I built a MODERN Gameboy... 

Im just glad I own all 1244 gameboy games so I can play my legal backups on this device

16:42 Unironically the best advertisement you could give to both companies. The fact that a human looked at your design and warned you about it, that's just excellent.

What you said about the GBA's CPU isn't entirely true. You said that it is just a bigger beefier version of the original CPU, but that's kinda a stretch. the CPU chip is actually an SOC that has a whole bunch of stuff. It has all the audio circuits, video output circuits, and computing power all on one chip. For the actual CPU part of it, it actually has two CPUs. it has an exact copy of the original Gameboy's CPU as well as a new one designed for the GBA. It can switch between the two because of a switch that's activated when you put in the different size cartridges. So yeah, while it does run the games without any emulation, it's not because the CPU is a higher-powered version of the original, but rather because it has a direct copy of the original in addition to a high-powered CPU.

Heres a tip to make desoldering with solder wick so much easier and quicker: only use the cut end of the wick to absorb solder. so when you cut the solder wick with scissors, use that open end of the wick to absorb the solder, it works so much better and quicker. once it stops absorbing solder, cut and continue

There are a couple of mod kits that already exist for doing this sort of thing to a gba sp. They're either full metal shells, partial metal shells, or full on plastic. And there are options for a headphone jack and usb-c charging.

This man must hate his hands, the horizontal version is a blessing for adults, no hand cramps and awkwardness.

Morally and ethically speaking, if the games aren't sold first party anymore, they shouldn't get a say in how we obtain them.

I don’t see the advantage of the candy bar over the clam shell. The clam shell is a foldable candy bar.

This is very cool. but this form factor has been done before. I say challenge yourself to make it with the chonky GB in mind. put the circuit board farther up in the chassis so that gb/gbc games don't jut out the bottom, or rotate the board 180 deg and have a separate daughter board for the controls. that'd be a TRUE hard mode. :)

1:27 This isn't entirely accurate. The GBA's primary CPU is a totally different architecture, being ARM. It has a secondary processor inside just for GameBoy (and Color) games that is the Sharp. The way you phrased it could be misinterpreted as the GBA has one CPU which is a beefy GB CPU, which is wrong as GBA games don't use it.

The GBA actually has 2 different CPU's. One for GBA games and one for the backwards compatibility with GB & GBC games.

Wish you’d left it running at max brightness and volume to see what the battery life was. Brilliant video.

I find the lack of wood disturbing...

The ultimate Gameboy should be top loaded and able to comfortably function with the Gameboy camera and other protruding carts. Gotta design a button board and "Slab" it up next time 😁

'remove the serial number so it can't be traced back to you if it's ever used for future crimes' 💀💀

0:54 It doesn't have a backlit screen. Only the AGS-101 model has that. The device shown is the AGS-001 which has a front lit screen.

Who’s gonna tell him about the GBA Slate mod already 😢

Sick build! As others have pointed out: you're software emulating any GB games when using that EZFlash. The GB CPU is physically deactivated when a cartridge of that form factor is inserted.

This looks fantastic! I appreciate all the effort in keeping these old machines running and looking great

i love that this channel just has the final thoughts and improvements section. This is something many people are just missing but its always important to learn from failure and make it part of the process, even on fantastic builds. Failure is something we can learn from each other and the more open we are, and information about those failures we spread the more others can learn. Its the main reason i really enjoy watching this channels content.

Love the modern xx builds.

Some tips when it comes to printing with PETG and getting more translucent parts without a ton of post processing. Several factors affect how clear it is speed, temp and layer height being the big three. Now you won't get completely clear with zero post processing, but you can get pretty darn close. Using orca slicer you can see the clarity changes with a temp tower and once you dial that in run the speed test to see where it transitions from a more matte finish to more glossy. The biggest impact will be through layer height and translucent parts are generally which I'll switch from 0.4 to 0.8 nozzles as the layer height range for the 0.8 nozzle is far clearer of a final product. For example the PETG I'm running through an X1C I have my nozzle temp hard set to 260, max volumetric speed at 16mm3/s and a flow ratio at 1.0342 to get fairly clear parts with minimal post processing (Mostly because I'm lazy and hate sanding). On another note I was noticing that the portion around your button where the print required support was sort of rough. Given you have an AMS you can make that finish far far smoother by setting your Support/Raft interface to a material that doesn't stick to the material you are printing. So if you are printing PETG then use PLA or if PLA use PETG or finally use that support for PLA that bambu sent you. This will auto set the Top Z distance to zero and it will press the layer into the support giving a clean break and a far better overhang. Obviously you gotta be careful with this setting because if you have a bunch of overhangs at different heights it can add a ton of filament swaps in super quick. But on something like this case where everything is basically the same height, it will yield a far superior end finish. This is particularly valuable when printing PETG and ABS parts because as you are likely well familiar, overhangs in those materials are pretty rough without support.

