Analyzing the Different Versions of the Link Cable

[@ExcaliburZero0]

This is a really interesting video. I had always heard the reason for Gen 2 to Gen 3 trades not being done due to the difficulty in converting the Pokémon' stats, but it being due to the differences in how the link cables and connections work makes a lot more sense.

[@Left4Cake]

Eh... If they wanted they could of sold a special link cable. (some kinds of device in the middle specifically for Pokemon) I just think they couldn't figure out a way around the data loss going back to gen 2 since every time you up transfer the same Pokemon it would have to re roll the missing states. And the idea of one way transfers wasn't implemented until Gen 4 but even then they'd have to have methods of preventing soft locking the older game witch I think Gen 2s jank code lacked any reasonable way to do so.

[@Ali-gv1yw]

Yes, it does indeed make a lot more sense. I too thought its due to converting issues. Maam Gamefreak, why didnt they figured this out?

[@MrEdes7]

@@Left4Cake You don't even need a special link cable, they could have had a small program that could fit into RAM that let you pull out the GBA cartridge, put in the GB cartridge, read the save and then plug the GBA game back in to transfer stuff. The only limitation that I could think of is if there's no way to change the mode in which the GBA reads cartridges while it's on.

[@Left4Cake]

@@MrEdes7 The GBA could download Rom data from its link port so really just something with GBC slot and that plugs into the GBA link port. Just press start + select with the GBA Pokemon in the GBA slot. The device could handel all the GBC sav stuff directly and GBA just functions like during a Collasium or DX trade.

[@costby1105]

@@MrEdes7 The problem with that is when put in an Gameboy or Game Boy color Cartridge it likely cause errors due to the Gameboy switch being pressed down. Even if it didn't you still there would still be concerns from Nintendo about hardware and Cartridge damage; It's the part of the reason Stop n' Swop was scrapped in Banjo Tooie.

[@pokepress]

I do wonder if this is part of the reason 3DS dev kits were reportedly sent to Game Freak so early. Obviously they were going to make Pokémon games for the system, but perhaps they wanted to make absolutely sure the systems could communicate.

[@costby1105]

Black 2 and original DS title(technically DSi but backwards compatable with the OG DS) can communicate with a the save file of Pokemon Dream Radar and 3DS app. Pokemon bank likely is also meant to function as a Legality Checker as hacking was an issue in VGC.

[@KopperNeoman]

@Gear Router The VGCs don't care if you cheat. Even the teams that are put up for official events fail PKHex legality checks.

[@volcanhacks]

​@@KopperNeomanman this aged so poorly

[@volcanhacks]

​@@costby1105Pokemon Bank itself has no legal check only the transaction from gen 5 to bank has one and bank to home has legal check

[@codyssmith73]

Having the PCB be open source so multiple people can make them would be awesome, so long as you got royalties of some form.

[@Thatguy101987]

I remember how bummed I was as a kid knowing that my pokemon on my Silver version was stuck there. But it's nice to know the technical limitations Nintendo faced between the two generations. I can't imagine they'd make the 2 compatible just for pokemon. Although it would have been cool if there was a kiosk or something that allowed the transfer from gen 1 and 2 to gen 3.

[@wolffangalchemist]

in my opinion knowing Nintendo, they just couldn't justify the cost of doing this practically. it obviously wasn't impossible but might have needed some go between such as a game to commune with gen1/2 and 3 at separate times or something of the likes of the converter/adapter you made recently. i think what ever option to make this possible would have sold well but the r&d cost at the time might have caused more financial problems then it's supplied benefits could have compensated.

[@shiftfire4511]

Most likely this. Doable and cost-effective are two very different things. I imagine it was a lot easier with the VC->Gen VII requiring only programming time, rather than developing and producing an entirely new, *very specific* peripheral. It's also worth noting that this was when Pokemon was, arguably, at it's least popular. In the lead up to Ruby and Sapphire's release, people were beginning to lose interest. The unmatched craze present in the first two generations had died down, and a lot of people were brushing the series aside as a short-lived fad like with similar sudden successes in the past, so having a pokemon-exclusive peripheral connecting between the GB/C and GBA that needs *two pokemon games* may have been considered too risky.

