Easy NO SOLDER GBA HDMI Consolizing Kit! BUT, Is It Any Good?
Вставка
- Опубліковано 19 чер 2024
- NO SOLDERING GBA HDMI Consolizing Kit! But, Is It Any Good?
There is a new Kickstarter campaign for a DIY kit to consolize the Game Boy Advance. It comes from a company called IntecGaming. The question is, with several available options to play GBA games on the big screen, is this one any good? And how does it stack up to the competition? Let's find out!
Check Out My MACHO NACHO MERCH and MODS: macho-nacho.com/shop/
Check Out the All NEW MACHO NACHO WEBSITE: macho-nacho.com/
► So here's what you will find in this video:
► 0:00 Intro
► 2:46 Kit Unboxing
► 4:16 Installation Tutorial
► 7:45 Kit Features
► 10:01 Alternate Options/Comparison
► 12:08 Pros and Cons
-----
//Where to buy the Intec Gaming GBA HDMI Kit:
► Kickstarter: www.kickstarter.com/projects/...
-----
// Support Macho Nacho on PATREON:
► / machonachoproductions
// JOIN me on DISCORD!
► / discord
-----
// SAVE MONEY at these Retro Modding Stores! (Affiliate Links Below):
► SAVE 10% by using COUPON CODE: TITO on any purchase from RETRO GAME REPAIR SHOP here: retrogamerepairshop.com/?ref=...
► SAVE 5% by using COUPON CODE: MACHONACHO on any purchase from RETRO MODDING here: bit.ly/39hHnz7
// TOOLS AND GEAR I Use For Video Game Console Modding (Soldering Equipment, Flux, Kapton Tape etc) (Affiliate Link):
►SRA Flux Pen: amzn.to/2CmPX4U
►Circuit Board Holder - amzn.to/2zV7VuC
►28 AWG gauge wire: amzn.to/2Ni1V22
►Wire Stripper/Cutter: amzn.to/3hQ7fb2
►Silicone Mat for soldering: amzn.to/314rc88
►Kapton Tape: amzn.to/3xFk4wp
►iFixit Toolkit I use for all my projects: amzn.to/2CnJEOt - Everything you need!
►Hakko FR-301 Desolder Gun: amzn.to/2E8P2X3
►All other stuff I use: www.amazon.com/shop/machonacho...
// Great readily available IPS MOD KITS (Affiliate Links):
►Awesome Sony PSP IPS Screen Replacement: ebay.us/zlFs4h
►Neo Geo IPS Retro Pixel Kit: ebay.us/1qCM0Y
►Game Boy Color Q5 IPS Backlight with OSD: ebay.us/uuBWar
►WonderSwan Color IPS Kit: ebay.us/1SL73d
-----
// MY VIDEO and AUDIO Equipment (Amazon Affiliate Links):
-Sony A6500 Camera - amzn.to/39FSxQa
-My Absolute Favorite Lens - amzn.to/308Zm9O
-Zoom H4N Audio Recorder - amzn.to/2CR5LxF
-Aston Origin Microphone - amzn.to/3hPnap0
-Atomos Ninja V External Recorder - amzn.to/3fcq3i6
-----
// These stores provide fantastic Gear and Mods for Retro Consoles! If you use the following links below, I received a small percentage from sales at no cost to you. This is a great, free way to support the channel!
○ Retro Game Repair Shor (Tons of Game Boy Mods)
► retrogamerepairshop.com/?ref=...
○ Retro Modding (Lots of Handheld Console Mods)
► bit.ly/39hHnz7
○ Stone Age Gamer (Flash Carts and other great Retro Tech)
► stoneagegamer.com?afmc=MACHONACHO
○ eBay (Second Hand Retro Gaming Gear and More. It’s where I buy a lot of the consoles I mod!)
► ebay.us/NCwNkl
○ Sendico (Proxy Service to bid on Japanese Auctions. I use Sendico to get great deals on Retro Consoles directly from Japan!)
