The Game Boy Player supports the following: •
Game Boy Game Paks: Compatible with most
Game Boy,
Game Boy Color, and
Game Boy Advance games. Game Boy games can be played using the same
selectable color palettes as on the Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance and Game Boy Advance SP. Games with compatibility issues are listed below. •
e-Reader: Compatible with the e-Reader accessory, as well as all classic games,
Mario Party-e,
Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3-e,
Animal Crossing-e, and
Pokémon Battle-e cards. •
GameCube – Game Boy Advance link cable: By plugging it into a GameCube controller port, a GBA or GBA SP can be used as a substitute for a GameCube controller. By inserting a cable into the GBA link cable port and the GameCube controller plug into a second GameCube or a Wii, the Game Boy Player can be used to connect to a GameCube game. •
Wireless Adapter: The GBP fully supports the use of a Wireless Adapter, and will work with
all games compatible with the accessory.
Compatibility issues The instruction manual for the Game Boy Player specifically mentions that "A few original Game Boy Game Paks may have display or sound problems," and that "Motion sensor [...], rumble feature and
infrared feature Game Paks will not work with the
Game Boy Player." The following list concerns Game Boy Advance games and accessories that have compatibility issues, be they software or physical hardware, with the Game Boy Player: •
Game Boy Advance Video: All GBA Video cartridges are incompatible with the Game Boy Player, to prevent users from attaching the Game Boy Player to a
VCR or
DVD recorder and copying the Game Boy Video material. The GBA Video carts detect the Game Boy Player and refuse to boot when running under it, giving an
error message. Even if the carts were playable on the player (which they are through the use of
flash carts and
Action Replay), the resolution was greatly reduced for the GBA medium, causing
pixelation and sound pops that a large screen with louder speakers would pick up. •
Action Replay/Gameshark: Most models of the Action Replay or Gameshark for the GBA or GBC are too wide to fit into the GBP's cartridge slot and often curl underneath the Game Boy Player system. One can overcome this problem by either modifying the device or simply through use of a ledge or propping up the system an inch. Despite these problems, most common Action Replay and Gameshark devices will work normally. •
Motion sensors: Games that use motion sensors (such as ''
Kirby Tilt 'n' Tumble and WarioWare: Twisted!'') are compatible with the Game Boy Player, but require tilting the whole GameCube to control, due to the motion sensor being integrated into the Game Pak. •
Infrared: Due to the lack of an infrared port on the Game Boy Player, Game Boy Color games cannot make use of this feature when played on the Game Boy Player. However, by separating the two pieces of plastic on the end of the Converter Connector that connects to a Game Boy Advance, a linkup between a Game Boy Micro and Game Boy Player becomes possible. The Game Boy Micro can also communicate with the Game Boy Player using Wireless Adapters (the Game Boy Micro Wireless Adapter for the Game Boy Micro and the Game Boy Advance Wireless Adapter for the Game Boy Player). •
Games with integrated rumble for Game Boy Color: Integrated
rumble features are unavailable when playing Game Boy Color games which feature them (such as
Pokémon Pinball), as it is only output through the Game Pak itself, not the GameCube controller. •
Action Pad/
Beat Pad: The two dance pad controllers for the GameCube, the GCN Action Pad (bundled with
Dance Dance Revolution Mario Mix) and the
Mad Catz Beat Pad (bundled with
MC Groovz Dance Craze), do not properly interact with the
Game Boy Color Dance Dance Revolution games due to time synchronization issues. This is likely because they were never intended to be used together. •
Game Boy Color games incompatible with the Game Boy Advance: The games
Pocket Music and
Chee-Chai Alien are incompatible with the Game Boy Advance, and thus the Game Boy Player, giving an error message stating that they can only be played on the Game Boy Color if attempted.
Chee-Chai Alien uses the
infrared port of the Game Boy Color to detect light as a fundamental part of the game.
Pocket Music utilizes the Game Boy Color's sound chip in ways not possible on the Game Boy Advance, so a separate version was released for the Game Boy Advance. ==Rumble enabled==