Please join my discord! Come and talk to me about how incredible these accessories are - discord.gg/4xECwkU

I believe the camera is tricking the GBA into believing it's using some kind of downloaded application, like how the tingle tuner worked in the wind waker, or the usage of the gba in four swords adventures

Couldn't the battery have just been dead? It's been sitting in there for like 20 years almost, I think it's worth trying getting a new one

Could you imagine James Bond Pulling out this out as his spy camera.

"They look absolutely terrible, so I am very excited." -The man himself, Elliot

plot twist both pictures he took was his white table

Who needs 4k cameras when you can have the wormcam

I owned the worm cam as a child. These came out when digital cameras were in their inception when most cameras were 1-2 megapixel and cost about $400. These things were a bargain. You couldn't keep an elaborate library of photos but it is great fun when you're 10 years old. It even had a polarized filter for day time shots.

Laughed so hard at the placement of the purple monster slug, truly these are some of the greatest accessories of all time

They seem to circumvent Nintendo‘s licensing by using the „One Game Required“ mode of the GBA. A few games had those, as example Donkey Kong King of Swing, where you only needed one game and all others could connect up via Link cables to play with you. Basically the grandfather of the Nintendo DS Download Mode.

Please try replacing the battery in the camera, its god knows how old... Keep up the great content 👍

That t-Rex is glorious, and I mean that in the worst way

These episodes are the most entertaining... when absolutely NOTHING goes your way! :)

"Who watches youtube at 5:30 AM?" Me: "Oh boy! 5:30!"

LOL you had to take the entire thing apart for the SP 😂

This is where I really wish the DSi had a gba slot.

It seems to use the GBA's little-known ability to boot from the link port. Another great project that uses it is the GBA MIDI synth.

This cam is probably better than the most security cameras

The GBA E-reader used the link port to download content into the GBA. Manhole, for example, was loaded entirely into RAM from the card. I imagine the Wormcam is doing the same thing.

I bought this Wormcam when it was brand new years ago, and I gotta say, you aren't missing much. It was abysmal. It was about the same quality of the actual Gameboy Camera, but in (a small amount of) color.

I had the same reaction when I found a new-old-stock GBA "Wireless Messenger" from Majesco. The device has no cartridge contacts yet it's able to run the software via the link cable port. The Wireless Messenger I have is designed for the GBA SP and was a way to send text messages to other GBA users with the same accessory, claiming a 1-mile range. If you can find two of these, maybe you can do a video on this odd texting device.

Worst review, he says. I had a great time watching you tear it apart. Laughed the whole time. Thumbs up incoming! Edit: The bonus accessory did not disappoint for entertainment either.

You can get USB to Serial/Parallel adaptors on ebay for next to nothing. Might be worth picking something up if you want to do deeper stuff in future.

Hey, The Retro Future I had one of these and I think I remember getting it to work on the Gamecube Game Boy Player.

Try putting a new battery coz thats how games are saved in GB cartridges...and maybe thats why its not saving in worm cam as well!!

imagine being the only witness to a murder scene and you were on your gba. Me: OFFICER I SWEAR THESE ARENT DOCTORED! ITS ELLIOT'S FAULT! HE MADE ME SO EAGER TO BUY ONE!!

I used to have the WormCam. I loved it. The images were fairly washed out, unless you were outdoors. You could add text and connect to PC, and I felt like the coolest lil photographer in school. While everyone else had chunky Sony Mavicas, and a backpack full of floppy discs, I was trolling around the halls taking low quality selfies and playing Duke Nukem.

🤨TheRetroFuture uploading videos mid day UK time for local time viewers 😏 TheRetroFuture uploading at 4:30AM US time for the subs who can’t sleep

I lagit was cracking up laughing when you snaped that Slug-Rex onto the GB color and it's hands were directly over the screen! Please don't apologize the video was worth it!

That spin you did with the worm cam was so awesome and perfectly timed. That worked out perfectly for you.... and then nothing else worked out for you. Sorry for the disappointment but your video is still awesome. Lemonade out of lemons? XD

4:15 The GBA can use the link port not only for connecring multiple GBAs. External devices can also use it to provide an user interface via this port. The official Wireless Adapter sold with Pokémon Fire Red, Leaf Green and Emerald also used this method when no cartridge was inserted. Also this enabled multiplayer with only one cartridge either by link cable or Wireless Adapter.

Imagine getting two ineffective products in one video, good job with working with it😂. Love your content keep doing what you’re doing🙏

Even your bad videos are good videos . That damn British accent makes everything smooth .

Don’t worry Elliot, it is equally as entertaining to see you review failure products... AND get excited for WormCam stickers

Could the camera be emulating some kind of Gamecube connector? Maybe? I know that hooking the GBA up the Gamecube allowed you to do stuff on the GBA, and as long as you didn't turn the GBA off, you could disconnect it from the Gamecube and still play whatever you loaded into the GBA (Like the Tiny Chao Garden.)

ah, so that uses the link port to activate it. The only GBA peripheral that actually does that from what I know was the GBA wireless adapter when you don’t have a game in.

