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.
Exactly. It's a sign of a company that values quality. They know that even if the customer is the one who screwed up, any negative experience looks bad on them, so it's better to lose the business (or even make some business helping to fix the design) than to get the negative press.
@@michaeloxlongI was gonna say it seems like they warned him about the risk factor of his 3D print more so to cover their own tracks, as sending a faulty print (regardless of who/what is to blame) would poorly reflect the company. I guess my perception was pretty negative 😂 Your perspective on the matter gives a better overview, and less scrutiny.
@@k45hc1ll4 Yeah but isn't that always the case? 99% of companies that have good customer service don't actually care about you. After all, you're just some rando that's purchasing their product/service. The good customer service ends up being a conscious decision/calculation that they're going to make more money, retain more customers, can charge more, etc. by providing a good experience. There's definitely individual workers or sometimes even people in charge that will care on their own, but I'd argue that's the exception rather than the norm for companies as big as either of these two.
8:29 You didn’t need to replace the switch, the old ones don’t wear out, your new one will. The old ones don’t have serious wear components like your clicky switch does, the only reason you might think it was wearing out is because it got dirty inside. It’s a really easy fix with some IPA.
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.
@@dpowerful1The EZ Flash Omega doesn’t trigger the switch, so it runs everything on the GBA’s ARM CPU rather than the GB/CGB CISC CPU. Gameboy and Gameboy Color games on it run through software emulation instead.
@@dpowerful1 With actual games it's probably a software switch that gets triggered at boot if the SoC doesn't read data from the cart that denotes a GBA game.
@@ironhead2008 actually there is a physical switch that if it gets pushed down it switches into the gameboy mode. this happens because the original gameboy carts have no indents so they hit the switch and the gba carts have indents so it doesnt hit them.
yeah i found it adorable that he prefers his childhood way of playing games, but also it seems indefensible in all other categories clamshells are more portable and protect the screen, buttons, speaker holes, and the horisontal version offers wonderful space even if your hands are smaller
It's almost as if video games, especially handheld consoles, are geared more for kids 😮😮😮 I wouldn't count on companies to gear toward a smaller (albeit slightly) bracket of customer just because it isn't comfortable to them. **This is coming from a guy who enjoys playing games**
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
No hinge means a more robust gameboy. Hinges are fragile and prone to failure, especially if you're reusing the very old original ones. Trade off is the screen is less protected but the modern laminated GBA SP screens are glass (mostly) so more scratch resistant anyways than the OEM ones.
Yeah the clam shell makes it more portable and reduces the chances of scratching the screen. Not really much of an upgrade doing that and most of the other upgrades (excluding the screen) don't make it much better or at least are not really worth considering. Best thing to do is add a new IPS backlit screen at that's about it or just buy a ds lite as that can be found cheaper while having a backlit screen and being foldable as well and compatible with natively running gba games. An r4 card could be gotten for it as well for basically nothing on ebay to get lots of emulators and play nes, snes, master system, megadrive (or genesis as known in the US) and more. Not to mention that its a ds so it can play ds games of cause like super mario 64. I guess this project is just for fun though and not just for practical use. Edit: yeah @powersurge360 you make a good point about the hinge breaking. A bar sized gameboy also feels nicer to hold and personally makes me get less hand ache
@@powersurge360 yeah idk, with how the case is being made, it doesn't seem that the candybar form factor helps prevent failure. if he put stuff behind the screen maybe since then the case would be thicker and handle bending load better
@@tommyagain38 If we are talking Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis for the GBA then yeah I agree, the worst Sonic game to come out in 2006, BUT if we are talking Sonic Advance 1, 2, &, 3 and Sonic Battle? Well those are actually great IMO
@@calvdesign You're talking legality, not morality. If a game isn't produced and/or sold anymore, why would it be more moral to buy it second hand rather than downloading it for free? In both cases the original creator isn't gonna get a dime. I would even argue than buying it from a third party is worst morally because you're allowing someone to profit from someone else's work. Of course, you could try and make the argument than if the game isn't being sold officially anymore, we should completely stop selling or sharing it, even second hand, but good luck with that...
