emulator: "Pizza Boy GBA"
type: standalone
core_classification: embedded_hle
source: "https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=it.dbtecno.pizzaboygbapro"
upstream: closed-source
author: "Pizza Emulators"
profiled_date: "2026-08-12"
core_version: "2.8.13"
display_name: "Nintendo - Game Boy Advance (Pizza Boy GBA)"
mode: standalone
cores:
  - "pizza-boy-gba"
  - "Pizza Boy GBA"
  - "PIZZA-BOY-GBA"
systems:
  - nintendo-gba

notes: |
  Two Android packages, closed source, sold and given away on Google Play under the
  Pizza Boy A name, reached by ES-DE through its PIZZA-BOY-GBA find rule and started
  with the game passed as the rom_uri extra: it.dbtecno.pizzaboygbapro, the paid build
  the rule names first, and it.dbtecno.pizzaboygba, the free one. Two Play distribution
  builds are read here, both carrying the source stamp: Pro 2.8.13 (versionCode 343,
  Play App Signing certificate sha256
  6b5547246e41921f25eba8abb1bc018729c4f0b8db029debbd3380a2b1ec2fe1), which supplies the
  Java and the resources, and Basic 2.3.3 (versionCode 236, developer certificate sha256
  b3ee584096acf4667bb9346daa9cce19237ef7ce95c99e9260ac89be0f7d6130, CN=Davide Berra,
  O=DBTecno), whose arm64-v8a libpizzaboy-jni.so ships DWARF and an unstripped symbol
  table and supplies every native reference below as its own file and line. Java line
  numbers are those of Pro 2.8.13. Two rebuilt copies of Pro 1.35.11 were rejected on
  their certificate, one signed C=debugging with no source stamp and one signed
  O=APKMODY. 69 of the 77 native methods the Pro declares are exported by the Basic
  core, the three BIOS entry points among them: one core, compiled per package.

  One system is emulated, Game Boy Advance: the core is built from a tree named
  pizzaboyadvance whose compilation units carry gba.c and no Game Boy core, and the
  three Game Boy Color and Super Game Boy methods the Pro still declares are among the
  eight the library does not export.

  The BIOS is the one file the user supplies, and it is read only while Load BIOS file
  is on, off by default; the picker and the Run BIOS animation switch, on by default,
  both depend on that box (res/xml/pref_general.xml). In the free package the same
  three preferences are declared android:enabled="false".

  A per rom Low precision BIOS set to On clears the stored path and makes the core keep
  its own replacement, and one cartridge, checksum 0xc7d89508, forces the same at load
  time. When a real image is installed the boot animation starts execution at 0 rather
  than at the cartridge entry, and a multiplayer session exchanges the CRC32 of the file
  so that both peers run the same one.

  Everything else the app opens it makes itself: boxart.db and cheat.db are created by
  their own CREATE TABLE, the default skins, the shaders and the cheat descriptors are
  raw resources unpacked at first run, and <rom>.keys is an input recording. The
  obfuscated assets are PairIP tamper protection.

files:
  - name: gba_bios.bin
    system: nintendo-gba
    required: false
    hle_fallback: true
    has_builtin: true
    agnostic: true
    size: 16384
    config_key: "bios_file"
    description: "Game Boy Advance BIOS"
    note: >-
      Chosen from any location under any name through the document picker, or, when the
      picked document is named .zip, taken from its first entry; the legacy browser
      offers .gba, .bin and .zip and writes the entry it extracts to bios.bin under the
      application directory. The absolute path is stored and handed to the library,
      which copies it into a 256 byte buffer. At load time the 16 KB BIOS area is first
      filled with a 744 byte replacement compiled into the library, then, if the path is
      set, the file is opened and up to 16384 bytes are read over it and a flag records
      that a real image is installed. Nothing about the file is examined: any read
      returning at least one byte is accepted, and no size, name or hash test exists on
      either side of the bridge. A read of zero bytes leaves the replacement in place
      and logs "Cannot read BIOS file".
    source_ref: "Pizza Boy GBA Pro 2.8.13 SettingsActivity.java:116-140 (import), :143-183
      (preference and picker), FileDialog.java:57,72,77,846-857 (legacy browser, zip entry
      to bios.bin), Common.java:85-105 (copy to temp), :160-190 (single entry unzip),
      MainActivity.java:833,835,865 (bridge), :10936-10941 (gate and handoff),
      res/xml/pref_general.xml (defaults); Pizza Boy A Basic 2.3.3 libpizzaboy-jni.so
      pizza.c:932-938 (path buffer), :945-946 (boot flag), :632-642 (low precision BIOS),
      global.c:93-95 (defaults), mmu.c:1522-1543 (replacement, gate, read, flag),
      :2106-2110 (forced HLE), cpu.c:40 (boot vector)"