I for one love this video, I'd watch more vids on you messing with vintage/out dated equipment that may or may work.

It works because it uses the Game Boy Advance single-cart multiplayer system, to boot up the software. The reason it does this is because of the license / security protection on the cartridge port, that is actually bypassed when booting over the serial port. It is a way for this third party to make this an unlicensed accessory and Nintendo can't really block its usage.

4:00 That's "Link Mode", the GBA boots automatically into it when it has a GBA Link Cable or something like an e-Reader attached. Or, y'know, if you know the right button combo.

Yeah, that's the multiboot function that Nintendo introduced in the GBA. You can hold start and select while booting any GBA with a game in to enable it (the console will hang from there unless you have a game ready to load via the link port) or just boot the console with no game. This is how one cart multiplayer games like Mario Kart work. This is also how a lot of NGC games communicate with the GBA and how a few Pokemon distributions are done. On Pokemon Emerald (or Fire Red and Leaf Green), you can hit Select + B on the title screen to enable Berry Fix mode for Ruby and Sapphire and this fix is distributed to the other games via multiboot: www.serebii.net/rubysapphire/berryglitch.shtml Related, all Game Boy Advance hardware supports this, including the DS and Game Boy Micro. The DS, unfortunately, has only partial support as there is no link port. You can still boot holding Start and Select and it will switch to multiboot mode but you can never actually boot anything that way on the DS. The Micro on the other hand needs a small adapter. I've published the files on the adapter here: github.com/makhowastaken/OXY-Dongler There is also a seller on taobao that sells premade adapters (of a slightly different design) but I'm sure that if I post a link, my comment will just get trapped in youtube's spam filter.

To the creators of worm cam, Will work with GBA SP. Just some disassembly required. Sincerely, Elliott

That cut at the very end was a thing of beauty.

This is the same with The Legend of Zelda Wind Waker and the Link Cable and the Tingle Tuner - That's old :D

In the future when you open these packages the instructions and any software that may be contained it inside of it will usually be sandwiched between the cardboard that you left in the pack. Tkz for the video bro. Entertaining as always.

The camera is using a feature on the Gameboy Advance called "Multiboot" which boots code over the link port. It allows certain multiplayer games when only one person has a cartridge.

The GBA also makes that sound while showing the Nintendo logo afterwards when connecting with a Gamecube which is via the link cable port

I had one of those when it came out and I remember using the right shoulder button to take a pic

Bruh you’re lucky I was up at 4:30 am lol...... to see nothing working well that sucks

Hey everyone, hope you're having an amazing day :) Edit:imagine streaming off this camera 😂

@4:00 That chime and Pink Nintendo logo color indicates a game has been sent via ext. just like playing a shared game with a 2nd GBA running without a cart. Its like it dumps the game to memory temporarily.

Just got an Ascii controller for the gamecube now about to do a refurb! Hopefully ive watched enough episodes to have some sort of idea on what to do! i have my mr sheen and isopropyl alcohol ready!

The reason why that thing works over just the link port, it's probably using the same mode that the Gamecube link cable used. Especially since it has that loading screen with a progress bar. Presumably it has to load the software over the low speed serial connection of the link port. It was probably also a clever way of getting around Nintendo licensing. Suggestion about the camera not working, just because you didn't mention it on video....did you try changing the coin cell that is in the camera?

The camera is using the same function that multi-player, single cart games used via the link cable. The GBA can send/receive software through the ext port.

I was laughing my ass off that was a good video sorry that the cam and light didn't work but you entertained me so you did something right keep up the good work

As a child, even if that T-Rex light never worked, I would have kept it as an accessory just because I would have thought it'd be awesome to have a purple dinosaur.

Even if the light did work you'd have some f***ing huge alien dino blocking the screen! These designers had a big brain moment here! 😂😂😂

The 8-Bit Guy did a review on this a while back, his didn't work either. Seems like most of these units were faulty.

I had the WormCam growing up. I forgot all about it until this video. I'll have to try to find it as it's probably still around the house somewhere.

Videos like these are why I watch your vids. Thank you for the entertainment.

Even your fail videos are super entertaining!!! 🤣

I had one of these as a kid back with the original GBA and could never get it to take a single picture

Elliot is more excited for getting a sticker than the actual product haha

Thanks for the laugh! Don't move! It's vision is based on movement!

My brother had a Worm Camera for his GBA back when they were being still sold in stores. They were on clearance, but still being sold at stores. The thing took terrible pictures. I think the original Gameboy camera took better pictures then the worm camera. The battery in it was only to save the pictures until you could download them to a PC. So once the battery dies you pictures were gone. Assuming they were any good. One more thing, we could never get the thing to connect to the PC to transfer the pictures. The software that came with it was awful and the drivers never worked, and the internet wasn't really a thing we had at the time to check for a better version.