@@misterwhyte You can share or sell a product you already own, I don't see any problem with that. What you cannot do is copy and distribute its data because at that time the content was not available other than the cartridge you hold in your hand. The rights of the owner of that content have not ended, and there might be other ways to distribute it in a near future. And yes, I am talking about legality, but for me it is not morally right for anyone to choose when its time to get that content if you are not distributing it at the moment, not if you are not even death as the creator of that product at least. Thats why laws exist around this kind of information. Say you want to play Shantae on the GBC, but it is crazy expensive to get one second hand because it is not being distributed anymore. You download the ROM because its morally right according to your premise. Shantae returns as a cartridge 20 years later, and also on different systems. Same game ported the best way they could. Was it morally right to download it in that time gap? When does it start being inmorall? When it rerelease? Say you have a rock band, and you start selling CDs at your local town, because for whatever reasons you cannot distribute your band's music globally. The digital platform you are using to sell your songs goes offline for a month for whatever reasons. Is it morally right for me to download for free your tracks from a sketchy sever during that time? Just because you didn't provide me at that time a tool to obtain them... legally?
@@Incognito-gh5qi For sure. I like most all Sonic games. I was pssd off back in the day sega wasn't making anymore consoles and gave their rights to Nintendo. Genesis was the sht back then. I also preferred the Master System to original NES.
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.
I have the metal sp shell called "unhinged" from boxy. It sure is awesome BUT I've come to learn I really don't like holding a metal shell for long. Maybe thats just a personal issue but my sweaty hands just don't play nice with it.
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
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.
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.
@@MrRobarinoThis is the kind of fact people go around and share to their friends. I'm wrong for wanting people to get the full story when they share stuff like that? I wasn't rude with the correction; I'm not being a know-it-all - I didn't belittle him for not knowing; it's just a small correction. But yet you gotta come and shut me down and say the thing I care about no one else does and trivialize it calling me pedantic. Stop being an a$$hole.
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 .
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 😁
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.
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 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. :)
Not a fan of choosing to remove the link port, as that makes one portion of your upgrade actually a downgrade, but it is a small sacrifice for most games.
He addressed it in the video… He’s not going to use it, and also it makes the overall package just a bit smaller - which overall was a big part of his design
@@jorgeantonini201 I agree with @daindreska8206, should've kept the port even if it meant making a raised section there or whatever it takes. I agree with you that the design looks better this way, though! Only compromise I can imagine is redesigning the pcb to accommodate :p
I get his reasoning, but i wish he would have given us a design that maintained it, would love to do this build but i dont want to lose my ability to trade pokemon
I know a guy who knows a guy whose cousin robbed a liquor store with a fully loaded gameboy sp. He was later caught because the cashier saw the serial number.
I find that it's impossible to enjoy this stuff because for every person working on ideas and sharing them collaboratively there's a UA-camr presenting all that work as their own unique idea. Bro made his own slate. Seems a fuck of a coincidence
@@MikeeTeeveeI dunno. With how little he seems to know about Game Boy hardware, he might genuinely not know about the Slate. Maybe the extent of his research was just buying a some mods off a single online store.
@@KaitouKaiju Yes, good reading comprehension. that's correct, people are allowed to do that. Just as other people can criticise presenting it as reinventing the wheel. That's the freedoms we both enjoy.
I’m a plumber with a caveat to what you said about copper and solder; copper and solder do not like each other that much, the flux is what the solder likes, combined with matching the melting point with your heat control. Melting point of copper is approx 1300 F and solder is approx 750 F so you essentially glueing the copper on to the circuit board because the copper never gets hot enough to melt. I love your videos and I’ve been looking to transiting my soldering and brazing knowledge from my plumbing career to an electronics soldering hobby. Thanks for the content.
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.
Are you sure it's from a BlackBerry? I must have been one of the last people to ever use a BlackBerry across the range and don't remember them getting to OLEDs! I'm sure they had decent IPS displays at best.
