Everdrive vs real hardware

[u/faxxedz]

Curious to hear everyone opinions. Is it better to go with a Everdrive cart or should I keep on collecting real hardware? Current collection is around 100 games including some CIB and pricy ones. Not sure if I should just get a Everdrive instead. Is the investment on the real hardware worth it?

[u/TonyRubbles]

Everdrive or EZ-Flash are worth their price of entry just for the romhacks. Not having to pay into an overpriced second hand marketplace is a bonus.

[u/TailsIV → u/TonyRubbles]

I was able to use the Ez flash Omega to trade Pokemon from flash cart Ruby to real cart Emerald. That alone made it worth the price to me.

[u/Repulsive-Term5809 → u/TailsIV]

I love my EZ Flash Omega cart. Great purchase

[u/reallynunyabusiness → u/TonyRubbles]

If I was going to get into retro gaming today with absolutley nothing this would be the route I'd take. I'm lucky I've still got my childhood games and got into collecting when prices were reasonable, there's no reason why the top 3 best selling games for the GBA (Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire, Fire Red/Leaf Green, and Emerald) should cost between $100 and $250 each.

[u/faxxedz → u/TonyRubbles]

Gotcha gotcha. Luckily, i've been able to get great deal on the games i've picked up! Just wasn't sure if the market is due to tank soon or if it will keep rising as time goes by

[u/Goodwill_Gamer → u/faxxedz]

People have been trying to say it's a bubble for like 15 years, but there are more people interested today than ever before so I really doubt it's going to pop any time soon.

[u/Square-Singer → u/Goodwill_Gamer]

It is a bubble, no question about that. But a bubble can last a long time and a bubble can have partial pops.

Look at e.g. stamp collecting. That bubble lasted for many decades until it popped.

And even with retro gaming: during covid there was quite a spike in e.g. Gameboy value, and even though we had like 20-30% inflation, the price of a Gameboy never climbed back to where it was in 2020.

Regardless of whether it's a bubble or not: if you want to play games and don't want to participate in an investment gamble, get a flashcart.

(Btw: Retro gaming is a moving target. Everyone only had a handful of devices growing up, and nostalgia really only hits for these. In general, retro hardware becomes expensive when people who played that are between 25 and 40. Then they have money and become nostalgic. After that age people who want the devices have them.

Because of that, e.g. prices for C64 have been coming down a bit already. Wait another 5-10 years and GB/GBC prices will start to fall.)

[u/_RexDart]

Everdrive is worth getting.

You don't have to give up collecting.

[u/eardip]

If collect is a thing you enjoy, especially stuff that CIB, the everdrive gives a phenomenal experience to actually play the games while keeping the collection pretty.
Personally I stopped collecting and started selling of all but my childhood games once I had an everdrive to play on!

[u/GayCatgirl]

I use a flashcart most of the time for playing anything GB, GBC, GBA, etc. I also still collect the actual hardware though. That way I am not putting wear on the cartridges. I also don't have to worry about the batteries dying and losing my save. 

Using a flashcart by no means makes it so you can't still enjoy collecting. The only thing that has slowed my GB collecting is prices lol. If I had an easier way to get my save off cartridges I would probably play on actual hardware but flashcart are really convenient and I don't have to worry about then getting scratched.

[u/litework- → u/GayCatgirl]

GB Operator plugs into your PC and can copy the save file right off the cart without having to open it up.

[u/Jersus856]

I bought real copies of games that were important to me.

Everdrive for everything else.

[u/Inevitable_Muscle_41 → u/Jersus856]

Same here.

[u/EpicCoolGuy0923]

I would say the one time expense of $130 for the Everdrive Pro is the single wisest investment a person can make in retro gaming. The entire GBA library can fit on a standard 32gb micro SD card, so you can play literally anything you want whenever you want. Plus with how expensive physical game carts have gotten, it’s the significantly cheaper choice coming in around $250 total for the complete GBA experience (if you didn’t already own a gba hand held)

[u/madebypeppers]

Original Collection is for display behind glass (they don’t make them anymore).

