I am looking to get a Game Boy Player for my Game Cube. Being that the system I just got is a silver/platinum model, it would be nice to have a matching GB player. Apparently there are silver ones available in Japan, which leads me to my next question--are the Game Boy Players from Japan compatible on US systems? If the hardware is, then how about the boot/start-up disc? Are these Japanese start-up discs region-locked like standard games?

the discs are region locked.. I'm not sure if you could use a Japanese Game Boy player with the US startup disc it might be worth a try though.

Yeah, I thought about that too. The thing is, the startup discs by themselves seem to be what's commonly missing from a GB Player setup, so it's not as likely I will run into just the disc at a worthwhile price (just going by what I see on eBay, anyway).

I am contemplating just modding the system with a switch in the back. Supposedly it's extremely simple, but I'd like to see about some of these other options first.

Nintendo used to sell just the discs on their online store (store.nintendo.com/).
I bought a few last year at $15 ea.

They must have sold out/removed them though.

I decided to go ahead and buy the matching Japanese GB Player I saw on eBay. I'm not in an extreme rush to play it, so what I will do in the meantime is keep an eye out for loose US GB Player discs, as well as a Free Loader (sites seem to be sold out of that unfortunately). I am going to hit up a few GameStops as well over the weekend before they ditch their Game Cube stuff--they are still selling GB Players for $10 - $15, so I might be able to snag a US one while at it to get the disc. I have read that the Japanese unit is basically the same as the US one so my guess is that it's likely a US startup disc will work with it.

Dude, post a WTB here looking for a loose GB player disc. Last time, a lowball war ensued and I think the guy ended up getting one for $8 shipped.

or check http://www.gamestop.com/browse/st... they seem to still have a bunch in stock for $9.99 for the whole thing and they usually have the disk.

Yeah, over the weekend I think I am going to hit a few GameStop stores (ones that I know still have GameCube stuff anyway) and see if I can snap one up locally. Otherwise, I will probably try their web site since they are so cheap there.


I will probably do that as well.

**Edit: Success! I found a GameStop on the way to work that had a GB Player, and was able to snap it up with the disc for a whopping $10, so much better than tracking one down at a reasonable price on eBay.

OR,
Does a US Gameboy player work on a Japanese Cube?
I never thought about hooking it up to the Spice colored Japanese cube I got. If it works one way, it should work the other? I do agree the key will be to have the correct disk for player.

I don't have a Japanese system, but I will (naturally) be testing the Japanese Game Boy Player on my US system when I receive it in the mail (hopefully next week). I'll post an update then.

Got the Japanese unit in the mail today, and as I read, it works fine on my US system. Naturally the Japanese start-up disc doesn't work, but the US disc is compatible with the Japanese unit.

Congrats! That is some good info to know. Luckily for me, my preferred color is black.

Yeah, same here actually! When I went to pick up a Game Cube at a local shop though, the only boxed systems they had were in Platinum and Indigo. Ended up going with the Platinum because it still had the inner cardboard packing material. Still, I prefer the black system, along with the stock black GB Player.