[@ozzyp97]

@@shiftfire4511 There's also the fact that gen 1 especially was incredibly broken. Knowing Nintendo, I can't imagine they'd be all too happy about people potentially trading illegitimate Pokemon, not to mention outright glitch Pokemon.

[@shiftfire4511]

@@ozzyp97 They already did that with the Time Capsule. I don't think they would have minded too much, especially since you couldn't get the same kind of glitched pokemon as the gen 1-2 transfer (which was due to unassigned Pokemon spots).

[@ozzyp97]

@@shiftfire4511 While they fixed some of the surface level stuff, they probably didn't even know the full extent of the glitches when choosing to implement the Time Capsule. Gen 2 would've been in development very soon after Gen 1 and the community took several more years to find things like the Mew glitch. That being said, I don't think it would've been the main reason or anything, just a contributing factor alongside other technical issues.

[@Zinkolo]

I mean they could have made like a time machine box and have that interface with the Game boy and the Game boy advance in games. Couldn't be that hard to r&d

[@KopperNeoman]

Thumbs up not just for this technical explanation, but also for using the correct terminology. Master/Slave, Client/Server, and Parent/Child all mean DIFFERENT things.

[@espeon200]

Really interesting and informative. Strangely enough, third party companies made link cables that could switch between the two different protocols. I had one pretty early on that had a switch on the box in the middle of the cable that let you switch between GBC or GBA mode.

[@Phantomdragon0]

Dude, it's so hard to find unique interesting videos for anything pokemon related but your videos are legitimately great and informative. I wish I could understand all the technical stuff but still incredibly enjoyable and I love seeing these kinds of projects. Hope you get more subscribers so you can continue doing stuff like this.

[@tommyjohnson2148]

Really informative breakdown. It's amazing to see how a single person was able to figure this out after all these years. Truly a shame GF couldn't have done it way back, it really would have changed Pokemon games as we know them completely. Congrats to you for this invention though, hope you get this product on the shelves for all of us to enjoy. TAKE OUR MONEY! :)

[@meteorbower]

so interesting to see the technical details of the transfer protocol, i wouldn't have thought it was hardware limitations that prevented the two from connecting. already looking forward to your next video!

[@Landon_Hughes]

How did you learn this stuff? Are you self-taught? Did you go to school? I consider myself a programmer but would LOVE to start tinkering around with hardware. Great video as always!

[@Goppier]

Basics learned in school and got a lot better by doing hardware for work

[@dimi_95]

@@Goppier Would like to latch onto this comment to ask for any book/video/project recommendations to get started myself. Love your videos Subbed !

[@rompevuevitos222]

A friend that is a fan of this kind of stuff voiced his frustration because there's not a single matter that teaches you to do this kind of stuff It's a combination of electrical knowledge and programming with low level languages (the programming is to know where the data should go i imagine, altho a forum has probably dissected that already), i imagine you also would need some experience with consoles or at least with how the specific console works Altho maybe you can check what kind of data is sent, then check the game to know WHERE the data should arrive and ensure everything arrives in the right ports ALTHO this is probably a very rare thing to be able to achieve without heavy modding, Pokemon has remained very consistent with how Pokemon data is stored, so that's probably the only reason this is possible

[@dimi_95]

@@rompevuevitos222 Thanks for taking your time to reply I am doing my internship in SWDev, mostly using C++, so the whole thing is very interesting to me due to how close everything to the HW is. The whole HW stuff, soldering and such, is something that I really want to get into it but, like programming, the information is vast without a defined starting point.

[@rompevuevitos222]

@@dimi_95 That friend i mentioned learned how to solder basic electronic components by himself with a 1 dollar soldering iron and some broken HW parts, there's plenty of YT videos about restoring broken HW For the most part it's pretty straight forward and stuff works like any other electrical circuit does, the complex part comes when circuits manage data which is where i know very little I have managed to fix some USB cables before pretty easily but idk how that translates to more complex stuff (i didn't knew data protocols where a thing until this video lol)

[@dragonofmissingno170]

Have you ever looked into the e-reader feature for the English and Japanese GBA Pokémon games? I was always curious how that and the mystery gift features worked. (Or at least planned to be implemented like with Altering Cave in Fr/Lg/E)

[@Fighter_53]

I wanna see this too!

