Then you have the gfx, which are basically based upon the SNES with all the character map stuff along with rotation & scaling providing Mode 7-esque features (in the SNES sense not BBC one). This is probably the area with the biggest difference to an RPC - although you can access the screen directly on a GBA so it can be fairly similar.

Sound is another area that differs... you have the standard GB capabilities (4 channels... 2 tone, 1 waveform/tone, and 1 noise) as well as 2 additional linear 16bit channels - providing Amiga quality music in games such as Tony Hawks 2.

As far as cost goes its actually cheaper to get one from abroad - there is no region protection on handhelds. Go to www.lik-sang.com . Shops in the UK are charging far too much (Nintendo's recommended sales price is around 73 ukp for reference).

In terms of getting games converted... I think you're living in a dream world if you can honestly believe a RISC OS company can afford license costs let alone recoup them with sales. You're talking about companies such as Konami, Nintendo, Ubisoft... who expect sales of 100s of thousands at the very least not 10s to 100(s)...

I don't know of anyone working on a GBA emulator for RISC OS. All I know is I'm not - since I am/was pretty much the main the protaganist in the RISC OS emulation scene I think its a pretty good indication of one not being done. In simple terms I have the official docs through work and I can't obviously use them for such a purpose.

I would highly recommend saving up and buying one - Mario Kart comes out in August - games such as Kuru Kuru Kururin and Tony Hawks 2 are truly awesome to play. Oh yeah and there's Streetfighter, Doom, various Mario incarnations, a new Metroid game amongst others due in the future. The GBA and the Dreamcast just make games fun again.

[Edited by davidm at 11:15, 4/7/2001]

Got well flamed for not understanding the differences and the problems they pose.

Anyways, I was just wondering how similar a RiscPC or something is to a GBA (the answer is I suppose, not very but a bit). How easily can the games be converted/emulated at full speed? Is someone working on an emulator yet as they are quite expensive

Sorry for my vague posts but its really hot here and I can't sleep

I suppose this is a thread for AA but I don't care
Anyways, I was just wondering how similar a RiscPC or something is to a GBA (the answer is I suppose, not very but a bit). How easily can the games be converted/emulated at full speed? Is someone working on an emulator yet as they are quite expensive
Sorry for my vague posts but its really hot here and I can't sleep