@@PL-fj4uq I think so? I recall hearing something like that being mentioned in a video about the kit. I could easily be mistaken though. EDIT: Looked it up. The screen does indeed come from the BlackBerry Q10 which was released all the way back in 2013 and featured an AMOLED display. So I'd say if you are considering the OLED kit for your GBC then you might want to pick one up while they're still available. No telling how many of those screens they were able to source.
man the clear shells, looks so freaking good! I were a bit disappointed at first with your "buttons" after the 3d print and it looked awful but not after you got them made in clear... *chefs kiss*
@@ZacBuildsZac can you make a guitar hero/fortnite festival controller. They just released a new one. It is going take years before it’s in stock and available for regular people like me whose kids want one. So I figured let’s just make one 😂
Ok but with the gameboy buying is owning. Piracy is definitely 100% illegal on this case. Morally, it's fine imo because the console is 20+ years old and Nintendo doesn't even sell these games anymore
I see this quote a lot and it doesn't go beyond 2 seconds of thought. It also doesn't apply to Gameboy era games, so it's doubly stupid. If you're wondering why lookup how a cartridge works.
@@MostlyPonies1 Just a year ago Nintendo was running around taking down UA-cam videos showing modded Zelda BOTW on the Switch. Those are cartridge games. Checkmate.
@@jeshlandBecause Johnny Depp has never committed an act of pirating, nor has he never been a pirate, he's only portrayed one. And portraying a person who does illegal things is not a crime... Actually being one is.
genius move to do a "easy" version first and do the full mod after! love to have a the ability to just print out the case and transfer a gameboy with not much additional work, but also love to see all the extra stuff you did with the "hard" version!
I have 2 objections- first, you did NOT need 128 GBs. A 16 GB SD card would be enough (for every single NES, SNES, GB, GBC, and GBA game). Second, while it is really cool that you started with an actual GameBoy Advance SP, the same thing could have been achieved with a Raspberry Pi Zero. I’m not trying to be a hater or anything, I LOVED the video, and this is a great channel I really enjoy watching, but I did want to point out these things to anyone wanting to do something like this. (Also, downloading ROMs is technically a legal grey area, something I personally don’t think is illegal but Nintendo does. It is completely up to you what you decide about the subject.) Aside from that though, thank you for the great video!
I absolutely love these “slate” style shells for the GBA SP, but I‘be seen one creator actually flip the motherboard and wire up separate mobos for the buttons, so that your cartridges load from the top, rather than the bottom. That way when you’re playing classic GB and GBC cartridges, they’re not awkwardly sticking out of the bottom
"Something that Nintendo removed from future versions of the Game Boy." The only Game Boy that released after the SP was the Micro, which was essentially just another Game Boy Advance in a different form factor.
The Micro did not support Game Boy and Game Boy Color games because it only had the GBA's CPU and not the 2nd CPU from the Game Boy that the previous GBAs both had.
For the wireless charging port, you probably could have used the space in the back of the display. I loved that you were making it as sleek as possible, but the back of the screen being so much thinner than the bottom made me nervous that it could snap in half. But if you were not make another casing where the back of the display goes out to the same length of the battery port, it would give it a more classic gameboy look, but still be thin and that extra space could allow you to install a wireless charger, though it would not be centered of course, unless maybe you put the innards of the wireless charging behind the LCD screen and move the actual charging pad more into the center if you know what I mean. In any case, you did a great job and it looks really awesome!
@@ZacBuildswould be so cool to somehow repurpose a cell phone into a handheld emulation device that looks like a retro handheld machine. I get we have switch's and steamdecks but I love the retro look Amazing and inspiring rebuilds. I love it
I would strongly recommend redesigning speaker area, You can either add another layer of print going horizontal as well as vertical or add a mesh port or juat change it to a mesh style print. That open slotted design is like begging for junk to get in there and a car key or something to poke it
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.
You mentioned that the gba sp screen is backlit. Only the ags 101 model was backlit. The others were front lit. Judging by your terrible viewing angle, I’d venture to say yours was front lit.
Okay holy shit this actually turned out incredible with that PCB Way housing wow. Didn’t even know they made those. Awesome build man! Definitely wanna do something like this with a device one day. 😄
- …My hands and wrists have an ergonomics complaint to raise against your casig preferences: OBJECTION!!! (I grew up with the OG, horizontal-layout GBA, though.) - A bulge for the link cable port honestly wouldn't be that big of a deal. Or, alternatively, why not think of using the Game Boy Micro.s link cable port? I may not be remembering this correctly of the top of my head, but I think it had one, and it was smaller? - …What _is_ it with people's obsession with excessively thin devices these days?! _Cradles their OG DS._ - Why not build a Wireless Adapter in while you're at it?
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.