► sendico.com/referral/MachoNacho
-----
// Social Media
► Instagram: / machonachoproductions
► Facebook: / machonachoproductions
► Twitter: / machonachomedia
-----
// Intro Music for Retro Renew Series by Matthew McCheskey:
► matthewmccheskey.bandcamp.com/
-----
Full disclosure, I get a small percentage of each sale that uses an affiliate link or coupon code. It’s a great way to help SUPPORT my channel at no cost to you so I can continue to make these videos for all of you, everyone wins! And as always, thank you for your continued support of my channel!
#GBA #GBAConsolizer #MachoNachoProductions
DISCLAIMER: This video is only for entertainment purposes. Any injury, damage, or loss that may result from improper use of tools, equipment, or from the information in this video is the sole responsibility of the viewer and is to be used at the discretion of the end user/viewer and not Macho Nacho Productions or Tito Perez. If you are uncertain about any step of the process or feel unsure about your skill level, seek a more authoritative source. - Ігри
Bob of @RetroRGB released a video where he conducts lag tests for the Intec GBA HDMI kit and unfortunately the results are not good. Definitely watch his video also before considering backing the Kickstarter campaign: ua-cam.com/video/y3-hFSaVRWs/v-deo.html
Seen Retro RGB’s video, very professional indeed.
Looking at this GBA KIT from a high standard could be an overstatement.
It would be unfair comparing GBA HDMI KIT with GBA consolizer, it’s like comparing Zara with Chanel - totally different TA
For this KIT, it's good value for money, with all the functionality; includes bluetooth connectivity, a new gamepad with leftover casing, slick outter case.
These frames per second probably won’t be noticed by most users, should be acceptable in most cases.
Aspect ratio does indeed need fixing which I heard they’ve already done from comments below.
Overall, it’s a bargain and I’d pledge for it.
@@kuo-yenhuang6804 It'll only not be noticeable if you really are unaware of input lag in general and or are a casual gamer who really doesn't care about precision when they play.
Anyone who cares at all about actually doing well in their games will notice IMMEDIATELY. I can tell when an output has anything over a single frame myself.
Thanks for letting ppl know about Bob's testing. It's absolutely something ppl need to be aware of. And when you test any device in the future, I strongly recommend doing some sort of lag testing as well. It's extremely important for anyone even remotely serious about their gaming.
That's a shamed because I like the concept and believe the design is more appealing than the consolizer. It would be cool to see a metal version of the housing from Boxy Pixel!
@@Wedeemgaming The thing could be a bare board for all I care. I only really care about how it functions.
It's a real shame the aspect ratio on this kit's wrong. If not for that I'd absolutely be getting one of these. The soft picture quality isn't _ideal,_ but it's entirely tolerable especially for that price. But, the wrong aspect ratio is just such a deal breaker. Pity, cuz everything else about this kit is legitimately really nice actually!
The image quality is pretty bad too, like the GBA screen itself is super crisp and sharp, so having such a soft, blurry image is also super inaccurate, and a massive deal breaker as well.
You could probably adjust the screen with your TV's settings.
Technically, neither was the Game Boy Player and nor was the Super Game Boy.
Kickstart page's latest update shows a post that they are "...currently working on fixing the aspect ratio ... "
The aspect ratio is unfortunately a deal breaker.
Sooooo close! The price is great, The non solder install is big brain, The design is cute, and it can easily connect to other popular wireless controller, if only the aspect ratio is right, this will be the best kit for everybody who want to experience GBA in bigger screen.