[@haruhisuzumiya6650]

I third that

[@emmy7669]

Wow! Very high quality, top level content; how is your channel not MUCH more popular?

[@imablisy]

Awesome video, really high quality breakdowns from you as usual. Surprised that the wireless adapter uses a totally different communication type, but I don’t know much about hardware level stuff I guess .

[@Dairunt1]

I was thinking lately that maybe the wireless adapter was made to ensure GBA multiplayer with the DS, but for some technical reason, they couldn't implement it on the DS side.

[@thisismyaltaccount4195]

Fantastic video, very informative! I love these kinds of videos, and I'm very glad to be able to have a deeper understanding of how Gen 3's link cables actually function. Great job! Well done, and I can't wait for the next video!

[@dottod8154]

Awesome content as always. Any plans on selling the converter? I would absolutely love one

[@Goppier]

The last few months I've been working hard on an updated version of the device. I plan to make an update video about this soon with my plans for the device in it. It would be fun to have it publically available for everyone to use

[@dottod8154]

@@Goppier Honestly that type of device has been my dream since childhood. It's awesome to see it really happening. Of course, my mind immediately goes to all the different possibilities for errors with it.. How does it work transferring a gen 1 pokemon to gen 3? What about a gen 3 pokemon to gen 1 or 2? Can it? What if you try to transfer a missingno? What about a more tame glitch pokemon? What about a Japanese one? I bet it's a nightmare to try and figure it all out. You're awesome

[@KingVulpes]

@@Goppier can't wait

[@tiecoonracoon3630]

@@Goppier would that be including a blueprint for the device or perhaps a tutorial of how to replicate it?

[@theskipster]

@@Goppier That'd be amazing! I'd love to have different modes, for example one that does an as accurate as possible version, one that works like Pokemon Bank, etc. Hope to get my hands on one if you make them available sometime!

[@Aosa_Aosa]

As a fan of everything game boy I love this channel.

[@elvehn8864]

great video, was fascinated that a trade between gen3 and gen2 (even if its with some modifications(, keep up the good work dude!

[@elvehn8864]

read this again and realised my grammar was terrible, oops

[@undeadxreality]

Awesome stuff! Have you ever thought of researching in the gen 3 distribution roms and getting them to distribute different Pokémon or items?

[@Goppier]

I've been wanting to work on something like this after I finish up the software for the trade between Gen2 and Gen3

[@undeadxreality]

@@Goppier If you’re interested I’ve been working to do the same, I also have some researched files in armv4t if you wanna take a look at them later!

[@Goppier]

Yeah I would like to take a look at it! Is there a repository for it?

[@undeadxreality]

@@Goppier Actually no. Unfortunately people see modification of those roms severely taboo and while they’ve been fully labeled and reversed engineered by some. Those people kept it secret for good reason (mainly to preserve the real copies if they happen to show up and to also make sure people weren’t scamming others on eBay etc.) I was in talks with one of them and they gave me all their research a couple months back. I can definitely give them to you if you wish

[@Goppier]

​ @UndeadxReality I understand. Is it possible for you to share it through Discord? I would really love to take a look at the research made!

[@ar3thur_]

Awesome video! So excited to see where this device goes next! (also I would totally buy this thing if it were on sale 😳)

[@_Teej_264]

Looks like your channel is really picking up steam! You've gained several hundred subscribers in just a couple days since I found the channel and have been averaging 1 per minute for a couple hours now. Congrats! I just shared it with a pokemon discussion group on my social media so hopefully a new wave comes in to check out your content!

[@Nukatha]

I feel the need to correct you. I have, on nunerous occasions, traded and battled between two Game Boy Advance systems using TWO GBA cables. Simply plug the P1 ports from the two cables into the middle section for the other port. It ends up looking like this: ----. Plug the P2 end of both ports into your GBAs and you're off to the races with any two-player GB/GBC games.

[@Goppier]

Good find! I didn't think of that. Cool method to trade/battle if you only have gba trading cables

[@Nukatha]

@@Goppier Here's video proof: kzbin.info/www/bejne/l6vKpGiwoKuUmdk If you want a video idea, I'm interested to know *why* it works, but I've known *that* it works since 2002.