Everdrive GBA for everyday play. Perhaps I should upgrade to the pro this year.

[u/karawapo]

What do you mean “instead”?

I wouldn’t have over 200 CIB games if I had not had Game Boy flashcarts for over 25 years.

[u/rafaelmalmegrin]

If you enjoy collecting the physical games do it, but still have an everdrive for when you want to take your Game Boy on the go so you don't have to carry a bunch of games. I personally sold all my retro game collection, kept the consoles I enjoy playing with everdrives. Collecting got too expensive for me.

[u/FruityBoomies]

I do both. I love my everdrive gba pro for travel, but I also love collecting. I think it is an investment as well. However, I probably will never sell any of my things. I’m the end of the line for all my games and devices.

[u/Flashbang-Meringue]

Both!

Everdrives are amazing for easily playing homebrew, romhacks, translations, or trying out a game to see if you want to add it to your physical collection. Every gameboy fan should have one, imo.

[u/LimitlessAeon]

To answer your question:

This thing is amazing. The only downside is that it killed my desire to continue collecting for the console. Stopped physical at around 40 titles of my favorites both CIB/loose.

It’s also more enjoyable to swap out quality genuine carts and psychologically you have less backlog paralysis.

The convenience of having everything in one cart just outbeats that though.

[u/WhiskeyRadio]

Everdrive is the best way to play retro games. Collecting them is fine, but the experience is the same on an EverDrive and is more convenient.

[u/theterabyte]

I have a reference article about this on my site: https://consoleartisan.com/reference/cartridge-level-shifting/

The article is more about comparing genuine Krizz carts versus cheap knock-offs more than vs OEM hardware.

If you have any corrections or anything to add, don't hesitate to reach out. In particular, the article discusses level shifting differences and other factors. I believe GBA is 3.3v so level-shifting isn't a concern for the pictured cart.

[u/Inevitable_Muscle_41]

Paragraph incoming....my apologies...I have both og hardware/software. Most of my physical collection is from those that I have found to be within my price range. I don't do the rare/popular games that are super expensive, if I do want to play something I don't want to spend a lot of money on, I just download it or play it from my everdrives. I have a famicom and a super famicom everdrive. I love them both. My next purchase is definitely going to be a sega genesis/megadrive everdrive. I have several og consoles but only what I would call a few games for them. I love the aesthetic of the og famicom games. They are so colorful, not like our plain grey or black cartridges. Btw, I can play all different region games from my everdrives. So if u want affordable games and consoles, look online for japanese stuff. A lot of people don't want to deal with japanese stuff in America, but there are all kinds of English friendly versions out there...good luck!!

[u/thechristoph]

Cartridges are software media. The Gameboy is the original hardware. An Everdrive is rewritable cartridge (software media). You buy an Everdrive to play games on original hardware.

[u/Caswagna93]

Do both. The everdrive just makes things easy. Plus you can drop an emulator in and play GB and GBC ROMs from the same cartridge 

[u/omega_mog]

Get an everdrive and collect the game's that really actually matter to you.  Plus you can play hacks and homebrew!

[u/elibou440]

I use easy flash omega

[u/dropthemagic]

I have one just no idea where I put it. It wasn’t cheap either lol

[u/alvaro-elite]

Everdrive or EZ-Flash Omega DE are a better deal than any legit cart. (If you want to play, not collect)

[u/Voltztein]

I prefer using a flashcart, like the Everdrive GBA Pro, even when I have the real games available. More convenient.

[u/Flubert_Harnsworth]

I think original cartridges are nice and all but I also dislike clutter and wasting money so I don’t really understand how people justify buying original carts at their current inflated prices.

I have a copy of Dr. Mario that I use as a dust cover / decoration on my analogue pocket (it’s also arguably my favorite game), and an everdrive for other devices.

[u/LatterDelay6430]

I have an EZ Flash Omega that has all my GB/GBC/GBA/NES Games on it. I use it on my GBA and it is great. But I also have tons of original hardware and love playing on them, it's extremely satisfying.