Basically a copy of existing mod kits. Also you could've extended the bottom of the shell to fully contain an original Gameboy game to add an ounce of originality.
I made a flipped version of the SP's back with a ribbon cable. The battery is on the bottom and the cart slot is like on the original GB. The GBA cart tabs on the side made it a bit difficult to make the GB carts stay in sturdy, but it works.
The SP was absolutely the superior Gameboy product, form factor included. It does what the Gameboy was mean to do the best, and the clamshell means it's actually portable and safe, you an throw it in anything, pocket etc and it's fine.
Why would you basically glue the screen open? The factory GBA SP: Sturdy, has a continuous range of screen angles from 0 to ~190. "MODERN Gameboy": 1 single screen angle, of 180. Warranty void if bent.
one issue i have with the newer shell design is that the thinner part containing the screen is much smaller and is almost certainly going to snap if put under stress from being inside of a pocket, especially something like jeans which are stiffer
About the oem power switch being smoothe and not clicky, it's because it wasn't in the shell anymore. The part that you move on the original switch has a bump that slips passed a bump on the inside of the shell to give the familiar click.
There is no copyright, trademark, or ownership over making a unhinged GBA SP. Anyone came make one, anyone can design their own. Nobody cares about who did it first and it's not your job to police the internet.
The unhinged is made from alum, has no button leds, and doesn’t come with an upgraded speaker. They both draw inspiration from the OG gameboy. It’s clearly not plagiarism. Silly comment.
You should make the LEDs under the buttons wayyyy dimmer. They shouldn't distract from the screen. Same reason you keep your dash lights on your car dim at night.
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.
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.❤
Im working on this project right now! Im sad you beat me to it! It is hard for sure! I have learned a lot and a couple useful insights from this video! Very awesome!
AYE YOU BEAT ME TO IT! I was just talking about an all black gameboy advance or gameboy micro with purple backlights and a haunter or gengar theme. Personally I want haunter but i know gengars the final form and most people focus on gengar because f that.
I hate it when people insist on “modernizing” consoles like they’re not good enough already. Just get a lamp you can see the screen fine. Though I will admit this is a great video and a great build. I personally just don’t like it when people act like they can’t play the gameboy without an LCD screen and LED light up buttons and an SD card.
the top part above the shoulder buttons if you made that the same thickness as the bottom it would strengthen the top as well as making more room for things like the wireless charger and other mods, could have some scoops in the case to accommodate fingers for the shoulder buttons
I mean this with the most upmost respect. So you just made an unhinged GBA SP? This has existed forever on yeggi . I don't see the newness to this, but I totally loved and appreciated seeing this all happen.
here' a fun idea: you know those things that allow you to clip a wireless controller to your phone? what about making a raspberry pi that emulates old games and designing a case to fit in the controller attachment?
I LOVED the GBSP. I had one of the original red ones with Pokémon Emerald constantly in it ask the time. 2003-2005 was some of the best years for games and consoles.
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
What I'd really like to do, is learn how to program a motherboard and use different components to create a device. Because I have several old DS card slots laying around, and a plug and play device for DS games like the GB Operator would be hella cool
Looks really good, and this is the most comprehensive mod I've seen so far. But I think you made it too thin. I'd be afraid to keep it in my pocket or backpack because it looks like it could easily snap in half. I think making it a little bit thicker wouldn't negatively impact anything, but it would just make it way more sturdy.
Im just glad I own all 1244 gameboy games so I can play my legal backups on this device
You too? Awesome!
I'm so happy that's also true for you guys!
Errr, why don’t you try be a little more subtle with your bragging… lol, as if owning every single Gameboy game is such a life changing achievement… 🫣
Me with my 534 arcade cabinets I legally backed up
I'm glad I own all 1 device so I can play 1244 gameboy games illegally.
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.
Exactly. It's a sign of a company that values quality. They know that even if the customer is the one who screwed up, any negative experience looks bad on them, so it's better to lose the business (or even make some business helping to fix the design) than to get the negative press.
@@michaeloxlongI was gonna say it seems like they warned him about the risk factor of his 3D print more so to cover their own tracks, as sending a faulty print (regardless of who/what is to blame) would poorly reflect the company. I guess my perception was pretty negative 😂
Your perspective on the matter gives a better overview, and less scrutiny.