I love how beautifully designed this kit is, what really gets me is the fact that you can use your donor gba shell and buttons to make a controller, and I love that you get the authentic feel. Only thing I wish is that the gba cart would be on the controller itself so you could play warioware twisted, but thats such a niche use case anyways
Now that's be cool... But, you'd be using the actual board in the controller, and the wire for the controller would need to feed down in another board that is the other part of the output. Either way, your re engineering a board, to split uses up, as you've got controls,video,and cart slot. If they nailed the aspect ratio... And could make it so that the screen works on the gba, but than also just plugs in to a box/board... You'd basicly have a switch scenario. Which funilly enough was what they were doing 20 years ago. Even more so with the gba and link cables to the GameCube, than with the ds. Either way I wish Nintendo was still doing dual screens. It's either that, or say for a game like warioware, Nintendo should be utilizing horizontal screen in handheld mode a thing.as that's basicly what the ds and 3ds did in alot of scenarios.it might take 20 more years, but I think dual screens are Gunna have a resurgence,with much more thought out and useful applications for it other than just a menu or map. I really like this idea here with the controller. It just doesn't make sense to put it to HDMI.unless it's 20' screen or much smaller. Imagine how sad ppl will be running this HDMI on a 70+ inch screen. It's Gunna be terrible. But with all the TV's and upscalers n gadgets, there will be a way to make this look good...you'll just need to run it from HDMI, into the m classic, into the frame meister, scaled back down into analog composite,into scart ..back through s video and into the retrotink 5x, into a digital to analog down converter, through the nes rf adapter, and down to the old u clips that were on like super old Atari and mid 70s stuff...and finally one wire goes under the dumpster ,for grounding, and the other wire goes to the toilet bowl
The controller re-use was an awesome idea for sure
@@MachoNachoProductions sorry for the off topic reply, but do you have any videos for modded OG 3ds?
I am OK with the image quality being a little bit softer. But the incorrect aspect ratio is a deal breaker for me. The purpose of a mod like this is to use original hardware but changing the aspect ratio would make it feel wrong anyway.
it's not even a nitpick, it's extremely visible
It really is a deal breaker. I'm not sure how anyone can play in the incorrect aspect ratio.
The aspect ratio problem is unforgivable simply because it should be extremely easy to get right.
I think it's made more egregious that both aspect ratio options are awful.
I was the same until they announced that the aspect ratio had been modified, so I bought it
Man, every time I see one of your videos, I'm in awe with the immense production quality. It's honestly more professional and pretty than even multi-million subscriber channels - but it was like that even back when your sub count was less than a thousand, when you could have gotten away with much less. That shows a ton of passion and dedication.
I've been so happy to watch the channel grow - it's well deserved.
Thank you yambone635 🙏
This was incredibly informative and broke down the advantages of each kit discussed simply and effectively. Thanks for another great video, and for giving us another phenomenal finger snap transition!
So glad you enjoyed it Nathan! Thank you dude 🙏. Cheers!
i like how this doesn't involve soldering on the off chance the GBA board or something in the shell breaks, so its not a nightmare to repair.
what an awesome kit. elegant assembly process, perfect for newbies, plus, aside from the speaker, completely reversible. love how they made the original unit the controller. as long as reviews for extended use are good, i'll probably pick one of these up eventually.
The ease of use and set-up makes this very tempting. I think people who don't want to pay as much and can't solder will really like this.
For all the negatives I must admit that the solderless design is really cool & innovative! Would love to see that approach in some of the DIY projects from the community moving forward.
The best intro song fr all UA-cam is back, thank you Tito.
I love the info graphic they have on their kickstarter page; it clearly identifies the pros / cons feature set of each popular consolizer option on the market currently
Man, your videos are getting better and better... thanks for such quality content!
I love that the shell becomes a controller and that you can easily go back to stock. You can also easily switch this onto another GBA if you find a better donor.
The pogo stick contacts are an extremely cool method of making all the required contacts and as much as soldering intrigues me, it's nice to get an easy install every once in a while!
Quality production on your video man, well done
The pogo pin idea is great. Im amazed by that creativity
Just finished building mine and it’s great no long load times like the retrain sq! All GBA games work weather they’re official or duplicates! I love this consolizer!
