Thought about getting my closest friend a Game Boy Player. Then I checked eBay...

Wow has it gotten ridiculously expensive. So I wanted to get my closest friend a Game Boy Player for her GameCube we just found recently. I then checked eBay for one with the start-up disc... Where should I begin?

The thing is going for $50-$70 on eBay right now with the disc!! I got mine at GameStop for 9 FREAKING DOLLARS AND 99 CENTS WITH THE DISC IN LIKE NEW CONDITION!!! It's about $25 without the disc! Why?? It is more expensive than the Super Game Boy and the SGB2, and the Super Game Boy 2 was only released in Japan! It isn't even rare so why make it so expensive? I'll tell you why: It's a popular item so those sellers over price it so someone that actually needs it can't afford it.

That disc is also ridiculously over priced! $30 for a disc that isn't even a game? Nintendo used to give them away for $15 up until a few years ago.

This is a case of people thinking something is worth a million bucks when it isn't. They just see the Nintendo logo and instantly think "Nintendo? Woo hoo! its gonna make me rich!!! $$$" when it isn't even worth that much!

There goes another gift idea ruined by eBay. Thanks jerks.

If I missed something or if I don't understand something, please let me know.

Sorry for the rant, it's just I'm sick and tired of not being able to get something old for a decent price anymore. I'm so glad my mother got her Atari 7800 when it was still new instead of an NES.

 

It's supply and demand. The disc is easy to break or get misplaced. The hardware part is big, tough, and usually is attached to the Gamecube. Ever since Nintendo stop selling the replacement startup disc, the price for disc started to go up slowly. I have seen the Japanese version going close to the same price as the US version, even thought Japan startup disc won't work on US Gamecub with Free Loader or mod the Gamecube with a region Switch. Only real solution is mod Gamecube with a Xeon GC modchip, so it could use a burn copy of the startup disc.

 

I thought about using a burned copy but I refuse to modify her consoles. Is there anyway to use a burned copy on a stock DOL-001 Revision B without mods?

Thanks for the heads up on the Japanese disc. I seriously considered just getting a Japanese copy for me and giving her my American disc if it was a cheaper solution.

If I can't find the disc for cheap, then I'll just install a mod chip in my cube that lets me use burned discs and give her my official disc.

That makes me wonder how GC discs are backed up to a PC.

I don't have wires small enough to solder the switch on the cube atm. Where can I get 40 gauge wire.

 

I got mine attached to a perfectly functional purple DOL-001 for $20 at our local Value Village about a year ago, when I took it to the cash the girl left and came back with a bag containing a nice clean controller, the power supply, an a/v lead and a jewel case with the GB player disc (scratch free). Probably my best find at a VV.

GCN discs are ripped using the Broadband adapter IIRC, and that is an expensive accessory.

I say throw a $5 Xeno GC in yours, download the GB player disc from one of the usual spots, and give her your original.

 

Nice find! I got a purple DOL-001 Revision A (launch model) from GameStop for $29.99 about a week before the GBP, but it stopped reading discs so I regrettably returned it and got it replaced with my black DOL-101. My mother got me the GBP with the disc for $9.99 at a different GameStop in a mall near the southern end of the county. It was the last one they had too.

Does the Xeno GC change how the GCN's system menu looks or have any compatibility issues with games?

 

Pretty sure the Xeno is the later generation modchip type that just works on the drive and doesn't replace the BIOS.

For an unmodded system you can use the Action Replay or some other homebrew loading method to start a copy of a game. I've used Action Replay with SDLoad and the official SD card adapter for a long time on my original model GameCube.

 

Honestly, I think the majority of optional peripherals for the GameCube are going to be rather expensive. Maybe you could get lucky and find one at a flea market/goodwill/salvation army, but given the going prices for them I would doubt it.

 

that very expensive i got mine in mint condition for 25 dollars with the disc at a flea market but i cant imagine it being 50 to 70 dollars now that expensive

 

I got mine a couple years ago for $30 (the Exchange wins again), but they're getting less common to find, and the Gamecube isn't a cheap system anymore.

Plus Gamestop "says" it's $3 in their system, but I don't think there's any left. There's none within 100 miles of Chicago (where I live), Cleveland (Where I am), New York City, LA, Seattle, or Dallas (where they're based).

 

I'm in the same boat, dude. Personally I'm just going to grab one of the SD readers that use the memory card port, I've heard that they're aweful for games since they often run too slowly, but for the GB Player disc that really isn't an issue. I think you can get the SD readers for about as little as £15, a much better deal than sourcing an original disc since it's cheaper and can be used for other purposes.

