Homebrew Homebrew game Releasing a GBA game in 2023

[Project68K]

I am working on a project that will be released for both the DS and the GBA. I am not worried about actually doing the game, but how I will be releasing it, particularly for the GBA version. I initially thought of releasing the rom, and maybe working with a publisher to get a physical version done (though I do not think my game is complex enough for that). However, after thinking over it, most people nowadays who have nostalgia for GBA games will have an emulator on their phone rather than having a GBA console. Due to this, I had a wild idea of releasing an android app, that extracts the GBA rom to a directory on your phone, so that you can be allowed to play the game on any emulator. on any android device you want.

Is this a good idea? Or is it something that will be useless?

 

[Ryccardo]

Reinventing the self-extractor AND just for only one platform? Eh, just upload the file somewhere...

And while the GBA certainly always had a long-running emulation scene (still improving even though it was passable since almost immediately)... I really hope most aren't using touchscreen controls for anything beyond Pokemon [and even then, the bike-only parts...] - consider too that GBA flashcards are probably more (affordable and available) than ever!

 

[Project68K]

- consider too that GBA flashcards are probably more (affordable and available) than ever!

Unfortunately you can't say the same for ACTUAL GBA consoles.

 

[duwen]

Don't underestimate how much interest there may be in a new GBA title released physically.
I, and many others, backed this project;

The most basic backer tier gave access to rom download, and higher tiers catered for those that wanted a complete physical package.

 

[FAST6191]

There have been homebrew games released as hardware before (see Qwak), and several other things opting for commercial, though unless you are going to redo repros there is not a lot available right now compared to some other things.