I'm considering starting an online store for mod-related 3d prints for stuff like this. Do you think that would help the community? Any ideas on what parts would help the most?
I would say, handheld screen aligning brackets and perhaps some of those ode brackets. This are always useful and sometimes aren’t included in kits
Definitely a helpful idea, that would be really handy for a lot of people
If you could make the X3CP for the OG Xbox (STL has already been created by Virgil Kellogg and is free to use) then that would be a huge hit in the Xbox community.
@@MachoNachoProductions I really like the new logo, the lighter Grey on the nacho looks much nicer (Just realized I was comparing it to a different version of the Nacho, at 0:30 of the video "CAN THEY BE SAVED?!?"
We need some hand grips 3D printed for the DSi DS I can never find one for sale anywhere.
That's a pretty awesome kit. A lot of work has gone into that from many areas. The HDMI scaling is a super easy code fix if they have written that code themselves so I would say they could fix that given this feedback before launch
I really hope they incorporate a fix before launch. It’ll definitely improve the attractiveness of the kit
Probably not, at 5:15 see that they used 3 chips? One does the Bluetooth stuff, one is doing the frame reconstruction and outputting composite video and the third is an off the shelf composite to HDMI converter chip, so the frame data is never transmitted directly over as a digital video signal, output will never truly represent what is in the buffer
@@KyleBrinkerhoff All that effort to make something clean and easy to use and they chose to do an internal digital-to-analog-to-digital conversion?? Is a chip that takes a GBA video signal and converts it to composite just a cheap part that already exists? Because otherwise I have no earthly idea why they would do that to themselves.
thank you very much for your thoughtful and honest review. you are like a retro gaming mr. Rodgers.
Thank you for your review. It made me back this Kickstarter with confidence. The quality is what does me. Injection molding all the way!!! 👍🏾😁👍🏾
Fun fact nasa back in the 40’s 50’s and 60’s during the space race actively trained their people to use erasures to clean solder points before soldering manually.
I love the controller concept! For the price and reversibility this seems like a fantastic device.
Great review. I bought a GBA last year to turn into a GBA consolizer but they’ve been out of stock since then. When I saw this video and the kickstart price I thought it was a instant buy. But the cons you listed are a big cons for me too. The soft image and wrong aspect ratio are deal breakers. But I’m happy this exists for someone that doesn’t solder nor care about the image being perfect. I’m happy that innovation has been strong for retro gaming. So many cool inventions to fit so many needs. Even though I’m not interested in this exact gba console, it’s another step forward. I’m excited to see that’s made in the next coming years.
When gba consolizer is out of Stock look after Gbahd which is a gba consolizer but other team
The design was clean af, i love it
Intec's hardware looks really nice and well built. I wonder if they can fix the aspect ratio issues and image softness issues via software before they release these or if these issues are tied to the specific chipset that they used on their board...
Such a well thought out design that's almost completely ruined by not getting the aspect ratio right 🤦♂
Let’s hope the change it for the retail version.
I've checked this kit out before this video came out. I didn't know they used pogo pins. I think that is awesome. It makes it both easy to build and easy to reverse if wanted.
Agreed the pogo pins are a novel approach
This is really cool. I like the idea of being able to easily reverse the mod if you ever decide to. One drawback with the pogo pins is not making a reliable connection after multiple cycles. But this isn't something that will be disassembled frequently, so that shouldn't really be an issue.
Thank you for going through the effort to put it together! I've seen other review units shipped preassembled--Not sure what the logic was there for Intec... Unfortunately as well, you accurately predicted the aspect ratio issue is a dealbreaker for me. It's a gameboy advance that can't play in gameboy advance aspect? Very weird choice. I would have expected a pixel perfect option for all GB, GBC, and GBA with accurate pixel doubling/tripling, whatever. It's a shame because the rest of it is so cool.
