Talk:Game Boy Color

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Revision as of 15:10, 24 March 2008 by IIMarckus (talk | contribs)

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. User:Porygon-Z/Sig 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. User:Porygon-Z/Sig 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 15:10, 24 March 2008 (UTC)
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