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GameCube (Games) Portables (Games) Entertainment Games

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, Without GBAs? 74

Posted by simoniker from the ummyeah dept.
arxmage writes "A group of my students went to extremes to play the GameCube ARPG Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles in multiplayer mode with wireless controllers, and without using a Game Boy Advance [as a Gamers Europe review explains, the multiplayer mode 'requires each player to have a Game Boy Advance and a GameCube link cable'.] You basically get a GameCube with FF:CC in it, then get 4 more GCs with attached GameBoy Players. Link each of these 4 GCs (using GBA link cables) to the main GC, and plug each of these 4 GCs into its own small tv. The small TVs act as each player's 'GBA screen' and the main TV is where everyone plays. Finally, plug a WaveBird into each of these 4 GameCubes and you're good to go." The resulting cable mess is a joy to behold.
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Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, Without GBAs? More

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, Without GBAs?

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  • I bet (Score:5, Funny)

    by Doctor Ian ( 452190 ) on Monday May 31, 2004 @07:46PM (#9299471) Homepage
    that they saved a lot of money by doing that.

  • Probably not (Score:3, Insightful)

    by RotJ ( 771744 ) on Monday May 31, 2004 @08:01PM (#9299552) Journal
    I wonder if you could do the same thing with GBA emulators and some hacked cables.

  • Actually Helpful to know (Score:5, Insightful)

    by August_zero ( 654282 ) on Monday May 31, 2004 @08:05PM (#9299582)
    Ok i am betting that there are at least a dozen people that are going to rush this board with something to the effect of "duh thats stupid kuz it is more work than just getting GBAs". Never mind that nerdy rush some of us get for stuff like this.

    But this isn't a stupid idea or impracticle at all if you remember that you don't need to put all 4 people on cubes. Last weekend I was out at my brothers, and there were 4 of us that wanted to play CC, but there was only 3 GBA's between us. Had we known about this, we could have dragged the small TV out of the basement, gotten ahold of another link cable and used a Gameboy player to get that 4th person in. All it would have taken was a $5 purchase of a used link cable from the local gamestop and a little bit of lifting.
    • I don't think this is particularly innovative--in fact, it's the first thing my friends and I thought of when we started playing FF:CC. The main issue is the TVs, though finding the extra Gamecubes/Gameboy Players is problematic, too. If you've got them, cool. I still think that Gameboys are easier, though.
    • wouldn't this still have required 2 gamecubes though? 1 to emulate the gba and the other to "host" the actual GC game? it still would have been cheaper to just go out and buy another GBA, unless you had 2 GCs lying around...

      but i agree it is a cool thing to know. even if it is overkill. (i just wish the gba player was cheaper, i'd pick one up)
      • GCs are a dime a dozen if you and your friends like the system. Out of about 10 friends, over half have GCs, and about half of them have GBA players. But I don't think that's really the norm.
      • Well in my case (that is last weekend) total we had access to 3 gamecubes, 2 moveable televisions, 1 very immoveable HDTV, 2 GBASPs, 1 GBA, 3 link cables, 1 gameboy player (a friend of my brother's owns one, I don't. If I had known that they had link cable connections on them I might have figured this idea myself) and about 60 total bottles/cans of beer.

        We almost had enough stuff to allow 2 people to use TVs and the other 2 use GBASP (using a GBA vanilla can be tough without good background lighting) knowi
        • ...using a GBA vanilla can be tough without good background lighting...

          You just need to set everything up for play in and near the bathroom. Everyone knows that's the best place to play the original GBA.

    • nerdy rush some of us get

      While this isn't the most complex or intuitive hack, I got quite the rush from seeing it.

      In fact, I might need new pants.

      (I joke about the pants, not the rush)

  • Old News (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Gen. Rasputin X ( 716134 ) on Monday May 31, 2004 @08:19PM (#9299664) Homepage
    We came up with this idea about a week before the game came out, and tested it the weekend after it was released. It works fairly well, though it does tend to end up being overkill.

    You can definately mix and match the systems though. 2 gamecubes, 1 gameboy players, and 3 gameboy advanced was what we went with.

    Though, I should point out that there is a bug in the system that allows you to control it a 3rd and 4th player with normal gamecube controllers if you have 2 gameboy advanceds, or obviously, two extra gamecubes with gameboy players.

    Basically, you use one gameboy advanced to hold the multiplayer window open, plug in the other gameboy advance, let it pass the check, and then swap it with a regular controller.