@@k45hc1ll4 Yeah but isn't that always the case? 99% of companies that have good customer service don't actually care about you. After all, you're just some rando that's purchasing their product/service. The good customer service ends up being a conscious decision/calculation that they're going to make more money, retain more customers, can charge more, etc. by providing a good experience. There's definitely individual workers or sometimes even people in charge that will care on their own, but I'd argue that's the exception rather than the norm for companies as big as either of these two.
@@k45hc1ll4Yeah, that's just the extra treatment you get as an "influencer". Your mileage WILL vary, a lot.
@@operator8014I have worked with pcbway and they were pretty thorough with the “hey… this might work”
And I ordered like 50 bucks worth of pcbs haha
8:29 You didn’t need to replace the switch, the old ones don’t wear out, your new one will. The old ones don’t have serious wear components like your clicky switch does, the only reason you might think it was wearing out is because it got dirty inside. It’s a really easy fix with some IPA.
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.
So how does that switch work, when he has all his games on one cartridge?
@@dpowerful1The EZ Flash Omega doesn’t trigger the switch, so it runs everything on the GBA’s ARM CPU rather than the GB/CGB CISC CPU. Gameboy and Gameboy Color games on it run through software emulation instead.
dope
@@dpowerful1 With actual games it's probably a software switch that gets triggered at boot if the SoC doesn't read data from the cart that denotes a GBA game.
@@ironhead2008 actually there is a physical switch that if it gets pushed down it switches into the gameboy mode. this happens because the original gameboy carts have no indents so they hit the switch and the gba carts have indents so it doesnt hit them.
This man must hate his hands, the horizontal version is a blessing for adults, no hand cramps and awkwardness.
Just get a grip once I did that I never looked back.
yeah i found it adorable that he prefers his childhood way of playing games, but also it seems indefensible in all other categories
clamshells are more portable and protect the screen, buttons, speaker holes, and the horisontal version offers wonderful space even if your hands are smaller
Yeah, I had the horizontal as a kid, and loved it.
@@aiocafeaI was always a fan of the clamshell design
It's almost as if video games, especially handheld consoles, are geared more for kids 😮😮😮
I wouldn't count on companies to gear toward a smaller (albeit slightly) bracket of customer just because it isn't comfortable to them.
**This is coming from a guy who enjoys playing games**
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
I like to use the pen vacuum you can buy for $3.00. Then I clean up with a wick.
Great tip, didn't know this myself so thanks.
I don’t see the advantage of the candy bar over the clam shell. The clam shell is a foldable candy bar.
No hinge means a more robust gameboy. Hinges are fragile and prone to failure, especially if you're reusing the very old original ones. Trade off is the screen is less protected but the modern laminated GBA SP screens are glass (mostly) so more scratch resistant anyways than the OEM ones.
Yeah the clam shell makes it more portable and reduces the chances of scratching the screen. Not really much of an upgrade doing that and most of the other upgrades (excluding the screen) don't make it much better or at least are not really worth considering. Best thing to do is add a new IPS backlit screen at that's about it or just buy a ds lite as that can be found cheaper while having a backlit screen and being foldable as well and compatible with natively running gba games. An r4 card could be gotten for it as well for basically nothing on ebay to get lots of emulators and play nes, snes, master system, megadrive (or genesis as known in the US) and more. Not to mention that its a ds so it can play ds games of cause like super mario 64. I guess this project is just for fun though and not just for practical use.
Edit: yeah @powersurge360 you make a good point about the hinge breaking. A bar sized gameboy also feels nicer to hold and personally makes me get less hand ache
Except candy bar means a horizontal handheld anyways
I clam-shelled my….finger….accidentally once. This prevents that
@@powersurge360 yeah idk, with how the case is being made, it doesn't seem that the candybar form factor helps prevent failure. if he put stuff behind the screen maybe since then the case would be thicker and handle bending load better
Morally and ethically speaking, if the games aren't sold first party anymore, they shouldn't get a say in how we obtain them.
Whatever. Sonic The Hedgehog for Nintendo is sacrilege to me. Like putting a Ford engine in a Corvette.
