Every gamer is surrounded by others who have played old games. These “others” proclaim that these old games are masterpieces and that they were ahead of their time. Games like Super Mario 64 and the original Legend of Zelda come to mind. However, newer generations hear these stories and try to get their greasy gamer fingers on these wonders, only to find that actually playing these games tends to be difficult. Getting the original consoles and cartridges is nearly impossible, not to mention expensive. However, some websites have been able to provide a way for gamers of newer generations to experience these classics.
gbafun.com is one such website. This technological masterpiece creates a place where anyone, even if they do not own a Gameboy Advance, can experience the popular games on that console. Honestly, take your pick. Pokemon Emerald? This website has you covered. Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories? Always. Many people are suspicious of such websites. They often ask if the games will be fun to play because the normal controller cannot be used. The website provides a solution. Each game has a list of inputs and which keys they relate to on the keyboard. They player can go into a menu and modify the key bindings of these inputs, allowing for incredibly large amounts of customization.
There are other benefits to using a website like this too. Games on gbafun.com can be expanded to take up the entire screen. This is quite a big difference from the tiny screen of the Gameboy Advance, that is for sure. Another positive is the ease of switching between games. If one was playing on a GBA, then in order to switch games the console would have to be shut off and the game card would need to be removed. The other game’s game card would then be inserted. The website can do all of that in a few simple clicks.
With the benefits of using websites like this, it seems weird that consoles are still the preferred way to play video games. The reason for this is usually the fact that these websites are providing these games illegally. The games that are accessed on these websites are the copyrighted materials of the companies that made them. By having them available to the public for free, these websites are essentially stealing profit from those companies. Some websites do have the permission from companies to use their games. However, those that do do so illegitimately.