    That method has some disadvantages, because you need to swap controllers at times to give screens to the players who don't have them. For example, in the town, when you're selling things, buying things, customizing items, or rearranging you inventory in preparation for tough battles.

    Also, you can swap out a 2nd player's gameboy advanced unit with a normal gamecube controller when they have to leave in the middle of a level, as we learned when a whipped friend's girlfriend called him home.

    • Re:Old News (Score:2, Informative)

      by Weirdofreak ( 769987 )
      Somebody on the GameFAQs boards [gamefaqs.com] had the very same idea. Since then, he's been telling everybody who asks about whether or not you can play with 'Cube controllers about this. There are quite a few of those people, unfortunately.

      The Two GBAs/Two controllers glitch was also posted there, and almost immediately discredited when nobody except the poster could get it to work.

  • Author a touch near-sighted. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Inoshiro ( 71693 ) on Monday May 31, 2004 @08:20PM (#9299669) Homepage
    "I further explained that I wasn't planning on giving in to Nintendo's marketing scheme by going out and buying a GBA."

    Yea, Nintendo really needs to use the awesome GameCube to prop up the ailing GameBoy Advance platform! I mean, it's not like the GBA sells itself, or is even close to outselling any other platforms...

    Oh-fucking-wait, it's outselling the PS2 on its own merits!

    I really wish people would grow up and realize that Nintendo is inovating, not trying to sell you a 99$ USD controller. The GBA is not a high-margin device, that's the software's job. That's why companies are always cutting hardware prices. People just try to justify anything they don't like by making it a part of some EVIL CORPORATE PLOT (TM) to SELL MORE EVIL or some such.

    Nintendo probably makes more on the GBA player, since there's no screen, battery, or anything else to include beyond a small DVD and the plastic case around reclaimed non-SP GBA guts.
    • "I don't own a GBA and didn't plan on buying one for this purpose or for any other."

      I think that he saw this game as a marketing ploy to sell the GBA's ability to link. Now I know thats not how SquEnix designed the game, but that is how Nintendo pursued it when it went through marketing.

      Don't hate the game, hate the rules.
    • Even so, it would have been nice to at least have the option of playing the game in multiplayer mode sans GBA controller option.

      • No it wouldn't. (Score:3, Interesting)

        by Inoshiro ( 71693 )
        That would defeat the point of developing the games as one where people have different maps and objectives. You'd take the main point of the multiplayer away. Have you played it single player? It's not anywhere near as fun, and that's exactly how the multi-player would play out without the innovative gameplay.

        This is why gameplay doesn't change much -- people have to be dragged kicking and screaming from their boring rehashes of old ideas!

        • Re:No it wouldn't. (Score:3, Insightful)

          by jayhawk88 ( 160512 )
          I've played both ways, and while admitedly the gba-multiplayer is more fun than the single player, I question the wisdom of a game like this dragging it's fans "kicking and screaming" as you put it.

          If the gba-multiplayer gameplay is superior people will play it. Cutting off multiplayer to people who don't have a GameBoy (or don't know anyone else who owns GameBoys) was not a good idea, especially on a top-tier title like Final Fantasy.

  • Defeating The Purpose (Score:5, Insightful)

    by silentbobdp ( 157345 ) on Monday May 31, 2004 @08:21PM (#9299673) Homepage
    There's a second reason why it's meant to be a GBA and not another TV - people can glance at the other TV's in the room, but if someone can only see their special map, etc, on their GBA, the other players must address that person directly and ask them what is on it. This fosters teamwork.

    The workaround described on the webpage defeats that.
    • Then why can't I just 'show' the other player the screen on my GBA?
    • An interesting idea, but I don't think it works that way in FF:CC. I think all that it shows in FF:CC is the player's map (at least that's what the screenshots seem to indicate). If you know much about the game, you know all the players must be in the same place because there is poisin gas around that eats at your health unless you are near a special bucket that someone in the party has to carry around. Because of all this, the maps are all the same, for all intents and purposes.

      Now you could do some cool

      • Re:Defeating The Purpose (Score:5, Informative)

        by silentbobdp ( 157345 ) on Monday May 31, 2004 @10:56PM (#9300459) Homepage
        No. Each map shows different things. One shows treasure, one shows enemies, and I forget what the other two are (it has been a good month since the last time I got with anyone to play this game).

