As I am expanding my collection of legacy computers, consoles, games, and other software, I just recently ordered a GameCube and its GameBoy Player add-on off Ebay.

The GameBoy Player itself, like the actual GameBoy (at least Original/Color/Advance, I don't know about the more recent versions), is region-free and so can be purchased from anywhere as well as play GameBoy games from anywhere. Trouble is, it requires a start-up disc, which needs to be of the same region as the main console (the GameCube, that is), and PAL discs seem to be a rather rare breed compared to NTSC-US and NTSC-J ones (and even they seem rare compared to how many of the add-on I find on Ebay).

Now, my question is: would any of you know of a better source for these GameBoy Player start-up discs, specifically PAL versions? I'm not entirely keen on paying about $100 for another add-on with a PAL disc (plus shipping) when just the add-on cost me a third of that (including shipping).

bump

Keep an eye on eBay. Back when I bought my GameBoy Player (also off eBay), I saw shedloads of people who were selling their start-up discs without the hardware, presumably because the hardware was bust. Looking now, there aren't many, and those that are there are charging a small fortune.

There's one [url=http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Gameboy-Player-Starter-Disc-nur-Disc-GC-/311705053017?hash=item489311a759:g:ZOYAAOSwTA9X5UOI]here for instance from Germany for €27[/url], but they seem to be demanding €16 for shipping, which is somewhat ridiculous. You could write to the seller challenging that postage (it's against eBay's Terms of Service, but it might just be an oversight).

If you wait and/or look around you may get lucky, because I can't imagine that these are in much demand without the requisite hardware. You need is almost certainly very niche.

I personally love my GameBoy Player. Alongside my RetroPie-equipped Raspberry Pi 3, it lets me play glorious Game Boy games on a 55" TV on which I can measure the pixels in centimetres.

Awesome, for whatever reason the idea of checking Amazon didn't enter my mind. It was probably scared of the void in there.

If you're going to play on a CRT TV, I recommend getting a cable with s-video output.

Yeah, I just need to find a cable or adapter that actually fits this port on my monitor. It is a 4-pin mini-DIN (or a variant thereof), which S-video uses, but none of my S-video plugs fit it. The monitor's a Sony SSM-20L1, by the way (not nearly as nice as a PVM or BVM, but it was free, so it's good enough for me).

I don't have anything wich a SCART connector though. I don't know if the one I'll be recieving is a DOL-001,but if I'm lucky and it is, then I also have the option of component.

take a look here: badassconsoles.com

things like gc video and megadrive are very useful

i wouldn't buy a component cable cause you'll be paying about 200$ minimum, because of the damn scalpers. same situation goes for the gc gb disk.

Yeah, apparently. If I want to play GameCube games in anything resembling high-definition, it'll probably be cheaper to just get a Wii instead (which I might very well do some day anyway).

the gb player is not compatible with the wii

I know, but GameCube games are, which is what I referred to. For the GameCube (and thus GameBoy Player), I'll have to use either composite (most probably) or S-video-via-SCART (provided I can figure out how to get S-video into my monitor).

A word of caution; if you are going to get a Wii for Gamecube backwards compatibility, make sure that you are not buying a post-2010 model, as all such models had their Gamecube compatibility excised.

btw component you need the cable (about 200$ bucks) and a dol-001 model, so you can get 480p. but if you intend to play gc pal games in 480p, then you also need a homebrew loader like sd media launcher or megadrive + wii key. pal gc games only support 480i/576i mode natively, both of these video modes can be played easily on the common composite cable, as there are really really tiny quality improvements between scart rgb, s-video and composite. the real deal is the 480p mode over component.

i can't barely notice the difference between 576i/480i on my gc with composite vs. scart rgb (original nintendo) on my 40 sony lcd-tv from 2014.

here's an example of the difference between deinterlaced 480i and 480p on gc
as grargar said, make sure that you get a rvl-001 (eur)

the wii mini sucks, don't get it eighter