4:26 it does seem to work just through that. Not a huge surprise though, considering the Tingle Tuner for Wind Waker did basically the same thing

Now that begs another DIY project: home made WormDino Light for the Long GameBoy! But instead of a tyrannosaurus rex it should be a brachiosaurus. Because of the “long“ neck. Get it?XD

“Where’s his legs?” Ha ha fantastic!

Oh man I remember my brothers having this for the GBA and the excitement they had for it bruh But all in all thanks for the nostalgia very awesome

メガコンソール Game boy advance can transfer ROM data via the cable. That's how it work. It is useful for match game when you have one and others don't.

It's possible that it may have been developed on a previous version of a GBA mother board. Kinda like when you used to have to know what model of mother board you had when doing the first back light mods, like the AGS-101

Of course it works, it's like the Link cable for the GameCube mate

I've been laughing the whole way through watching this haha :D

This gives a whole new meaning to: "would you love me if I was a worm?".

Elliot! You've voided the warranty! haha very interesting and entertaining

Hey eliot! First of all great video as always! And I wanna say I thank you for actually inspiring me to start refurbishing and deep clean the Gameboy family. I thank you for the links you provided in your refurb videos, I’m gonna buy those soon. Also where did you get that Nintendo repair hat? Thank you and much love!

i’m surprised you haven’t done an IPS mod to an AGB yet. should be on your list imo :P

I had one of these growing up and it worked right out of the box! the dial focus adjuster was an absolute pain though, yours seems to be missing the getto "sunglass" attachment that you put over the lens if it was too bright which did not work at all. It was better to use that to get leverage on the lens adjuster

This uses the same mechanism as the gamecube-to-GBA adapter or games that only needed one cart for multiplayer. It sends a program down the extension port, which is loaded into RAM and run . Why are you so surprised? A lot of games used this functionality. Even some official Nintendo accessories used it, albeit manually triggered via start+select (the wireless link adapter provided with Pokemon Emerald being one)

For the WormCam it's possible the included battery is dead, just because it had the corrosion prevention tab doesn't mean the alkaline inside the battery didn't just dry up or whatever. I have no explanation for the T-Rex... thingy... had one little LED that was probably poor quality anyway, it blocked the screen, even if it worked I don't know if it... "worked"...

I've seen the red "Nintendo" logo before. You can see it when you boot up a GBA without a game in the slot and a Wireless Adapter in the GBA link port as well.

a bright sun filter for all your bright sun films

Word of advice, get yourself an RS232 serial to USB converter, preferably one with an FTDI chipset on board. I have to use one for my work, a lot of networking gear has to be configured via a serial console interface, and the converter I use works wonders for that. There's some now that even come with a Type C connector on the end as well.

I knew someone who had that T-Rex light and it had to be FORCEFULLY pressed into the link port to get it to connect but it did work. I recommend trying an extension cable if you can find one.

3:00 loved that reaction

Maybe Mr Slug T Rex only worked on the gameboy light? At least that is what I heard both times you read out the instructions.

Yeah, that also happens when you have the wireless link for the GBA. It came with Pokémon Leaf Green and Fire Red, in the early versions at least.

I recommend getting a ROM dumper to be able to pull images off of GB cameras. That would make putting them in the videos way easier.

Having seen many other videos of the WormCam by other KZfaqrs, it shouldn't really come as a surprise that yours didn't work

I seem to remember some GBA games that let you play link games whilst only one person had a cartridge. I imagine this uses the same technology to work :)

Have you ordered the Analogue Pocket, and if so are you going to do an unboxing and review?

Im a big fan of your content and im thinking of reparing gameboys myself. Are the gameboy pockets and advanced a good place to start?

That's odd, Im from Mexico, I remember having one of those, it was just a terrible camera, but back then there were not a lot of digital cameras, dissapoted that it wasnt like the gameboy camera, but worked pretty well.

If you push both start and select in boot, the gba starts looking for an external boot from the cable port. If there's something usable, It displays the Red Nintendo logo. Played a lot of multiplayer Dr. Mario with two GBA s and only a cartridge, both with wireless adapters

You can see the light come on at 12:22, it's just super super super dim

7:47 you remind me of when my mum yells at me :(

@theretrofuture you could try connecting to Gameboy Player on Gamecube and capture from there.

Dude the worm cam HAS BATTERIES IN IT 😓🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂😂🤣☺️🤣🤣☺️😂😂😂😂😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂😂

I had the WormCam! As I recall, mine worked, but not very well. At the very least I remember actually being able to take pictures with mine, though I distinctly recall being disappointed with the results.

Would be interesting to see a GBA Media Player and its role in early DS homebrew. One of the early devices which people were able to use to boot up DS games.

Dear god the light doesn't even come out its mouth, i thought for a second i was a cool Godzilla but its just a slug monster with with hole in its neck.