 

The Wii U is pretty much the same thing as the Gamecube, only it has less games and now almost no 3rd party support.
I predict that the Wii U is going to have the same price situation as the Gamecube. After it gets discontinued and a few years later all of the Ebay resellers will think it's super rare and that's how the price will rise.

 

Itself no. Unless you count the options by holding down buttons.
Note GCN can be picky with burned games, and a standard Xeno loads only discs. No internal SD reader or homebrew flash memory.

If intending to play imports, the usual caveats apply.
1. Certain Japanese games expect JPN language mode. Such titles have issues otherwise. Fixed by a region switch.
2. NTSC GCN supports 50hz mode, but encodes invalid color. Fixed by a component cable.

 

I can't stand this argument. It is not, supply and demand anymore, its basically inventory hoarders running off the idea of getting 300% profit over the course of some set time frame, NOT moving the goods they have at a price the consumers demand.

Basically sellers like this, have say100 units, that they bought at 99 cents each and over the course of a few years they are able to sell around 30 of them for $50-$70 each, the rest just sit in storage regardless of what the market demands the price should be, finally after 5 years of not being able to sell the last 70 units they depreciate them at a loss on their taxes and toss them in the trash or donate them for the write off. I've seen it a MILLION times, this is a new way of doing business today. Its NOT supply and demand, its simply businesses using the US tax code in a perverse manner.

 

I am currently running games off the Datel sd media launcher on my orange gamecube, do take note that you will first need a micro SD card that is 2GB and below and have a compatible SD card to run the latest "Swiss" software. I have 4 different 32GB SDHC card, so far SONY, TRANSCEND Class 10 cards don't work. Kingston, Sandisk Class 10 works well and boots the games accordingly.
Been playing Mario Kart Double Dash with my wife via the SD media launcher and all works well..

http://us.codejunkies.com/products/gcnwii-sd-media-launcher__ef000589.aspx
http://www.gc-forever.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=1375

 

Exactly! It's made up of scalpers and jerks who care little to nothing about the consumer and only about the dollar signs. I've tried explaining this to people before but they seem to believe it is still supply and demand when it is actually scalping. I wish sellers like these would come to their senses and stop charging outrageous prices for something that helps people avoid bad eyesight for staring at a tiny screen for too long.

 

I learned how that tax side works due to a chance meeting with a Sega Saturn dealer that went out of business. Basically he bet wrong and became a Sega Saturn dealer instead of playstation in the 1990's. He ended up with a TON a left over inventory that he sat on for years. He got his investment back by doing the EXACT "hoarding the few rare items, dumping inventory and tax write off scenario" that I explained above. He didn't make a ton of profit, but he got back all of his initial investment and then some, meaning he actually made a very small profit years later. He was a dealer for other products, so he didn't think much of the space it took up in the warehouse. Guess what I got just for listening to his story? A free, BRAND new, boxed saturn/net link with three games, because he was trashing some of the inventory for depreciation purposes and donating the rest for a tax write off, all after selling enough of the rare games he had for a large mark up. If he had sold every thing at the true market rate, he would have made less money because of the labor needed trying to actually sell the stuff. It was certainly a sound business decision, but had very little to do with supply and demand of the larger market. It was all tax hocus pocus.

A few years after that I met a guy who bought out a big chunk of Sega Nomads and parts directly from Sega and he did the exact same thing.

ITS NOT ABOUT SUPPLY AND DEMAND. Its all tax hocus pocus.

 

It works both ways, if people are that desperate for one, they'll cough up the money and support such stupid activity.

 

I got a Game Boy Player at Gamestop years ago, before the prices went up. I think it was like $15. It came with the GB Player, the disc, the disc case and the manual. I think it might have even had the original packaging, but I don't have that anymore. I still have everything else, though. I've been fascinated with the GC since it came out in 2001 (I got one on launch day), and I have almost every official accessory except for the component cable. I had an opportunity once or twice to get the component cable for a decent price, but I didn't have an HDTV at the time, so I didn't really see the point of it. I couldn't have predicted that they would one day be stupid expensive. In fact, during its lifetime, the GC wasn't very popular, so I sort of assumed that people would eventually just forget about it. The game market makes absolutely no sense.

I guess what I've learned from all this is that, if you see something that you think you might even remotely want for a really good price, you should get it while you can - because in the future, it might be worth billions.

 

I don't consider things "worth" because really like you said, no one gave a shit about the GC during it's generation. It was barely supported either.

You can beat anything Nintendo will fetch money, but that's only because it's scalper heaven.

 

To think all the bags of GB Players at Gamestop I passed up on due to having the hardware and disc but not the clear disc case. I did buy two sets back in the day hardware with CIB disc case. Interesting that the GB Player case is the same as Japan game cases.