I love your intro man
Lol that custom SNES controller in a GBA shell is REALLY freaking neat. I gotta give it to them for that. What a cool way to repurpose your old shell!
This is stupid cool! Wow! Loving the Bluetooth support.
Totally agree! the Bluetooth support was a nice touch!
I think if they managed to get the aspect ratio right I think a lot of people would get over the soft video image. But still where I live you can get a gamecube with a gameboyplayer for around 80 bugs (which gives a similar image with a better aspect ratio or you can add another 15 and use swiss and gbi and ofc for 5 bugs you get the connector cable that lets you use your gba and gba sp on it). So i think it's to expensive whilst having quite a few bad flaws. For a lower price or better hdmi out I think it be an amazing kit.
Great video on your side. I'd like you to mention that it's a kickstarter a bit earlier in the video, maybe as a side comment into the intro duction
Finally I'll catch a premier on time!
Nice, hope you enjoyed it dude!
Great Video Tito!!
this is what I have been waiting for
Fixing the aspect ratio would be most important, but kind of tricky considering it wants to support CRTs and Modern screens.
Great video dude, I was ready to go grab one of these but that aspect ratio and picture is a no go for me. I'm happy to pay abit more and grab the soldering iron. Hopefully they'll do a V2 and address these issues. It's great that these things are out there though, especially for those not confident with soldering.
I really like their idea of making this thing very easy to install without any soldering experience and the idea about using the remaing original gba shell as a controller so that in the future people can always switch back when they want to. However the video output quality is really a deal breaker for me. I hope they can do better picture quality for this kit even though that would increase the price.
I think they’re working on fixing the aspect ratio problem.
Ah, the old eraser trick! I've been using pink erasers on contacts for decades now lol. Works on everything from tin plate to gold. I also use blue Kratex on stubborn contacts and red Kratex when I can't find my fiberglass pen.
Kratex is a brand of rubberized abrasive. It's essentially a rubber eraser with cutting agents impregnated within it. There are _many_ grits available that are very nice for polishing!
Same! I typically use the white erasers. They seemed to be softer
Glad to learn about this kit! Oooof those aspect ratios / video outputs are rough though.... I am one of those for whom this deal has been broke. I hope these guys keep making stuff though, I'd love to see them improve and offer affordable options.
ha ha ,they have announced the modified aspect ratio
@@wergfegrth4053hear anything new on that? Definitely interested if they improve on it
I've been interested in this since MadLittlePixel showed off the prototype that Intec sent him last year. I won't be backing the Kickstarter, but I will keep an eye out for the retail version on Castlemania Games. For now, I'm content with the video out of my Game Boy Player running Game Boy Interface.
No diggity
WHAT! (I screamed aloud in my office) - This uses the ENTIRE BUFFALO? I AM AMAZED!!
I'd kind of like a case that's fully transparent on both top & bottom. That would be pretty neat looking.
very clever with the pogo pins
I really do love the no soldier and ease of putting it together. I don't understand why they couldn't have got the aspect ratio right. Might be something I consider in the future. Great video as always.
Haha, I also find it strange, but they have fixed the aspect ratio
You didn't mention anything about how it sounds. The GBA has notoriously noisy audio and the Woozle kit includes a low pass filter option to help clean it up some. Does this kit include anything similar?
Neat kit but it is a hard pass from me just because of the aspect ratio issues.
Considering it's using testpoints to pull audio, it's likely pulling the audio data before it gets passed into the filter and it's converted to digital so no noise. In fact, there are two testpoints from the PCB, FL1 and FL2 it is tapping into. Those feed into the GBA's horrible audio amp chip.
Audio didn’t sound bad. I should have provided an example of it in the video
damn this is so perfect. such a great mod kit
I feel like softer video quality isn't that bad, especially considering modern TVs and monitors really accentuate pixels, where as CRTs always feel softer around the edges. This would be a good starter kit, for someone like me with zero solder experience. The aspect ratio thing is a bit funky though, but I think the pros outweigh the cons overall.