if you check the shell you will find the power button is not worn off. the power switch is designed not to worn off hence you wont hear or feel the click, the feel of click is created within the shell .

This thing looks fantastic. Love that you can see all its internals and the back lit buttons looks great his way too.

Amazing, Thanks.

The plastic itself is what makes the click in the power button not the switch itself.

I grew up with that Gameboy, I love it. The Gameboy Color is a wonderful upgrade to the size and screen. I miss my Gameboy Advance SP because it was my favorite.

Absolutely awesome dude. A big well done to you.

uneven borders on the screen are killing me

Now that is a nice looking finished product 😮

This totally ROCKS. It's incredible how much of a life you can bring to an older and prolly deade console with some newer parts and deserved upgrades.

Woo amazing change, I can't wait for the material in which you design a handheld console that will be able to run games including ps2, psp. keep it up, your actions are an inspiration to others.❤

OMG looks incredible Zack way too go I love it Wish I had one God Bless You and Your Family

Oh that is gorgeous! I'm well jealous!

Love the white frosty case

On the topic of the power switch, general practice in the modding community is to *not* replace them, but instead disassemble them with a soldering iron and clean them with isopropyl. It provides much the same effect as replacing the switch entirely, without all the nasty side effects that come with a third party switch (notably, aftermarket switches are just not the right size)

This was pretty impressive, set out to do something and absolutely nailed it.

Your best build yet! Hella impressive

Epic mod work! Loved this video :)

amazing results

Very cool mode, as always.

I tore a contact on a GBA and I too thought it was the end of it. That shit will drop your heart right into your stomach. Glad you figured it out!

I love your chanel!!

It looks so cool!!!

Awesome work, Zac!

Awesome job on this build. If you sold these I would buy one without hesitation!

a new video of my favorite carpenter turned console modder. I'm a simple man, I press like and think "neat!"

Thanks!

I should get into doing this kind of modding for people. This is literally what i do at work and the components i replace have to hold up to being in the generator of f18s, c130 and occasionally apache helicopters

super cool build

Amazing! Been waiting for this video ever since you commented on Macho Nacho's video about building your own new Gameboy

Really glad I subscribed to this channel

In my experience working with clear plastic cases, spraying only the inside with glow in the dark spraypaint gives a nice softer touch to any clear case.

Transparent case goes hard.

That is a very nice play station box!

I did exactly the same thing trying to install the USB-C port on mine, motivated me to finally invest in a hot air reflow station.

"The Gameboy Advance SP has been released in 2003" .. no way! This thing feels like the newest of the bunch to me, I still remember a friend having that SD card module to play tons of games without having to swap cartridges and me thinking that was super cool. It even had a backlit screen and all. Gosh I feel so old now 😭

Should get some of the holographic textured build plates. They get the holographic look just because of the angles in the texture and how light bounces off. That way whatever u print on them get that holographic look on their finish free of charge. Pretty cool i think.

My favourite mod I’ve seen was the GBC internals in a DMG case with rechargeable battery, IPS Screen and filtered power and speaker amp. This is way cooler as you said it covers the first three gens, once I have some time I might try an sp to dmg hybrid. The dmg form factor is somewhat satisfying.

I like the LEDs around the buttons (or as you would say..."buddons")

Amazing work. Now if I had a tenth of your knowledge, skill and money, I might give it a try.

Ha, I recently did pretty much all these same upgrades, but to an original GBA rather than the SP (I prefer the buttons next to the screen). I also added an aftermarket lithium battery so that it, too, can charge over USB C. Mine even still has the link port! By the way, you don't _have_ to run the original on disposables; it works just fine on rechargeables and modern ones give you pretty good battery life.

