Portable Genesis Phantasy Stars, outside of the GBA

[Miles McCloud]

We all know about the Phantasy Star Collection on the GBA, but now theres another, supierior option.<p>It's called the GP32. http://www.gp32x.com<br>It's a korean handheld which basically has now turned into a haven for homebrew developers. Among the chief interists are the emulators. Right now, via emulation, you could plop about 500 or more NES games on a 128 Megabyte memory card. Or, if you don't mind draining the battery life a bit (about ten hours normally without light on) you can play some SNES games at full speed without sound. <p>Cheif interest to us Phantasy Star fans however, are the Master System\Game Gear emulators and the new, awesome, Genesis/Megadrive emulator. <p>It works better than perfect. I can play any Phantasy Star game outside of online at full spped with sound. Added bonuses include savestates and frameskip, So if ever get the urge to play Phantasy Star IV at three times the normal speed on the go, I can.<p>Worth checking into as the system is pretty affordable, and can play MP3 and DivX as well as emulation.

[Ein Tyrion]

Wow, this seems like somethin i need tyo pick-up...because we all need IV with us at all times

[The Exile]

or you could get a sega nomad. they cost a bomb and eat up batteries, but i like mine for life support.<p>and for ps1, a game gear with a master system converter.<p>or a laptop with emulators on it.

[Ryucross]

Sounds cool...<p>It makes me wonder even more why PSIV was not ported to the GBA

[OnnaWren]

PSIV was not ported to the GBA out of greed, pure and simple.<p>THQ's line on it was, "Well, we'll release IV based on the sales of I-III". I-III did not sell well because so many people were waiting for IV.<p>Vicious circle, no?

[Ryucross]

No kidding... I guess we have just to wait for the Ages series. IF that makes it as well.

[OnnaWren]

Yes... if...<p>I'm hearing more and more that we'll wind up getting screwed on 8/2...<p>Brace yourselves.

[Flare137]

i cant find any gb phantasy star games any where i can find em

[OnnaWren]

Looks like the print run on the GBA version is over...<p>Best try eBay (although the price is slowly creeping upward of the original $29.99 USD release price)... -_-

[LaconianShot]

I'm sure glad I got my PSC GBA when I could.

[Siren]

Thank-you birthdays!<p>As for getting screwed on the Generations release, I agree completely. It's so frustrating to see it as a kind of budget gimmick; something Sega will use to scrape up a few profits on the side.

[Benoit]

<blockquote>or a laptop with emulators on it.</blockquote><br>Or even a PDA, like a Palm.<br> <blockquote>PSIV was not ported to the GBA out of greed, pure and simple.</blockquote><br>Not true. You say that because you hate THQ. Passion overrules reason.<br>PSIV wasn't released together with the others because it was too big to fit on the cartridge. It would make the price go through the roof, and normal people wouldn't buy it then. It's standard business practice to release a sequel when the first title did well.<br>As to why they didn't release PSIV first, there could be any number of plausible reasons, like chronology. It would be kind of silly to put PSIV on a shelf when the others aren't available.

[OnnaWren]

Actually, it's not THQ which ruffles my feathers, it's Digital Eclipse, for letting such a large QA issue slip by them... >_<<p>And PSIV would have been small enough to squeeze... the format on the GBA carts is measured in megabytes, not megabits...

[Benoit]

Not together with the three other Phantasy Star games. It would require a big cart, which would make the game too costly.

[OnnaWren]

Yes, like, oh, about $5.00 USD more expensive (see also Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, $34.95 as compared to the norm of $29.95)...