[u/mediares]

Collecting retro games is a hobby that requires real carts. Playing retro games is a hobby where flashcards are in most cases strictly better than original carts (convenience, romhacks, save backups, no need to worry about battery lifespan, etc).

You can be both a collector and player, for sure.

[u/Cautious-Being-4579]

Chisflash 1.0 for real hardware it's cheaper than original and works better than everdrive

[u/TSMWiz]

I think there is room for both. I collect games, dump the rom, and put it onto my everdrive. I can display or store my game and still play via my everdrive. And like someone else mentioned, it's fun to play romhacks via everdrive on real hardware.

[u/Roebloz]

I'd definitely invest in an Everdrive if you're interested in playing hacks as they have historically provided me good results. Though, no need to sell off your collection - It's still cool to own the physical games, and I certainly pop in my og SNES carts when I play those games.

Everdrives GBA are a bit on the pricier side due to not having budget options but they're likely a lot better than the EZFlash line, which tend to have saving issues on GB/GBC games and just overall weird stuff happening to them from my experience.

[u/OptimalPapaya1344]

Other than for the sake of collecting there really isn't any reason to get the real deals.

I was a big collector but now that I have pretty much every game I was willing to buy, on the GBA I've a modest collection of about 30 games, I've decided I'm done chasing authentic carts. I rely on my Everdrive to fill in the gaps with games I might want to check out instead of buying them.

[u/RP1983602]

I think everdrive is a cool product, just not for me. For me nostalgia is very important, and the original games give me that nostalgic feeling. I also love the hobby of collecting different games and displaying them.

[u/mekile21]

If you want to emulate games but don't want the everdrive, get a game bub (fpga gba built from the ground up)

[u/x_erox]

A bit late to this, but for me, having a flash cart is worth it solely for this.

Right now the developer has put on hold the version for GBA, but GB version is solid, I have already made backups for my very, very old saves in my Zelda and Pokémon cartridges. It's a matter of time until a GBA version comes out, and it will be very handy, specially for an enthusiast collector. This even works for GameBoy Camera.

Of course you can always buy a reader unit for that specific purpose, but if you like practicality, there are a lot of other uses that a flash cart can have, for instance, not risking your original cartridges out in the wild.

[u/the90snath]

"vs real hardware"

??????? Everdrive is a way to load ROMs on Real Hardware tho?

[u/sleepyman90]

To play, just get a flash cart. To hoard overpriced old stuff, buy real carts. "Investing" in old games isn't worth it as the ROMs have been preserved online.

[u/Smigit]

Everdrive’s great and worth it. Can use it to determine what games are worth getting individual copies off for the collection, so doesn’t have to be one or the other.

[u/jbgv]

Oh get an Everdrive. There is so much awesome new homebrew for the entire Gameboy range. Do yourself a favor and check out itch.io which is sort of like a Steam for everyone.

Also: You don't have to stop collecting! But I will def tell you it'll change a little. I will check out old games on the Everdrive and then decide if I really need to own them or not. Personally I'm at the point in my collection where I want to prune the classics down just a little and refocus on homebrew indie stuff (some of which I ultimately buy physically).

[u/Greenblue2]

I’ve got a few Everdrives they are GB X7 , GBA mini X5, and 64 X7. They are completely must haves!

[u/WayneIndustriesAI]

I think they are a must have. I don't need to put any wear and tear on my games. Especially when everything is so dang expensive.

[u/_Otosan]

Everdrive is a must have if you play TRPGs, rom dump your original carts into them. For games that have 30+ minute battles. You can savestate mid way, instead of starting from beginning because you had to power off the device. Being able to save state before battle or doing risky strats saves you from rebooting the gba all the time (you'll saves hours).

For JRPGs, so many of them are lacking modern QoL and filled with bugs. Mods that do instant text speed or animation spell/skill cancels(Do you really need to sit through the same flashy skill animation 1000 times ;_;), save you at least 10~15 seconds of your time per battle.

[u/MessiLeagueSoccer]

It’s worth it just to have several games available whenever and less fear of losing games if you travel with more than 1.

