Talk:Game Boy Color

Games for GBC

Something is wrong in the Games For GBC section...first of all, Yellow wasn't for GBC, it was for the original. And if this is supposed to be here, surely Red and Blue should be too. Porygon-Z 20:20, 23 March 2008 (UTC)

I guess it depends on what you think of as the first game... The first five Pokémon games were compatible with the original Game Boy, but Gold and Silver could be put in full color on the GBC. Crystal was compatible only with the GBC, though; the GB couldn't handle it. I think the person who said Yellow was the first game for GBC was thinking of the way the pallet changed from town to town, depending on the name of the town (ie, it was blue in Cerulean City). --Martonimos 20:36, 23 March 2008 (UTC)

By definition, Pokemon Yellow is a GBC game while Red and Blue are not. Martonimos is correct in that Yellow's color is basically limited to changing palettes between routes. This is also unique to the English Yellow; the Japanese Pocket Monsters Yellow is a regular Game Boy game and has no added color features. If anyone needs proof, I can list data from the games' internal headers. IIMarckus 20:53, 23 March 2008 (UTC)

Yellow is just a Game Boy game compatible on GBC. Just like PlyStation games on PS2, GBA games on DS, etc. Porygon-Z 21:14, 23 March 2008 (UTC)

All Game Boy games have an internal file header that denotes specific properties of the program. One of these properties, the Game Boy type, shows which Game Boy it's designed for. The value 80 means "GBC, but can play in older gameboys." The value C0 means "GBC only." Any other value means a regular B&W Game Boy game. Some values for proof:

• Pocket Monsters Green: 00
• Pocket Monsters Red: 00
• Pocket Monsters Blue: 00
• Pokemon Red: 00
• Pokemon Blue: 00
• Pocket Monsters Yellow: 00
• Pokemon Yellow: 80
• Pocket Monsters Gold: 80
• Pocket Monsters Silver: 80
• Pokemon Gold: 80
• Pokemon Silver: 80
• Pocket Monsters Crystal: C0
• Pokemon Crystal: C0

I hope this is enough for you. IIMarckus 21:34, 23 March 2008 (UTC)

It makes sense to me, but I suggest you mention where you got those values. Statements with a source are much less likely to be disputed. --Martonimos 21:48, 23 March 2008 (UTC)

The values were found by viewing the game ROMs in a hex editor (offset 0143 if anyone's interested). The meaning of the values was garnered from [1] -- see "0143 CGB Flag". IIMarckus 21:58, 23 March 2008 (UTC)

Huh... well that's interesting. But here's the question, what about playing Red/Blue on Stadium and Stadium 2? They change colors there and aren't just green player, red world or red player, blue world. TTEchidnaFire echy 07:03, 24 March 2008 (UTC)

Hmm. I never knew about that. Regardless, I'd guess it has to do with the fact that the Stadium GB tower was tailor-made to the Pokémon games, designed to play them and them alone. Because they knew what games were going to be played, the programmers of Stadium could set it up so that those games were enhanced slightly--hence, the added colors. Of course, that's just guesswork on my part, so it'd be nice if someone could back me up on it... or else, prove me wrong altogether. --Martonimos 07:19, 24 March 2008 (UTC)

The color in the Game Boy Tower from Stadium comes from Super Game Boy palettes. The SGB was an add-on to the SNES that could play original GB games, though not GBC-only games like Crystal. Specific games tailor-made for it could have a special border or built-in color. All Pokemon games from Red and Green to Gold and Silver had SGB colors and borders. Crystal did not, because the SGB is based off of GB hardware, not GBC hardware. (The GBC is not and has never been able to take advantage of SGB colors and other features -- Yellow's SGB colors and GBC colors are made to look the same but are otherwise unrelated). IIMarckus 15:02, 24 March 2008 (UTC)

I should add that the Game Boy Tower is also most likely capable of using GBC colors too, as can most emulators. IIMarckus 15:12, 24 March 2008 (UTC)

You are downplaying both the fact that Yellow is officially categorized as a GB game, and the fact that its GBC colors were made to look the same as the SGB colors. Of course, the end result was not identical as could be expected, being less bright on the GBC than on the SGB. There is no coincidence about these two facts; NoA took the time to re-design Yellow for its stateside release so that it would produce the same color richness on the GBC as all Generation I games produce on the SGB. They did so because in the U.S, unlike in Japan, Yellow was to be released after the GBC. However, they did not give the game any sort of makeover that would distinguish gameplay on the GBC, whereas that was exactly what Game Freak was doing to Gold and Silver around the same time.

Non-Japanese Yellow pivotally differs from Gold and Silver in that it is officially categorized as a GB game and looks almost the same on the GBC as it does on the SGB. In Gold and Silver's case, only the character sprites look mostly the same on the SGB as they do on the GBC, but the environment is quite visibly different. The truth of the matter is that Yellow deserves to be categorized as a SGB game, as do Red, Green and Blue, but such a category does not exist. Therefore, Bulbapedia should use the official categorizations for all versions, and include more in-depth compatibility details in the trivia section of the system and relevant version's pages. Unown Lord 14:38, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

Could you link to a source? Regardless, on a technical level, Yellow is a GBC game. I do feel that at the least a note of it should be made in the article, as you said. IIMarckus 00:47, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

A source for the official categorization? The best one is the boxart. Unfortunately, Nintendo.com and Pokémon.com have removed Yellow from their listing (along with many other games), but this should be sufficient. Unown Lord 07:25, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

You're absolutely right. More evidence to it being a Game Boy game is the cartridge (which says Game Boy) and the cartridge code, DMG-APSE-*** -- DMG is the Game Boy, while CGB means Game Boy Color and AGB Game Boy Advance. That'll teach me to make assumptions in the future. IIMarckus 14:30, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

My question is what the hell does DMG mean? CGB is obviously Color Game Boy, and AGB is Advance Game Boy, and NTR is Nitro... TTEchidna 16:12, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

Dot Matrix Game System IIMarckus 18:07, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

Fair enough. Doesn't compare to DOL or RVL, though. TTEchidna 18:27, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

1st Appearance

When did it first come out in the US? And Europe while we're at it? Wiki says it, but I'm not sure if we'd like to refer to it... ^ht14 01:32, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

That picture....

Does anwa have a better one wih less glare?DCM_{((曲奇饼妖怪Spy on My Edits))}

Special Editions

Other than the first two links for the special edition gameboy colours being dead, i think there's an error.

I own the "Game Boy Color: Pokémon 3rd Anniversary - in White (Japan only)" based on the link (same box, same deisgn, same date). It is not white (neither mine or the one shown at the link) though, and is actually more fitting of the description of "A gold faded to silver GBC that was decorated with Pokémon from the Gold and Silver edition game packs was released in 2001 to celebrate the release of Pokémon Gold and Silver, it retailed for $99.99 USD" except that it was released in 1999, not 2001 and was Japanese only as it was a pokemon centre release. I've never heard of a release of this one in the US or elsewhere. :S

Either the link provided for the white one is wrong, and should apply to the gold and silver one (having both a jap and us release), or as i suspect, there never was a white one or a us release of the gold and silver one. --Zeal ^T / C 20:12, 8 May 2009 (UTC)

Other non-Pokémon games for Game Boy Color

Is this section really necessary? Zephy Changes 23:07, 17 July 2009 (UTC)

Absolutely not. What it was doing there, I don't know, honestly... TTEchidna 00:29, 18 July 2009 (UTC)

Gamecube-to-GBC Compatibility?

Since GBA games fit into the special slot in a Gamecube, and since Game Boy Advances can play GBC games, can the Gamecube play GBC games?