Great pros and cons video - it's curious why they didn't allow for original aspect ratio and why the image is not sharp - deal breaker for me personally despite the easy installation. Was really hoping for this product to check all the boxes :(
I love how easy this kit is to install :)
Me too!
I love the concept, especially the controller kit... Let nothing go to waste! Hopefully they can tighten up the lag issue in the final version. Sadly, improved video quality at that price point is probably a bit of an ask...but as you demonstrated, it's about on par with the official Game Boy Player, so it's more a matter of simply not having that as a plus, rather than it being a negative. 🤔
as soon as they fix the aspect ratio i would order 10! But this is a really nice kit.
Only thing to change (assuming ratio is fixed) would be full transparent shell option!
I'm excited that the aspect ratio has been corrected
UA-cam sucks at telling me when a video lands. I love this, and I think the number one issue with it is why I wouldn't get one. If they could fix that aspect ratio to include the original, or expand the visual settings options in general, I would easily grab one of these.
The fact that this could be used like a Gameboy Player is also a selling point to me, as I've been able to set up Four Swords for a few conventions, and having one of these in place of a GC would be good for both showing off how retro stuff is still alive, but not having to lug around 4 GC's and a Wii would be nice. I would still have 3 Cubes set up for it because that's cool in a nerdy way but also I have at least 2 original GBA's laying around with busted screens and this would be a perfect way to utilize them
I use my retron the play GB and GBA on the TV. It's really good imo. Gba takes a min to load but once it's loaded up you're good
I think for the price you are getting a pretty good product. Upgrading picture quality and aspect ratio would be a good thing as I would pay 10 to 30 dollars more for it if needed but I wouldn’t have a problem buying it as it is now
I love that they repurpose the GBA shell as a controller!
This is actually impressive. No soldiering allows many more folks to give it a go. IMO those aspect ratios need to be addressed before launch and it would be great to get a no accessories unit for $100
That's something that they should definitely look into. I wouldn't mind paying extra for advanced crt and lcd shaders being implemented. Like adaptive scanlines crt shader would be great.
I agree I would say (feel free to correct me at any point):
$100 consolizer kit only
$135 consolizer + controller kit.
Because the GBA was really meant for solo gaming there were only a small handful of games that did multiplayer and the ones that did needed the link cable anyways. I mean let’s be real no one is gonna be playing Zelda four swords with one player on a big screen and one on a tiny screen hunched over.
Plus (I feel) there is less room for error in doing the mod yourself. However, I will acknowledge that there is still room for error in manufacturing which makes me a bit shakey about ordering one. Quality control is going to be key for these devs.
@@xGizmox23 I agree. Also, since no soldiering I believe it’s easily reversible if one becomes overwhelmed or wants to return it back to a handheld. The ribbon cable and connector would be my only concern about the MOD process.
Great video once again. I love the simplicity of this kit. I just wish it had the correct aspect ratio. I think I’ll stick to my Gameboy Player with Game Boy Interface.
Thank you! Agree on the kits simplicity being a great feature
I honestly would love an SP variant:( I feel like that model never gets the HDMI treatment as much as the original
And SP variant could be really nice!
oops I didnt see your comment before write mine, just think this kit with mini gamecube custom shell, I like hyperking desing
But... If you're literally not using the console, why does it matter what model the console is?
@@ChrisStoneinator at least from where I am, the SP model is a lot more common that the original one
The entire thing looks very high quality
I think it’s great quality, but the video output quality could be improved. For the price I think it’s fair
This is a cool idea for anyone who never leaves their house but for me I'd just go with a back-lit screen mod.
that case looks clean ngl
I knew as soon as i saw the Aspect ratio switch it was gonna have garbage video output, which is such a shame as it's an amazing idea for a solderless install and and the construction seems great, the design is nice too and the GBA styled controller is an amazing idea too, the only thing i'd like to see physically change is an extention for the cart connector as it doesn't make much sense to have it on the back.. it's so close to being perfect, but man that picture quality is a dealbreaker.