[@SlickTater]

I just subscribed so that I know when your trade device (possible name: Time Machine?) is available. I can’t wait! Though it’s a bit too late for me, my childhood Yellow version save was corrupted when I tried to back it up (clean your cartridges before you dump them!!). Also, I had no idea the GBA cable was so different from the GB/C cable. I’ve just been using the same Gameboy Pocket cable for years without any problems

[@svenbtb]

This is cool, reminds me of when I took a computer/network communications class in college. i like how you present the information and show how you were able to figure things out, it's really interesting and fun! edit: Aw man, and you always have to end your videos with THAT song from Gen 5 😭😭

[@Danieldiamant13]

Yesterday I found your channel and binged all your content. I love it, that you combine my two favorite topics in your content. Tech and Pokemon! Hyped for more Videos!

[@PinkBunnyCorporation]

Thanks for explaining. I always knew intuitivly as a kid that the different hardware was the real reason gen 2-gen3 wasnt possible and now I understand the why better. Lookong forward to a potential buyable version. I hope you could maybe also share how to make one ourselves since i doubt you will make them forever for sale.

[@lozangekitten-gamer7626]

It's a good thing that I had studied a little bit in that domain and, thanks to your explanation, I can understand much better why they didn't bother trying to make the "impossible jump" from gen 2 to 3. Also, I didn't notice if you did put the detailed PCB with all of the pieces in the former video

[@Rafael_Oiticica]

Dude, your videos are amazing. I discovered you some days ago with the video about trading between gen 2 and 3. I was amazed! It was like seeing something you always thought to be impossible be showed to actually be possible. It was a very nice feeling you gave to me. And I watched your others videos and, as well, was amazed again every time. Keep up your work dude! Thank you! :)

[@sme23]

With one small (well, "small") change to GSC, gen 2 gen 3 trading could have circumvented link cables entirely. The Game Boy Color has an infrared transmitter/reciever built-in, which GSC do use for Mystery Gift. If Game Freak had the idea and/or time to implement infrared link trades as would later be introduced in gen 5 all the way back in gen 2, then with just the GBA's infrared adapter gen 2 gen 3 infrared trading would be entirely possible, as the only compatibility hurdle would be emulating a gen 2 trade's infrared signal, which is entirely doable on the system with a higher clock speed

[@bestbrig514]

I hope your channel blows up you are awesome!

[@bearyboo9969]

love this channel, reminds me of decino, you even have the same accent and cover the inner workings of retro games

[@kariwoods9335]

Finding these videos has been super interesting and informative for me! An idea I've personally had before is to build something to allow trades between the Virtual Console and original cartridge versions of the gen 1 and 2 games, so I was wondering if you might be able to share your more in-depth reverse engineering or code of how those games conduct trades?

[@KopperNeoman]

The real task would be to build a device that could fully emulate the emulator's connection protocols while accepting data from original hardware.

[@kariwoods9335]

@@KopperNeoman This is true! From my understanding, the 3DS uses a form of Wifi broadcasting for local wireless communication, so my current thought is to use a Raspberry Pi as the basis, since it also has GPIO pins available that would let me breadboard the relevant hardware together (link port, voltage switcher if needed) and bring the input/output to the software on the Pi. Plus, the Citra emulator has local wireless multiplayer working to some degree, so it hopefully shouldn't be too difficult to investigate and understand how the VC connection protocols work.

[@meganadams7274]

Your channel is criminally underrated. I hope you blow up soon!

[@nicotina3368]

This is pure gold dude, keep it up the good work!

[@thealienarms]

Your channel will get the views it deserves in due time! good stuff man

[@jade5202]

nothing but fresh content from this channel! subbed

[@Wesley_H]

Fun Fact, there was another version of the cable released with the printer for the GameBoy Camera. It was essentially a standard gen 1/2 cable with a gen 2 connector on one end for the printer, and the other end was split and had both a gen 1 and gen 2 connector. Instead of connecting to the printer, you could use this cable to connect an original GameBoy and a GameBoy Color, or between two GameBoy Colors. I did this to trade my Pokémon back and forth between Crystal and the other gen 1/2 games that were compatible with the original GameBoy.

[@Naomi_Thornock]

that cable also works just fine on a game boy advance too.