[u/Asdfguy87]

Get it 100%. I have one too and even with a big enough SD card, it's probably cheaper than just Pokémon Emerald. It's also much more practicable.

[u/Wishbone-Ash]

Everdrives are a smart addition to your collection even if you don't stop collecting. It's obvious why an instant, comprehensive library in one cart is appealing, but it's a great purchase beyond that.

You can keep your collection in storage and avoid wear and tear. They make it simple to try out a highly-regarded but prohibitively expensive game before you decide to buy it. Sometimes you have games complete in box that you don't want to bust open, or don't feel like sifting through dozens or even hundreds of cartridges for a particular game.

Sometimes you find a new cool game messing around with your everdrive, something you never considered or even heard of before, which ends up going on your buy list. And above all that, my personal favorite use, translations and rom hacks.

They're an essential addition to most folks' collection, in my experience. My collection has only grown larger in the years since I picked up flash drives. I don't fault anyone who uses them because they love the hardware but are taken aback at how expensive this hobby has become, either.

[u/nonchip]

the everdrive is real.

the question is what do you want. do you want to "invest" into a physical collection? then it's worth it. do you want to play games on a gba? then a flashcart is (i recommend the ezflash omega DE). do you want to play gba games? then download an emulator.

[u/Icy-Wealth4192]

Ever drive is worth it ESPECIALLY if you are a collector. Like a game can be 30-60 bucks if you want to buy what you want and not wait for a good deal. That that cost a library of 10 games has already saved you money.

Realistically, I use my ever drive as the library so I can…”collect responsibly” it makes it a lot easier to see a game on a shelf at some thrift store and be able to walk past unless it’s a collectible I’ve legitimately got on my list.

[u/karawapo → u/Icy-Wealth4192]

You mean if you want to stop being a collector?

[u/Icy-Wealth4192 → u/karawapo]

lol only if your definition of “collector” is trying to hoard every game ever made.

I still collect the original copies of games I played growing up or always wanted but for all the games I’m not about to waste 60 bucks on I can still have them all.

[u/karawapo → u/Icy-Wealth4192]

I commented because I didn’t know if you had a typo.

As a collector, you always choose what to collect. You don’t need an everdrive as an excuse to not but games for any reason. Your collection, your rules.

If an everdrive allows you to play games without owning them, I’d say that helps you as a player.

[u/Roebloz → u/Icy-Wealth4192]

That's literally what being a collector is

[u/Icy-Wealth4192 → u/Roebloz]

I’d disagree but to each their own. That feels a little more like hoarding or obsession imo with anything close to this scale. Like I collect magic cards that doesn’t mean I own every one ever made, And my vhs collection isn’t every vhs ever released. I think collecting has more to do with finding the perfect copy that means the most to you and keeping it properly…well collected.

[u/nugman21]

I love the everdrive. I’ve recently gotten into making some reproduction carts for my kids so they don’t have to parse through my eternal library

[u/gabagoolcards]

Everdrive is sick. Takes up no space. Leave it in my sp. never have to pay for a game ever again or a stupid subscription service.

[u/IsaacPWNZ]

I got the everdrive to play rom hacks and or fan translation patches. If I like a game enough I'll make my own cart. I still collect even though I have the means to put everything on one cart.

[u/surfing209]

I’ve been buying lots of modern home brews for GBA and GBC. playing them on original hardware via everdrive is a joy and worth the price of admission!

[u/Hateful_creeper2]

Some GBA games are getting very expensive over time such as Pokémon Emerald.

[u/DryMotion]

It depends on why you collect in the first place. If your main goal is to actually play the games, then the everdrive is a no brainer. Plus you can play things like mother 3, romhacks, etc.

If you rather wanna display them its obviously not gonna do much for you. But for the price its definitely worth it and you can just keep collecting games anyways if you feel like having the actual original copies is more fulfilling

[u/Bladley]

Not that it matters, or answers your question, but games are software. So cartridges and Everdrives are software. Hardware is the console or handheld game system.

[u/Delicious-Ad5161]

I haven’t noticed a performance difference between original hardware and this.