I just backed this kit and have a gen 2 woozle consolizer. I will be giving the console away for a gift but I want the controller for myself. Its worth it for that
I'd love to see the portablized console treatment make its way to DS and PSP soon.
These things are currently on sale on Amazon for Black Friday at 97USD. I ordered one, and I have a plan. Run the HDMI into a HDMI -> Component converter, and run THAT into the RetroTink 5X Pro. That will allow for custom aspect ratio and more. I think it may be an excellent setup, guess I'll find out. I couldn't pass on that price.
Tbh for this price range you can also buy the analogue pocket with the dock. The AP in dock mode has a much better image quality + original aspaect ratio.
Seems like a very niche product. If the picture clarity wasn't the worst I've seen yet then it could have been a good alternative. All well, I'll just have to wait until my name comes up on the consolizer queue.
Glad I invested in a MisterFPGA and stopped trying to upgrade or side grade or purchase HDMI capable hardware (or SCART capable, with a SCART cable, and a scaler)
For those that loved the GBA and have enough games to justify it, the Woozle is where I'd go.
i love that this doesn't damage the original hardware. you can take it back apart and have a GBA handheld again.
The aspect ratio is the deal breaker for me. Back to emulation lol. Cheers and great video
Well Im sold.
A great way to upcycle that GBA
Intec showing y’all how it’s done
I really hope this kickstarter gets funded. I need one of these.
There’s still plenty of time
I hope someone makes a kit like this for the Game gear.
That pogo pin design is really interesting. I wonder what the pros and cons of that design are, and why it isn't more widely used.
The main reason is that people don't think of them as often. Aside from that, it's because they're large, they need test pads instead of tiny component legs, cost more than wires or FFCs, tricky to install, and have the theoretical issue of poor connection.
cost is probably the biggest factor
@@haroldgarrett2932 Definitely not the biggest. There are many options around $0.50 per pin for a consumer. If you only need a dozen per kit, that's not a big cost for a very noticeable feature.
I think it could potentially be a bit finicky if things aren’t aligned but I had no issues with mine. All is you drop it, things could fall out of alignment.
They dont use the pogo pins as often because many designs dont line up and you could have to make a circuit board the same size as the original
So excited to see this thing
What do you think about the kit after watching the video?
@@MachoNachoProductions mmm the concept is nice, but I feel like the soft image is too much of a deal breaker for me. I am a pretty big fan of love every other aspect of this solution. I do wonder how much difficultly/cost is involved in replicating the visuals properly .
All fair takes. I would assume that the picture might be fixed with a software update depending on the circuitry used, but as of right now the image is pretty soft. Although somewhat accurate to the gameboy player for the GC.
I think they’re working to fix this issue. Hopefully they can pull it off
Fantastic review. I wonder if the scaler intec is using has limited options. Perhaps its a choice in cost for them.
To answer your question, if I could change 1 piece what would it be. Interesting question. If you had to pick between fixing the aspect ratio or the softness. hmm. I think I would fix the softness. While the aspect ratio is something that could be fixed outside of the device, you cannot sharpen an already soften image (at least I don't you can).
I agree, I think cost was a major consideration. With the consoloizer kit from Woozle, you’re getting a nice FPGA which makes a huge difference in quality and price
I feel like the sharpness and the aspect ratio are the same problem. Both are solved by integer scaling.
Architecturally, the intec is likely converting the video signal to just composite, then to get the HDMI output they are probably using a Texas instruments chip that converts composite signal into HDMI so their is no surprise why the image is so blurry as it is not a true representation of a digital frame buffer. ultimately woozles system captures the intended pixel values and builds a true to life frame buffer to then output as a native digital signal , woozles is built through the magic of FPGA development, whereas the intec was separate discreet designs cobbled together.