[@Wesley_H]

@@Naomi_Thornock I’ve never had a chance to try. Thanks for the advice.

[@chipsdonut1]

Your a genius. It's a fact you figured out a solution a billion dollar company couldn't till it was generation 7. If I ever meet you I want to shake your hand maybe even a autograph what you achieved is legendary and you should be remembered for what you have done.

[@radishhat5736]

i think its less they couldn't have and more that it just wasnt worth it to develop a tool to be used for 2 games, one of which is an out of date hand held. It's easisr to just make a remake like fire red and sell that.

[@chipsdonut1]

@@radishhat5736 Or if they made a device which linked gbc to gba and sold that as a way to get old mons back they would have made even more money even if they did make FRLG

[@chipsdonut1]

@D34DB34T You could say that about the link cable for the gameboy then the link cable for gba the wireless adapter for gba etc. Nintendo aren't shy on making devices -cough cough- ereader... and many people avoided ruby and sapphire because of that reason. regardless it still would have benefited everyone and made money regardless. especially in the early days of Pokemania.

[@Vocaloidfun]

i found your channel through the gen 2/3 trade video, but all of your other videos are super interesting to me! i hope youll be able to grow your channel further! :D

[@joshtries965]

Was the technology for what you made available at the time or something similar? or was the advances in technology were the thing that made it possible for you to create this converter? I always wondered why Nintendo didn't just create something like what you made to trade despite the differences in cable structure. My guess is it wasn't commercially profitable since the only game that would use it would have been pokemon.

[@Goppier]

They could've made something similar as a wireless adapter that converts it. A device you could stick in your gameboy with a link port going out. But they would've needed to add stuff in the game to make it seem more legit, like an extra building in the battle frontier. Something like that would be the perfect version imo

[@ZeroNobody0]

amazing man honestly i always heard it was just a hardware thing but you solved it and gave us the answer on why and if its possible making the impossible trade man. keep doing what your doing and i look forward to the next one

[@Gruby156]

this video feels like 2mil channel video that pops up in your recommended every half a year

[@7GSC251]

Trade cables are insanely complicated more than I ever thought.

[@rompevuevitos222]

Makes me glad we have USBs as a norm nowadays, just 1 pin for power and 2 for data (the 4th one is just a ground cable)

[@ElianWailmer0323]

Just found your channel, watched and liked all 4 videos. They are AWESOME keep up the great work🙂👍

[@edwardmorvan5809]

Thanks for the clarifications! I always wanted to know, what the issue was. ✌️

[@Cythogen]

Have you considered a video on Glitzer Popping? Your explanations are truly excellent!

[@Goppier]

Would definitely be fun to cover in the future!

[@however-i-disagree]

just found you and fell in love with your videos, binge-watching everything on your channel rn. now, there's another burning question from my childhood thats in a sort of similar vein: why can't two gen 3 carts in the gba slot of a ds lite communicate wirelessly?

[@SonSaladin]

The Pokemon Community needs people like you to settle the old arguments and rumors. Thank you for your labor.

[@thepianomatro]

Amazing content. I'm completing my electrical engineering degree and I am specializing in computer embedded systems. I'm really impressed in how you were able to explain how things work especially that this is very challenging to explain. How much experience do you have in this field? I am hoping one day to be as good as you are and take up such challenges and maybe have my own YT channel xD

[@Goppier]

Back in school I used to help lots of other students who had a bit more trouble with the material. I think that mostly learned me to explain things in a different (and hopefully) easier way

[@blopandrades]

Sir, i absolutely love the content of this channel. Amazing!

[@chop3999]

hey man i just found your channel thanks to my recommended videos and i gotta say im lovin the content keep it up bro!

[@HarryPlaysGuitar7]

Fascinating new channel, I’ve enjoyed all your vids so far. I’m sure you would get a lot of funding if you did a Kickstarter or something for that trading device that you made.

[@willmattis3988]

Your videos are awesome man looking forward to the next one! Also this video taught me way more about clocks and wiring than my digital design class

[@StarlightSocialist]

1) The Gen 1 protocol establishes one GB as a master unit and one a slave unit. 2) Pokemon are kept in captivity and occasionally called upon to cut shrubs, move boulders with their strength or transport their "trainer" via surf/fly. 3) Therefore the link cable lets a slave unit trade slaves.