        And yes, I am aware of the gas. The maps aren't used to keep the players together. They're used to foster different goals.
        • One shows treasure, one shows enemies
          The other map simply shows the terrain and the fourth one shows the stats of the enemy that player last attacked.
        • Really? I thought of that idea when writing my post but throught it wouldn't work well. I guess I was wrong. Thanks for the info.

          As you can probably guess, while I have read a review or two of the game, I have not played it.

    • Actually, as somebody else mentioned you all have the same map. You do have a point though, you actually don't want others to see your screen because you have a secret objective that they may be able to interfere with. At the beginning of the mission you might get told to go through the whole level without getting healed. Each person gets something different and whoever sticks to their task the best gets first pick at upgrades at the end of the level. Obviously if they know that you aren't supposed to be ge
      • No, you get different maps. They're maps of the same area, but they show different things. On 2p one person has terrain and one person has enemies. On 3p I think there's also a treasure map, and a 'scouter' on 4p which gives you details about the enemies. I've never played more than 2p, though, so I could have got the treasure map/scouter mixed up. I also might have got the treasure/enemies mixed up.

        Also, quick nitpick: the actual task is 'Don't heal yourself'. If your friends heal you, I don't think you'l

  • Thats awesome (Score:3, Interesting)

    by XellDx ( 737289 ) on Monday May 31, 2004 @08:30PM (#9299724)
    I've already seen something similar done though. Me and a friend got our GC's together and played Mario Kart Super Circuit Side by side on a WideScreen TV with the GB-Player.

    Thats a special kind of awesome though. I didn't realize that you could trick Crystal Chronicles into thinking the GB Player was a GBA. I'm going to have to try it with my friends now.
  • Every now and again, the fortune at the bottom of the page gives me the creeps. Right now is one of those cases: "
    Slowly and surely the unix crept up on the Nintendo user ..."
  • Only problem is that everyone can see your secret objective... and they will no longer wonder why the guy with the cure ring is always whining to be cured.
  • When we used to split the N64's signal between 2 TVs and then cover half the screen with a piece of cardboard so we could play 2 vs. 2 without cheating.
  • I've been doing this for over a year linking GB Players and Four Swords. though we'll have to resort to using at least 2 GBAs when we getting the cube version of Four Swords... unless friends start ponying up more hardware for game night, which is entirely likely.

    • Re:old news (Score:2, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      It boggles my mind that this is news to someone. Not because it isn't cool, but because I've been doing this kind of stuff all along. I'm used to coming to this page and finding out that someone copied a Gamecube game, or put Unix on the little bugger. This right here is some shit everyone should have taken for granted already.

      "Hey, Slashdot! This just in! The Game Boy Player does the exact same things a GBA does, just like it's supposed to!"

      Did everyone know that a Game Boy Advance can be used as the con
  • Looking at the picture, that looks awesome. But, then again, who has the money for what, 5 tvs, 5 gamecubes, 4 Wavebirds, ect ect ect....
    I certainly dont have that much cash!!
    ---
    • In a situation like this, friends are your friends.
    • hmm I have 2 gamecubes, a GB Player, 2 GBA SPs, a GBA, 4 Wavebirds, and 3 TVs in my apartment. Unfortunately, none of the TVs is very portable (and one of them has a colour shift that needs to be fixed).

      That being said, I know people with 5 TVs in their homes, and I know people with Gamecubes. I just don't think I know anyone that cares enough about FF:CC to put all of it together to get the 5 TVs, 5 GCs, 4 GB Players, and 4 Wavebirds all in the same room when we could just use 2 TVs, 2 GCs, 1 GBP, 2 GBA S

  • I haven't the opportunity to test it... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Zangief ( 461457 ) on Tuesday June 01, 2004 @11:45AM (#9303934) Homepage Journal
    but the Gameboy Player Manual says that you shouldn't connect a gameboy player with another gameboy player.

    Maybe Nintendo is afraid that the Gameboy Player will out sell the GBA? I don't think so...

  • In other news.. (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    ..local guy's house burns down as he plugs 5 gamecubes and 5 TVs into the same extension cord.
  • I was wondering if that was doable... Pretty neat, but I don't know exactly how cost effective that is as the older styled GBAs I think are selling for less than the SP styles. If the GBAs are less than $50 then its more effective to go with the GBA, unless you want to take into account battery expenses.

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