Nintendo 3DS GBA Game Injection [GBA on 3DS] [Pokemon 128k Saves + RTC Support]

Discussion in 'Nintendo 3DS Guides' started by InsaneNutter, Mar 24, 2018.

  1. InsaneNutter

    InsaneNutter Resident Nutter Staff Member

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    pokemon-gba-game-3ds.jpg

    The Nintendo 3DS actually has all the hardware inside to natively play GBA (GameBoy Advanced) games without using emulation. With CFW (Custom firmware) this means we can package our own GBA and load them on the 3DS, having them play exactly the same as on a real GBA. The only thing been emulated is the actual GBA cartridge slot.

    It was recently discovered how to load GBA games with 128k save support and in addition RTC (real time clock) support, meaning its now possible for the 3DS to perfectly play the vast majority of GBA games. The only games which will not work are games where the cartridge contains special hardware, which very very few games do. Something to keep in mind as with the DS / DS Lite link cable support is not possible, however if you wish to trade Pokemon for example you can backup your save, do the trading on an emulator then restore the save to your 3DS as a work around.

    What interest me about this is that its now possible to play all the core Pokemon games on the 3DS, from Red and Blue to Ultra Sun and Moon.

    In this tutorial I will teach you how to easily inject a GBA rom so it can be loaded from the 3DS home screen, this will work on any 3DS console which is running CFW. If your 3DS doesn't have CFW not to worry, its possible to hack and install CFW on any 3DS today relatively easy. For this i'd recommend you follow https://3ds.guide.

    Injecting GBA games on the 3DS:

    Today GBA injection is very easy with the latest New Super Ultimate Injector 3DS Beta26 application, 128k saves and RTC support is now built directly in to the application.

    So first download New Super Ultimate Injector 3DS, you will see you can inject Nes, Snes, GameBoy, GameBoy Colour, GameBoy Advance, Mega Drive, Game Gear and TurbiGrafx 16 games, it's a very similar process for all these consoles, however this tutorial will focus on GBA games:

    3ds-inject-gba-roms-1.jpg
    So to get started with GBA game injection on the 3DS click File > New > Game Boy Advance CIA:

    3ds-inject-gba-roms-2.jpg

    If you now drag and drop your GBA rom on to New Super Ultimate Injector you will notice the program is pretty smart and should automatically determine the vast majority of settings for any known game and should even be smart enough to download the correct title screen or cover art from online databases:

    3ds-inject-gba-roms-3.jpg
    1. If not automatically determined enter the game of the game and the publisher here.

    2. You have the choice to download the title screen or box art, I download the title screen as thats what official Nintendo VC releases use, however this is totally your personal preference.

    3. The console should automatically be detected, if not then choose it here.

    4. You can leave this totally random, however I like to keep things as official as possible so use the correct product code with is displayed on your GBA cartridge label like so:

    3ds-inject-gba-roms-6.jpg

    The title ID can't be the same as any other game installed on your 3DS, it's pretty safe just to randomize this, however for a series of games such as Pokemon I have gone about this logically and manually created consecutive title ID's as shown below:

    Ruby - Product Code: AXVP, Title ID: 1831
    Sapphire - Product Code: AXPP, Title ID: 1832
    Emerald - Product Code: BPEP, Title ID: 1833
    Fire Red - Product Code: BPRP, Title ID: 1834
    Leaf Green - Product Code: BPGP, Title ID: 1835

    5. Again you have the choice to download the title screen or box art, I download the title screen as thats what official Nintendo VC releases use, however this is totally your personal preference.

    6. The save type and if RTC support is required should be automatically determined, however if its not you can manually select this here. All Pokemon games use 128k saves, however only Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald support an RTC.

    Here is the end result of my user created Pokemon Emerald GBA VC Injection:

    3ds-inject-gba-roms-4.jpg

    Once you are happy with everything go to Project > Export CIA and save the CIA with whatever file name you like

    3ds-inject-gba-roms-5.jpg

    You can now install this CIA like any other CIA on the 3DS. Its beyond the scope of this tutorial to explain how to install a CIA, however if you have hacked your 3DS you will have a CIA manager such as FBI installed and have to have used to during the process of hacking your 3DS when following the 3ds.guide linked to above.

    I'm sure you will agree the end result is nice and official looking:

    3ds-pokemon-emerald-top.jpg

    3ds-pokemon-emerald-bottom.jpg

    It's also possible to restore your save game from either an emulator or an actual GBA game cartridge If you wish to do that then you are now ready to have a look at this tutorial: 3DS GBA Save Backup and Restore with GodMode9

    gba-sp-ags-101-vs-o3ds-xl.jpg

    Hopefully this tutorial shows just how easy GBA rom injection on the 3DS now is, you no longer need to patch your games to have them fully working.
     
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  2. Qautro

    Qautro New Member

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    Using this method would we be able to migrate to Pokémon Platinum as if it was an actual GBA cartridge?
     
  3. InsaneNutter

    InsaneNutter Resident Nutter Staff Member

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    Not directly on the 3DS, you'd have to backup your save from the 3DS and restore it to the Pokemon GBA game using a DS / DS Lite, you can then migrate the Pokemon as normal from the GBA game to Pokemon Platinum.