[@Moonsong227]

Now I’m fascinated about a field I know little about! I’d love to see how the pins and data transmission work in your invention!

[@Missingno4]

your videos are wonderful!! I really love learning how the games work at like a very technical level

[@ziqif3407]

That was insanely interesting. Very cool. Liked and subbed and hope more of these electronic breakdowns come out 😊

[@ign_ite]

you only have 4 videos and all of them are awesome!

[@albertnortononymous9020]

I don’t know if you figured this out or not, but plugging the purple connectors of two GBA cables into each other’s middle boxes and plugging the gray ends of the link cables into 2 GBAs brings the pinout back into alignment with the GBC configuration and allows multiplayer functionality with GB/GBC games on GBAs.

[@sensenmann3000]

Goppier \o/ Kind of stupid how many versions of the link cable they made 🤔 but I always longed for an in-depth explanation about them and yours is very awesome 🤩

[@marianne8978]

Love the channel! Can't wait to see your future videos

[@cestrumnocturnum5075]

That was very interesting! I remember back then we were "testing" all of our cables-even some miscalaneous ones that claimed they could connect the two generations-oh yeah, they existed!-and we were so disappointed it would never work!

[@adituv8565]

Really interesting video! Just having a look at GBATEK, it seems like it might be technically possible to communicate between GBA and GBx directly. The SIO port in normal serial mode supports 8-bit or 32-bit communication, but when the GBA is driving the clock it only supports 256kHz or 2MHz. With GBA as the slave device though, "select external clock, the local transfer rate selection is then ignored, as the transfer rate is supplied by the remote GBA (or other computer, which might supply custom transfer rates)." Even if that turns out to not work, there's also a parallel mode where the 4 pins (SC,SD,SI,SO) are controlled directly so if the hardware is actually tolerant of the different voltage levels I can't see any reason why worst case you couldn't write your own GBx-compatible driver on the GBA. I'm actually half-tempted to try this myself. I'm linking to GBATEK in a reply comment so that hopefully this main comment at least won't get automatically filtered as spam.

[@Goppier]

That's true! After I made the video I found the programming manual of the GBA where this was mentioned. Using the GPIO pins directly should be possible to make them communicate directly. Might even be possible using the external clock from the other games. Worth a video on itself in the future. In the manual they mentioned the reason they can't communicate is the voltage difference, but as mentioned in the video they can indeed communicate even with the difference. But the voltage difference is the reason given in the manual

[@CircularMirror7]

Great video format. Really explained well❤ I would love to see a analysis video on the gamecube cable.

[@MelodyBarrens]

I feel like they coulda just had the Gen 3 carts handle everything needed to communicate with Gen 1/2 by pretending to be a Gen 1/2, kinda like Gen 2 does to Gen 1, but Gamefreak just said... Nah. We all know that they aren't the best programmers. Kanto might not have made it into Gen 2 if somebody didn't randomly stumble upon their work to optimize it for them. And even then, sacrifices still had to be made! Side note, I had a 3rd party link cable that had plugs for both Gameboy and Gameboy Advance, and I tried to trade between Gen 2 and 3. I never even got to the trade lady though. If I plugged both a Gameboy and Gameboy Advance in at once, the Gameboy's screen and power would fade off slowly while the power switch was still in the on position. Turning it on and off made it work like a charm again, but whenever I tried to plug the Gameboy Advance side in the Gameboy... just kinda stopped working. Maybe a voltage thing? Who knows, the cable was probably third party garbage, even though it worked fine enough for same system communications.

[@JossCard42]

Honorable mention goes out to the Virtual Boy which HAD a link-cable port built into the device but went belly-up so fast that they never actually produced the cable that would plug into it.

[@lucasgarcia8285]

Lovely and technical explanation, thank you!

[@Ali-gv1yw]

3:41 thats really really fascinating. Woah. cool thing ❤️

[@dogscantplayguitar8925]

Dude! This is absolutely incredible. I would have never thought that they would have just used SPI or UART, but I suppose that makes sense. Fantastic board layout by the way. This got so many gears turning in my head. I don't know why, but I want to do something with this and an ESP32. Wireless pokemon wallet or something? If you ever decide to release the source and or the schematic, I would absolutely love to look them over. Fantastic work!

