Game Boy Modding teaches you how to purchase, refurbish, mod, and customize Nintendo handheld consoles. The consoles are widely available and the customizations are affordable, requiring only limited tools and know-how. Retro consoles are seeing a resurgence of popularity worldwide, and king among these throwback devices is the Nintendo Game Boy, which sold over 100 million units in its lifetime and introduced gamers to Mario and Pokemon. These consoles emanate pixelated 8-bit retro charm, but lack the modern technological enhancements that we take for granted in 2020. You'll learn basic soldering and hardware modification techniques; how to change speakers, buttons, and screen lenses; how to fix dead speakers and sticky buttons; and how to personalize your Game Boy to your heart's content.
Author(s): Greg Farrell
Publisher: No Starch Press
Year: 2020
Language: English
Pages: 256
Cover i
Half cover iii
Copyright page iv
About page v
Brief Table of Contents vii
Acknowledgements xiii
Retro Modding xv
Part One: Background 1
1 Intro to Modding and the History of Game Boy 3
Consoles I’ve Owned 7
Using This Book 12
A Brief History of the Game Boy 16
2 Tools, Techniques, and Repair 29
Modding Tools 30
Quick and Easy Soldering 36
Cleaning and Fixing Common Issues 39
General Cleaning 41
Changing the Speaker 46
Corrosion 47
Replacing Battery Contacts 50
Yellowing 51
Scratched Screen 52
Power Supply 53
Fixing Vertical Screen Lines 56
Horizontal Screen Lines 60
“Won’t Turn On” 61
Screen Burn 62
“Screen Cancer” 62
Cracked LCD 63
Game Boy Graveyard 64
Part Two: Mods 67
3 Game Boy DMG : “The Brick” 69
Tools and Materials 70
Opening the Game Boy 72
Removing the Polarizer 74
Installing the Bivert Module 78
Prepping the Backlight 82
Newton Rings 85
Putting It All Back Together 86
Adhering the Lens 88
Troubleshooting 89
Meet a Modder! Jaqueline Ruther (@mizucatofficial) 90
4 Game Boy Color 95
Tools and Materials 96
Color Code Key 98
Light Panels 100
Opening the GBC 102
LOCA 104
Wiring the Screen 110
Finishing Up 111
Spidering 113
Troubleshooting 115
Drop-In Backlight Mods 116
5 Get the Look! Customizing Your Game Boy 119
Customizing Your Game Boy Console 120
Painting Your Shell 127
Colored Power LED 134
Colored Backlights 137
Meet a Modder! Owen Liza Winter (@aspirationmods) 138
6 Game Boy Pocket 143
Tools and Materials 144
Opening the Game Boy 146
Preparing the LCD 148
Prepping the Backlight 150
Biverting the Pocket 151
Soldering the Light Panel 153
Finishing Up 154
Troubleshooting 155
Five-Volt Boost 156
7 Game Boy Advance 157
Tools and Materials 158
What We’ll Use 161
Opening the Game Boy Advance 163
Trimming the Shell 166
Installing the LCD Screen 168
Troubleshooting 172
IPS GBA Screen Mod 173
Meet a Modder! Sean Duran (@esotericmods) 174
8 Collector’s Guide 179
Q: What Is the “Holy Grail” of Your Collection? 180
Retro Gaming Publications 182
Terminology 184
Tips for Collecting 185
Games 186
Label Art 188
Storage 189
Spotting Fake Game Paks 190
Cleaning 192
Accessories 193
Game Boy Variants and Box Art 200
Pokemon Mini: Hunting My Holy Grail 206
9 Pokemon Mini 213
Tools and Materials 214
Opening the Mini 216
Preparing the Screen 219
Preparing the Backlight 220
Soldering the Backlight 222
Troubleshooting 225
10 Conclusion 227
An Ever-Expanding World 228
Resources 230
Photo Credits 232
Index 233
Back Cover 241