    Im kind of doing the above myself, i'm using my 3DS XL to play Emerald as it has a much larger screen, however when the games completed I plan to restore the save to my original cartridge.
     
  4. Carlos00000

    Carlos00000 New Member

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    Hi

    My friend, the options for GameGear and Turbo Grafx are disabled, do you know how could I use them?

    Regards
     
  5. Gl17cH3D_Pixel

    Gl17cH3D_Pixel New Member

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    Is there a way to
    1. add trading capabilities like the pokemon gbc games?
    2. create a pokebank/poketransfer for cfw users that allows the reading of gba pokemon games?
     
  6. Lexi

    Lexi Elite Member

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    1. It is probably possible, but as far as I'm aware it has not been done before.
    2. I'm not sure, but a roundabout way if you have the hardware is you could transfer the save onto a physical cartridge and transfer traditionally. It's definitely not ideal but it is the only solution I'm aware of but I'm not too well versed on this. Wait for others before losing hope.
     
  7. InsaneNutter

    InsaneNutter Resident Nutter Staff Member

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    The GB / GBC games use emulation with special patches to enable WiFi trading, the 3DS has real hardware in it to run GBA games natively. Only the cartridge slot is emulated for the purpose of loading games / saving. It will probably never be possible to link to other GBA games, due to the 3DS rebooting in to a GBA mode to play the games.

    Never say never however I can't see that happening.

    A Pokebank like app is probably possible if someone really wanted to put the time / effort in to develop one. With better tools like Pkhex on the PC i'd be surprised if this happened.
     
  8. catspa

    catspa New Member

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    Will you be able to play the games as if it was just a normal 3DS cartridge? (i.e press x to access menu, saving the game, resaving the game, etc.)
     
  9. InsaneNutter

    InsaneNutter Resident Nutter Staff Member

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    They will play the same as any other officially released virtual console games. Saves work fine in my experience and the controls are good.
     
  10. ArchieMods

    ArchieMods New Member

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    Would this work on the New 2DS XL?
     
  11. InsaneNutter

    InsaneNutter Resident Nutter Staff Member

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    Yes if you install custom firmware on the New 2DS XL it will work fine.
     
  12. beckman924

    beckman924 New Member

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    Why I can´t create a cia for PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16?
     
  13. Miottolo

    Miottolo New Member

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    Mmmm I didn't understand a thing. Can I add link capabilities to a gameboy classic/color pokemon rom? For example official pokemon red, yellow etc have the link/wifi patch. I've tried making my own using "GBC virtual console with linking" option but it doesn't work. Or are this patches something related to the official release only?

    EDIT: nevermind, found out you need the specific patche to add the working link/wifi to a specific game.
     
    Last edited: Jun 25, 2020
  14. Rost

    Rost New Member

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    In terms of linking to other games - would there be any possibility of two player GB games? Back in the day my friends and I loved Nintendo Golf, Tennis and particularly Tetris two player, which was incredible (i.e. every line removed was added to firend's screen) but of course a physical lead was needed to link two consoles together.

    I'm no coder but the excellent ZXDS (ZX Spectrum emulator that workd on both DS and 3DS) uses wifi link for two player games, which is incredible (especially as the Spectrum is from early eighties when handheld consoles and wifi were non existent). So maybe this could work for GB etc? Of course, finding someone to do it is another task!
     
  15. InsaneNutter

    InsaneNutter Resident Nutter Staff Member

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    The Pokemon Games, both Gen 1 and 2 can link over WiFi. Even the IR mystery gift feature works on the Gen 2 Pokemon games. It's possible to hack other games to use link cable functionality over WiFi, however beyond this been done for Pokemon Gold, Silver & Crystal before they were released on the Eshop i'm not aware of it been done for any other games unfortunately.

    I dont think the WiFi link cable functionality works for Pokemon Games built with this tool (although you could try it) it does however work if you buy the games from the Eshop.
     
  16. Rost

    Rost New Member

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    Thanks for reply. That's interesting. I wonder if GB games (such as golf and tennis) bought for Eshop have the WiFi linck cable functionality. They don't appear to sell Tetris (unless I haven't looked properly).
     
  17. Kimba

    Kimba New Member

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    Is there a way to add digital manuals to the games? I didn't find any option like that
     
  18. InsaneNutter

    InsaneNutter Resident Nutter Staff Member

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    I believe only the Pokemon games have the WiFi functionality unlocked.

    As for adding manuals to custom games i don't believe this is a function this tool offers.
     
  19. PuppetMaster000

    PuppetMaster000 New Member

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    Thanks a lot for the post, it helped me set up different games but I wanted to let you know you should probably edit your assumed title IDs for the games as ID 1734 is actually one of the supported IDs currently used for Pokemon Crystal. It may mess someone up out there.
     
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  20. Johl

    Johl New Member

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    Whenever I try to save in any gen 3 pokemon game it says "save failed. checking for backup memory... please wait." then searches indefinitely. Is there anyway to fix that.
     

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