Intec Game FM Radio

Page contents last updated on August 9, 2024
Platform: Gameboy Advance
Accessory Type: Radio tuner
Model #: 1370?
Release Year(s): 2002? / 2003?

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This strange accessory was in a GBA lot that I purchased from a guy sometime in 2022. I saw a little silver box with a link-cable plug, a headphone jack, and a scan button. Of course, I was instantly intrigued by it.

This little guy is meant for the Gameboy Advance SP. I haven't tried to use it on a traditional GBA, but I assume that it would probably work if the shell were to be removed. The radio functionality might be worth it if you're really itching to tune into some Nickelback while you play Finding Nemo on your GBA.

You read that correctly. Radio functionality. This thing is a radio. That is so cool, futuristic even. However, it is only a radio. The headphone jack on this thing made me think that I could use it as a 3.5mm jack adapter (The GBA SP uses proprietary Nintendo headphones), but the game sound doesn't actually go through this thing. It's 100% just for the radio. In fact, you have to have headphones plugged in to hear the radio. I think this thing came with a pair of headphones when it was new, but it's kinda lame that it doesn't use the GBA speaker or have its own crappy speaker.

So you can tune into Nickelback and play Finding Nemo on a single device (ahead of its time frfr), but you have to have an earbud in to hear Nickelback and you need to crank up the volume on your GBA so that you and everyone else can hear the game. Alternatively, you could mute the GBA and crank up Nickelback.

The Game FM Radio is powered by the console, which is unfortunate. It probably doesn't use that much power, but I don't appreciate the possibility of it taking away power that could used for playing my games longer. However, I do like that I don't have to stick a AAA battery into it or something, so I guess it's forgiveable.

Since it's powered by the GBA, it does not work unless the GBA is on. The radio has its own on/off switch, as well as a volume adjustment switch. Not a slider or anything, just "high" and "low". I guess the in-between volumes are overrated anyways. The scan button scans for stations, and the reset button returns the "dial" to some kind of starting position at 90 or something.

I appreciate that this thing has a female external port so that link cables or other accessories can still connect to the GBA with the silver nugget latching onto it. At least I can trade pokemon with someone while listening to some radio-evangelist's gospel or something.

While it definitely works (for the most part), it is a cheap piece-of-shit accessory at the end of the day. It feels very cheap and light, because it is. It's kind of tight and awkward to attach my GBA, since it has to sort of clip onto the system while also plugging into the port. It works well enough for what it is.

Side note: it took me a minute to track down Intec's old website in order to find out what this thing was even called (and to see the rest of their old product line). I looked up an image of a different intec accessory in its packaging, which is where I found their old web-URL on the back!


Links:

Here are some archived pages from the old Intec site: