Gameboy Player lags?

[Neo]

Hiya

Is it only me, or does the Gameboy Player suffer from slow-downs compared to the GBA? I�ve been playing FFTAdvance on both systems (NTSC GC) and it feels like the GB Player is slightly slower overall, like playing 60Hz games in 50Hz. In a review I read that there should be an option to play games in 60Hz, but the GBA isn�t based on a TV-system and I sure couldn�t find anything..

Also, there�s this frame jump every now and then, but that�s old news I guess..

[Hojo_Norem]

After thinking abouth this (as I too knotice this with my GB player) I think it is because the GB/GBA runs as 60Hz while NTSC and PAL60 run at 59.odd Hz (the exact number escapes me at the moment).

[Vertigo]

Ignoring the whole PAL issue forever, because basically if you complain about GBA games not running at full speed when you're running 50Hz, you're more than a bit of a dickhead, I too thought that the system was a lot slower than the cartridge running on GBA, so I timed the Mario Kart intro both on GBP and GBA as it's of decent length to make a meaningful comparison.
They came out exactly the same so it is all just an illusion.

HOWEVER!!!. You will notice on a scrolling game that there's a very obvious visual shudder every 5 seconds or so. Most obvious on things like Skateboard (Wario Ware) or when you're walking around the field in an RPG like Pok�mon. This is noticable for me to the point that I can only play non-scrolling games on my GB Player because there's just the niggling in the back of my mind about the shudder that puts me right off playing the actual game if I'm playing a scroller. The shudder's likely due to (mis)timing issues though, as mentioned above, as the GC syncs it's output to catch up with that of the game.

[Neo]

The overall feel of the game speed may be an illusion as you state, but I�m very certain that the game indeed slows down a lot at some points. It seems as if the GB Player actually has a harder time processing the game than a GBA does, resulting in casual slowdown when the screen is too full. Also, just a shitty little thing as a scrolling text bar (when searching for treasure) slows down and jerks! I�m amazed noone seems to notice such obvious flaws..

Heh, rest assured that I know a 50Hz game won�t run in full speed ;b. I just got very surprised when someone told me there was an option between the two frequences. I recently learned that the european version of the GB Player indeed has the option, but naturally not the US one (the one I got).

[Vertigo]

The overall feel of the game speed may be an illusion as you state, but I�m very certain that the game indeed slows down a lot at some points. It seems as if the GB Player actually has a harder time processing the game than a GBA does, resulting in casual slowdown when the screen is too full. Also, just a shitty little thing as a scrolling text bar (when searching for treasure) slows down and jerks! I�m amazed noone seems to notice such obvious flaws..

Heh, rest assured that I know a 50Hz game won�t run in full speed ;b. I just got very surprised when someone told me there was an option between the two frequences. I recently learned that the european version of the GB Player indeed has the option, but naturally not the US one (the one I got).

Yes, I agree that the whole thing feels like it's really struggling, but as I say, I've timed it and it seems to work at the same speed as the GBA itself. Don't have a clue why though. When you're talking about a text box jerking, is it every 5 or 6 seconds or so? This is the visual shudder I'm talking about that is most noticable on scrolling layers and sprites. Just as you say though, it's very obvious and I'm also surprised that no hardware reviews pick up on it. Maybe we're just elitist snobs