch but I don’t think I want a new device that’s forced to have games that are back compatible with the OG Switch (which is kind of what a “Pro” monicker signifies). Instead, I want an all new system intended to be its own thing.  It can have a Switch card slot and be back-compat, but I don’t want the new games to have to be compatible with the old system.  It will hold the new system back.

[Tanooki | 4,943]

While in principle I agree it’s getting old they’re not losing sales so little motivation.  I know they have Zelda and more Metroids coming that’ll roll through this year.  My guess 2024. They don’t want to shoot it down while it’s healthy as it’s easy money. 

[phart010 | 1,708]

3 hours ago, RH said:

Instead, I want an all new system intended to be its own thing.  It can have a Switch card slot and be back-compat, but I don’t want the new games to have to be compatible with the old system.  It will hold the new system back.

I doubt new games would work on the old Switch. Basically like how the *NEW* 3DS games didn’t work on the old 3DS

[The Count | 528]

On 3/7/2023 at 4:37 PM, Renmauzo said:

The GBC was my intro to owning/playing Game Boy. I'd tried the original when it came out, wasn't impressed, and left it at that. When Pokémon came out, that's when I decided to buy a Teal GBC to play those as I was loving the cartoon, and thought it would be great to play on campus between classes.

A short time later, Oracle of Ages / Seasons and the MMX games would make me feel like buying in was more than worth it, and in the years since, MGS, Survival Kids, Wario 3, and Harvest Moon 3 would only further that sentiment.

I really like the GBC unit itself, and while the dedicated library only had a couple dozen games of note, I feel the same is true of the N64. As an incremental upgrade as opposed to something wholly new with a limited library, I get why it doesn't get much love or attention, but it still holds a special place in my heart as my first Game Boy (with some real - albeit few - bangers). 

The N64 compared to the SNES was a major game changer! 3D!

[Sumez | 2,970]

8 hours ago, GPX said:

- worldwide, it was competing with the Game Gear and perhaps other more powerful handhelds, and it didn’t add anything more new to the gaming landscape.

The Game Gear was looong gone and forgotten when the GBC rolled out. The original GB was competing with the Game Gear nearly 10 years prior.

[GPX | 1,371]

51 minutes ago, Sumez said:

The Game Gear was looong gone and forgotten when the GBC rolled out. The original GB was competing with the Game Gear nearly 10 years prior.

Maybe in the US, but I was talking general about other world regions. The GBC was inevitable though in a sense, because black and white graphics were probably getting boring for the gaming public since the mid-to-late 90s. Technology was moving really rapidly back then, and Nintendo had to do an upgrade to the Gameboy, or the consumers will likely shift their interest elsewhere for their handheld gaming fix. 

I haven’t really played many games on the GBC but I do collect for it and have read on magazines since the 90s, and I think it’s fair to say, the GBC wasn’t the big platform jump to arouse the gaming public by the masses. The GBA had a much bigger impact from my recollection, with games that would outdo literally anything the GBC had churned out. 

[YOURTURN | 1,256]

Out of boredom I asked an AI more about the Game Boy Color.

Both the facts and opinion this particular AI said sounds about right.

Cursed Branding (the AI)

The Cursed Handheld known as Game Boy Color

Damned to forever wander the cursed land, damned to forever be cursed by the dark gods and the power of the elder lord to endlessly spread suffering and misery among all those who cross his path.  May they all be damned for all eternity for this cursed device that will never know peace, or redemption.

[Tanooki | 4,943]

Speaking as being there both online and offline I remember how things went at least in places like early emulation sites, #emu and #retrogamers on efnet, old gaming forums and what not.

GBC was a mixed bag of blown minds, and a huge groan and sigh loaded with some comments.
- About damn time (for color)
- Seriously?!  Still not backlight, what the f!
- These are still basic games (until the ONLY on carts popped up)

Later on when the more specific titles popped up, Pokemon Crystal, Tomb Raider(1 and 2), Warlocked, 3D Ultra Pinball, Cannon Fodder, MGS, 1942, Wendy, Shantae... then people saw it as something amazing but still in the dark, a real jump but a jump that muddied.  Muddied because into 2000 we knew GBA was coming, internet leaks like screen doors on a submarine.   At that rate, it was...nice, it'll keep me busy until... mind set.

[O.G. CIB | 415]

Nintendo in their public reporting considers the GB & GBC the same system as far as sales. I don’t think the GBC caught on because the nostalgia isn’t there for the system. 98-01 was a very short time back then and it was always about the latest and greatest tech. 

[TheGameCollector | 18]

When I was a kid I bought Super Mario Bros. Deluxe thinking I could play it on my Super Game Boy because that had color. I was wrong. By the time I started saving money for the Game Boy Color, the Game Boy Advance was revealed so I just waited until that came out and bought it.