[@MortisMedia]

Really interesting video, thank you

[@Littlefighter1911]

I just came to complain that technically it's 100% possible to have done that. And you start out precisely with that. Well played, Goppier, well played.

[@TSA_57]

I dunno how relevant this is to the video, but I made a discovery a while back that makes it possible to trade between Gen 1 and/or 2 Pokémon games (for example between Red and Blue, or between Yellow and Crystal) using two Game Boy Advance systems and two Game Boy Advance Link Cables. Even though the Game Boy Advance Link Cable isn't designed to work with Game Boy and Game Boy Color games, it does if connected in a specific way. As I said, you need 2 Link Cables, and you connect the thick grey ends into both Game Boy Advance systems, and connect the thin purple ends into the central boxes of the other cable, creating nice symmetry. It only works if they are all connected like this. It sounds crazy, but try it yourself, and with your technical knowledge, maybe you can explain why exactly this works. I would be really interested in that.

[@soulrazor1]

Trivia bit. Despite the differences in the gba cable wiring it is possible to replicate the wiring of the gb and gbc cables using 2 Nintendo GBA cables. Connecting the Grey ends of the cable on each GBA and connecting the purple ends on the purple box of the other cable recreates the previews generation wiring. It's clunky but you can use a setup like that to transfer data between 8bit games on GBA.

[@solitonmedic]

I never knew how Danganronpa music works so well in these videos, it makes the info dump digestable

[@DhinCardoso]

Amazing knowledge well put in a video. Congratz! ♥ (I'm just trying to make a link cable compatible with mGBA and a regular GBA and can't accomplish that)

[@naterippe7988]

Keep up the great work dude!

[@philreed1605]

Thank you for that, however, I remember there were 4-player games and cables for the original GameBoy (F-1 Race). How did the 4-player adapter work? Perhaps it modified the signal in some way.

[@Goppier]

I'm not sure how the adapter works. I'd have to get one and see what's inside!

[@akiwo_tv]

Awesome content! Enjoying it very much :)

[@percyvile]

Would love some explanation of the electrical engineering begin your device, especially any design challenges and tips like this

[@danielzitar8353]

Dude your videos are sick!! And please start a gofundme or kickstarter to sell your selfmade device to transfer from gen1/2 to gen3. I would totally buy it!

[@attackonhumby]

Give this person a Nobel 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

[@travosk8668]

Dude you should make a video about designing the PCB.

[@TakeruDavis]

The main reason is the data structure, but not the same reason you think. Gen I and Gen II kept track of the same data (as long as the Gen II player cleared the Gen I checkes of the Time Capsule), so even when you traded a shiny to Gen I and back, it would remain shiny. Since Gen II was only able to trade, not transfer, the extra data of the sacrificial Pokemon would have to end up getting lost and once traded back to Gen III, the data would have to be regenerated from scratch. But they did not want that, probably wanting to keep consistency of each Pokemon, or to avoid people rerolling their Pokemon's natures. In short, the problem was not trading up, it was trading down. Since GBA did not have a secondary slot like NDS has, they did not have an alternative mean how to just pick up Pokemon from GBC cartridges either like NDS does to GBA games. They could have solved it if they just made an accessory for that specific purpose.

[@tylerlee328]

Love these videos, your blend of deep technical knowledge and ease of presentation makes following along for cavemen like me really simple and enjoyable (Wish Nintendo or the tech world at the time could’ve come up with a classier name for the master/slave protocol tho lol)

[@KopperNeoman]

I'm sure they didn't have the opinions of the progressives who are trying to pin the horrors of slavery on the men who fought the practice in mind.

[@Hallnavy09]

So interesting! Great video, thanks for your research!

[@Mrcoolz3000]

Something I'm curious about. The GBA actually supports the second revision link cable. Not only will it physically fit in the slot, but in Gameboy/Gameboy colour mode you can use a gba to trade pokemon between gen 1/2. So theoretically, the game developers of gen 3 could have designed a new area like the Time Machine from gen 2, and just used the original Gameboy communication standards to transfer pokemon to gen 3.