One thing you might have not noticed or forgot is that they also had a spin wheel volume changer on some of their models (especially the gbc/gba) that you could have stiwched out the slider bar for to allow you better control over the sound

Jeez, could have sworn I was subscribed already. Fixed! Thank you for the great vidz :-)

Love your vids man

Damn you're a legit engineer now! Your case and mods are not trivial. Also, textured print plates are *chef's kiss*

I think the JLCPCB print may just need additional curing. You could try leaving it in a sunny spot at a window for a couple days and see if the soft gummy feeling gets better.

Did you think about putting the wireless charging coil under the screen in a circular "notch" or "bump", if you will? That would actually still leave a little gap for your fingers to work the shoulder buttons

i enjoy ur videos keep up

You have some of the best builds.

That mod is just gorgeous beautiful, I love it!! 💙🤘

Amazing video man! The SP was such an improvement over the DMG. One note though, @ 15:09 you counted to three wrong.

Awesome video and was wondering what 3d printer are you using in this video since you didnt list it?

I love this modernizing retro consoles series!

The smaller google next hub (7"iirc) makes a great e picture frame. And at under £40 a pop now is a steal.

The clam shell was 100% the best form factor. Man I miss the SP.

Bruh! This is so rad, it makes me want to do something similar and I don't even play games anymore. 😀

pretty cool, but I'll stick to my aluminum slate mod

Look amazing 😍

I don't typically like a clear case, but this one looks so slick!

Less Go Zac!

There is a "How To Print Glass" post on printables all about getting super clear results with FDM printing, might be cool to look into for this mod!

I really love this video, I’m looking for a Game Boy layout just like this, but with the cartridge moved on top and the charging port on the bottom which I have yet to see somebody do

That is sooo clean man. The clear purple Gameboy colour is still my fav though ;)

I have no ability or even interest in modding anything but this was an incredibly enjoyable video! Thank you for the creative content!

I think if the speaker grill on the new case had thinner holes and/or was a "grid" like on the SP, it probably wouldn't be so loud, though it might sound more muffled-ish

I’d love to see what your take on the ultimate DS would be. Awesome job

Awesome 😮modd plus the extra are just right 😢

i am so hype for the gamecube video

Zac, enjoying your channel since I found it while trying to find diy vids. What would you recommend for a first time woodworking project?

Nice video man! Brought back good memories. I have a suggestion for a video, it would be really cool if you could modernized a Nintendo DS next.

Love it, also highly recommend checking out the Mahko slate!

That frost white looks nice too though.

Can't agree more about the clamshell design. I can see why they went that way, but FAR prefer the horizontal look. Way better ergonomics all around. The candybar format is a close second to that.

Very cool build, man. You basically designed your own Slate mod completely from scratch! Also, if I'm not mistaken, that OLED screen kit for the GBC uses an OEM screen for an old Blackberry phone. Those screens are not being produced these days and the inventory for the kit is probably limited to however many screens the company was able to get their hands on. I'm pretty sure it's just a coincidence that the screen ended up being the appropriate size and resolution to work as a GBC screen, so it's hard to say if we will ever get a similar kit for the GBA or the SP.

Awesome!

I miss 90’s clear tech fashion 😂❤ I wish I could make that too. 🙏🏴‍☠️😇

Might be possible to solder an extra resistor in series with the volume pot to reduce its maximum volume (least resistance?). Depends how the circuit for it works. Gotta be a schematic somewhere online? Or see if you can adjust the gain resistor on the mod amplifier circuit. But as far as precision of adjustment, only so much you can do with a linear slide pot. Fully-digital has its drawbacks, too...

Is anyone going to tell him about Analogue Pocket? Its exactly what he wants. It has a cart port for physical carts, its USB-C charging, LCD screen @ 1440p, you can use the original GameBoy cable to connect to an actual GameBoy/Color/Advanced/SP or another Pocket, remappable buttons, and you can even run ROMs on it that you legally own. I've had mine for over 6 months now, and it's great!

This form factor for the SP has been officially on sale for awhile through Boxy Pixel.