The pogo pins remind me of the soldier free mod chips on the original Xbox. as long as they keep a connection, gravy.
It seems like a nice kit, and I like te fact that it is pretty streamlined compared to Woozle's solution. But the aspect ratio / soft image issue is a big show stopper to me, unfortunately ...
I was the same until they announced that the aspect ratio had been modified, so I bought it
if i could change one thing for the kid it would be the quality of the picture, but for me thats not a deal breaker. its a great alternative to the overly expensive GBA player for the game cube and the other consolizer. so ill be pledging to the kick starter soon. i also need to thank you Macho if it werent for your halloween GBA video i wouldnt of been able to install my drop in ips screen on my new GBA shell.
Awesome dude! So glad my videos were helpful to you. Cheers!
You forgot the most important thing: You can watch the 480p version of "Shrek" for the Game Boy Advance in HD!
Seriously: I like this product a lot and will probably support the kickstarter campaign; if there are still ten cents that slipped under the sofa in February, they might see my money soon!
I love the concept that the way they use the original GBA shell as a controller. Here is the thing. I really wanted to play WarioWare Twisted on the TV that there is no way I can play them with the GBA Player and the Woozle GBA Consolizer. I would suggest that the card slot would still be on that GBA controller rather than the console itself. It is just a little nitpick but to each their own, right?
Owning both an GBAHD and an intec gaming consolizer. I will say that the intec gaming build quality indeed top notch. This is perfect for someone does not solder, and just wants to consolize their GBA.. yes the aspect ratios are incorrect, but again this is for the average every person. Also the fact that you can buy this off amazon show be indicative of accessibility
I really hope they implement a way to update the firmware for the kit to fix issues like the picture quality, and maybe even add in new features down the road.
Another group of people who this kit would be for is anyone who wants the option to get their gba back. This kit doesn't permanently change the GBA aside from the speaker, so you could almost have it back to factory condition by just reassembling the GBA from the parts.
You could put parts from the consolizer back together, but it's much more involved.
The soft image isn't too much of a deal breaker but that aspect ratio is. If they can fix that then they have a solid product. I'd even be happy paying a few dollars more for a better upscaler/conversion chip that can do it right. I absolutely love designs that utilize pogo pins because it creates accessibility to the mod for everyone. The controller conversion board could be VERY desirable even if the consolizer flops though and is a great way to prevent e-waste. It also retains the nostalgic feel of playing GBA in your actual hands.
Totally agree! Hopefully they can address the aspect ratio before delivery of the Kickstarter
At 11:04 I perceive the Game Boy Player's output is being driven by the Official Disc. The Game Boy Interface software is unofficial but provides totally superior video quality and with an GameCube HDMI output adapter like the Carby or the Component video cable, it will come very close to rivaling the GBA Consolizer in terms of sharpness.
It was using Swiss from my gcloader with video running through my Carby
I’d change either the aspect ratio (need that gba resolution ratio) or the soft picture quality, I want to see well articulated pixels
This is nice!
I like that it's completely reversible. Also wish someone would make a 2ds style shell for the ds lite.
The one thing I would changes is actually pretty obvious and this would be to change the 16:9 to a 3:2 ratio. Since TVs and monitors stretch it anywy to almost the full screen it would only have some minor bars left and right but this is totally fine. Especailly if you get pixel perfect and it would have therefore a better image quality. Then and only then the price would be as perfect as it can get.
not having a native output mode is probably the only downside for me personally, I wonder if this is something they can update later on, because its gorgeous
Okay, it was a surprise that they put at last a controller with the layout of a GBA! Finally! If I ever grab one of these, I would make another screen-less shell, and maybe bigger buttons to make it more to my sausage-finger hands lol. It's a shame the thing of the ratio, since most TVs now aren't into modifying the image for some reason. I remember how my old CRT was capable of making different ratios and even manually graduating the ratio until I was satisfied, I don't know why modern TVs stopped it.