[@Goppier]

The Gameboy/GBC mode also uses a different chip that has a different instruction set. Meaning that it has different settings and communication option than in the GBA mode

[@wolfetteplays8894]

@@Goppier they could’ve put an extra chip in Emerald version for that specifically. You’d be shocked at the ingenuity of some of these devs. Just look at the carts that had a pedometer, sun meter, ir camera, etc

[@OfficialSDFG]

F1 Race on the original Game Boy also could support up to 4 players using a 4 Player Adaptor. For more info see DMG-07

[@Ali-gv1yw]

Finally. Bridge the gap. And the reasons. Great work❤️

[@schnitzelmike727]

I'm so excited for more videos

[@bl8084]

Awesome man!! Are you from the Netherlands?

[@littleazurill]

Stayed for the use of the Danganronpa ost, nice work 👌

[@qwertystop]

I expect the major reason for the impossibility of the trade in the original games is that the trade wouldn't be cleanly reversible. From gen 1 to 2, everything that was new in gen 2 (gender, shinies) was derived from things that existed in gen 1 (stats). From 2 to 3, though, abilities and natures aren't derived from stats; if you trade something down and then back up, it might be different; also, since gender and shininess are no longer directly tied to stats, and stats have twice the range, so they'd likely be unable to preserve all of those at once even on the trade down. Gen 2 not providing any way to do a one-way transfer prevents working around it in that way, as well; it *might* have been possible to do something with a cartridge swap - start the transfer in gen 3, it loads a simple program into RAM as is done in single-cartridge multiplayer games, switch the cartridge to gen 2, pick your mons, switch back - but that starts to get speculative, and you risk losing mons since there's no way to require confirmation of successful transfer before removing them from gen 2. (given that the GBA hardware is demonstrably capable of operating in original-GB mode when you use a GB game, and capable of using multiple communications modes for the same game in games that support the wireless adapter, I don't think that was a total blocker)

I think if Nintendo had created a "transfer device" or "game converter" that specifically turned Gens 2 and 3 games data to be compatible by inserting both cartridges in the device and then plugging them to a console or consoles it would have worked. However, it would have been a lot of effort only to make transfer possible from a single game and it was way less of an issue to simply remake Kanto games. Truly an interesting video.

[@Following1000]

Learning how GBA link cables work makes me really curious into how Kirby Amazing Mirror and how the GC/GBA cables makes Zelda Four Swords function with all the communication that goes back and forth through the cables.

[@cyanprince00]

What if the Analogue Pocket- using its og style cables; modern retro-gaming handheld, had in-built 2nd-3rd gen compatible trading? I'm not sure if that would've been worth it for the developers. Tho ur tricky invention to make em work, could also do well with Pocket handhelds and link cable!

[@Goppier]

Not entirely sure if that's possible without modifying the game, but it would be cool if possible!

[@cyanprince00]

@@Goppier Yea that may be true. And ya would be nice! But also, I'm guessing the PCB u designed for gen 2-3 trading- would work on the Pocket?

[@Goppier]

Haven't tested it, because I don't own one, but I would be shocked if it didn't work. If it can communicate with an original gameboy then it will also work with my device

[@cyanprince00]

@@Goppier Haven't got 1 either. Hope to, someday lol. Oh ya right- I'd have to think that it can then! Interesting times where new hardware can talk to 20 yr old things.

[@IngwiePhoenix]

I knew the classic Gameboy was SPI, but I did not know that the GBA used UART - let alone, doing the same with the wireless dongle. That is really interesting! Little younger me always thought the GBA wireless dongle was just a wifi chip and I wondered why my family's accesspoint never showed up, lul ^^

[@zspate40]

Very great work. Any plans to tackle a link cable connector to usb and software to trade over the internet? I believe the project was completed for gen 1 but never gen 3

[@Goppier]

Would be fun to try in the future!

[@wawiwuwewo69420]

The 999 music was so fitting

[@Pence128]

7:07 That's an ATmega328. The SM831x (close cousin to DMG/CGB) specifies minimum Vih of 0.8 x Vdd.

[@shunchidouin7227]

i love how this 's a Pokémon game but the background music is from danganronpa good content regardless!! binge watched your other vidoes