[fcgamer | 4,737]

On 3/9/2023 at 5:01 AM, MagusSmurf said:

It's probably because Conker's Pocket Tales was so bad.

fuck that game

I always wanted that game, thought it looked fun 

[fcgamer | 4,737]

On 3/10/2023 at 3:24 PM, GPX said:

Maybe in the US, but I was talking general about other world regions. The GBC was inevitable though in a sense, because black and white graphics were probably getting boring for the gaming public since the mid-to-late 90s. Technology was moving really rapidly back then, and Nintendo had to do an upgrade to the Gameboy, or the consumers will likely shift their interest elsewhere for their handheld gaming fix. 

In Taiwan, the GBC kicked ass, well at least the library did. GBC is like Sega MD or FC in terms of fun unlicensed original content, unlike the GG, SFC, etc which had little.

[GPX | 1,371]

8 hours ago, Tanooki said:

Speaking as being there both online and offline I remember how things went at least in places like early emulation sites, #emu and #retrogamers on efnet, old gaming forums and what not.

GBC was a mixed bag of blown minds, and a huge groan and sigh loaded with some comments.
- About damn time (for color)
- Seriously?!  Still not backlight, what the f!
- These are still basic games (until the ONLY on carts popped up)

Later on when the more specific titles popped up, Pokemon Crystal, Tomb Raider(1 and 2), Warlocked, 3D Ultra Pinball, Cannon Fodder, MGS, 1942, Wendy, Shantae... then people saw it as something amazing but still in the dark, a real jump but a jump that muddied.  Muddied because into 2000 we knew GBA was coming, internet leaks like screen doors on a submarine.   At that rate, it was...nice, it'll keep me busy until... mind set.

I’m trying to rack my brains trying to remember back to the GBC era, and I think the core issue was mainly the mindset of the gaming consumers back then. With the PS1, Saturn, 3DO, Jaguar all trying to outdo each other around the time the GBC came out, I get the feeling that particular era was mostly about the trendy graphics and 3D gaming. The GBC did absolutely nothing new to the gaming landscape that other consoles or handhelds (eg. Game Gear) back then hadn’t already done.

Consumers were focusing on the latest technology, more so than the brand name of the console. I was definitely guilty of that mindset, having focused on the PS1 and completely skipped the N64 back then, and completely ignoring the GBC even though I did own a Gameboy.

[fcgamer | 4,737]

I owned a GBC, though my brother didn't. I find it astonishing that some here never even saw one before.

Edit: that purple color as a launch was ugh though.

Edited March 11, 2023 by fcgamer

[phart010 | 1,708]

1 hour ago, fcgamer said:

I owned a GBC, though my brother didn't. I find it astonishing that some here never even saw one before.

Edit: that purple color as a launch was ugh though.

I think they had to roll with purple because it was like the only color they hadn’t already done with the play it loud series or the gameboy pockets. It would not stand out if they re-used a color.

[Ankos | 452]

3 hours ago, fcgamer said:

In Taiwan, the GBC kicked ass, well at least the library did. GBC is like Sega MD or FC in terms of fun unlicensed original content, unlike the GG, SFC, etc which had little.

A lot of that worked on the DMG too though, so depending on what you call a "GBC" game affects this as well. I think most stuff by BBD and Ruanxin was truly GBC-only. Those companies were more of Mainland Chinese ones with operations in Taiwan rather than the other way around though

[Ankos | 452]

Funnily enough, (color) DMG games were in production for so long in Taiwan that some of them got marketed as GBA games

[fcgamer | 4,737]

12 minutes ago, Ankos said:

A lot of that worked on the DMG too though, so depending on what you call a "GBC" game affects this as well.

For me, if the game has a full palette of colors it's a GBC game, if not, then it's not a GBC game. Backwards compatible on the GB shouldn't place it in the GB camp, if it's got the full set of colors, not the four color thing similar to what a super GB would do visually.

It makes sense that some early games would be compatible on both machines, but was it using the technology or not basically decides where it should be, for me anyways.

[Ankos | 452]

6 minutes ago, fcgamer said:

For me, if the game has a full palette of colors it's a GBC game, if not, then it's not a GBC game. Backwards compatible on the GB shouldn't place it in the GB camp, if it's got the full set of colors, not the four color thing similar to what a super GB would do visually.

It makes sense that some early games would be compatible on both machines, but was it using the technology or not basically decides where it should be, for me anyways.

That definitely paints a more favorable picture of the machine. Something I like to see is when a backwards compatible GBC game (really wish there was a better shorthand notation for that) has different graphics depending on if it is run on a color or monochrome machine. Most of the time it will just change whether or not the image is in color, but sometimes devs would put in alternate images

[JamesRobot | 5,808]

I honestly didn't know Gameboy Color was a thing until maybe mid 2000s.