@@tommyagain38 If we are talking Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis for the GBA then yeah I agree, the worst Sonic game to come out in 2006, BUT if we are talking Sonic Advance 1, 2, &, 3 and Sonic Battle? Well those are actually great IMO
@@calvdesign You're talking legality, not morality. If a game isn't produced and/or sold anymore, why would it be more moral to buy it second hand rather than downloading it for free? In both cases the original creator isn't gonna get a dime. I would even argue than buying it from a third party is worst morally because you're allowing someone to profit from someone else's work. Of course, you could try and make the argument than if the game isn't being sold officially anymore, we should completely stop selling or sharing it, even second hand, but good luck with that...
@@misterwhyte You can share or sell a product you already own, I don't see any problem with that. What you cannot do is copy and distribute its data because at that time the content was not available other than the cartridge you hold in your hand. The rights of the owner of that content have not ended, and there might be other ways to distribute it in a near future. And yes, I am talking about legality, but for me it is not morally right for anyone to choose when its time to get that content if you are not distributing it at the moment, not if you are not even death as the creator of that product at least. Thats why laws exist around this kind of information.
Say you want to play Shantae on the GBC, but it is crazy expensive to get one second hand because it is not being distributed anymore.
You download the ROM because its morally right according to your premise. Shantae returns as a cartridge 20 years later, and also on different systems. Same game ported the best way they could. Was it morally right to download it in that time gap? When does it start being inmorall? When it rerelease?
Say you have a rock band, and you start selling CDs at your local town, because for whatever reasons you cannot distribute your band's music globally. The digital platform you are using to sell your songs goes offline for a month for whatever reasons. Is it morally right for me to download for free your tracks from a sketchy sever during that time? Just because you didn't provide me at that time a tool to obtain them... legally?
@@Incognito-gh5qi For sure. I like most all Sonic games. I was pssd off back in the day sega wasn't making anymore consoles and gave their rights to Nintendo. Genesis was the sht back then. I also preferred the Master System to original NES.
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.
had a boxy pixel full metal sp for years
in saying that the clear shell looks mint
mahko's slate is fantastic
I have the metal sp shell called "unhinged" from boxy. It sure is awesome BUT I've come to learn I really don't like holding a metal shell for long. Maybe thats just a personal issue but my sweaty hands just don't play nice with it.
Might try to grab that, my SP is fucked up.
If you all want a prefabricated shell and parts, Google Handheld Legend.
Wish you’d left it running at max brightness and volume to see what the battery life was. Brilliant video.
Can I buy to upgraded mode
Hi there. i just wanted to say thanks for the tip on removing the SN. That definitely would've come back to bite me!
Signed,
The GameBoy Killer.
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
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.
I have both but i had to tape it because the 101 because of screen bleeding
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.
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.
Nobody really cares. Stop being a pedantic know-it-all.
@@MrRobarino Cope harder
@@MrRobarino Stop being an asshole
@@MrRobarinoThis is the kind of fact people go around and share to their friends.
I'm wrong for wanting people to get the full story when they share stuff like that?
I wasn't rude with the correction; I'm not being a know-it-all - I didn't belittle him for not knowing; it's just a small correction.
But yet you gotta come and shut me down and say the thing I care about no one else does and trivialize it calling me pedantic.
Stop being an a$$hole.
Both of yall, cut it out! I’ll turn this car around right now.
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 .
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 😁
The GBA actually has 2 different CPU's. One for GBA games and one for the backwards compatibility with GB & GBC games.
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.
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 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. :)
VERY cool idea. I noticed that too, having the gameboy games still jut out would feel silly to me.
Not a fan of choosing to remove the link port, as that makes one portion of your upgrade actually a downgrade, but it is a small sacrifice for most games.
He addressed it in the video…
He’s not going to use it, and also it makes the overall package just a bit smaller - which overall was a big part of his design
@@jorgeantonini201 I agree with @daindreska8206, should've kept the port even if it meant making a raised section there or whatever it takes.
I agree with you that the design looks better this way, though! Only compromise I can imagine is redesigning the pcb to accommodate :p
I get his reasoning, but i wish he would have given us a design that maintained it, would love to do this build but i dont want to lose my ability to trade pokemon
'remove the serial number so it can't be traced back to you if it's ever used for future crimes' 💀💀
Who's out here committing crimes with a gameboy?
@thatrandomrecorder914
We’ll never know….
Couldn’t find the serial numbers
I know a guy who knows a guy whose cousin robbed a liquor store with a fully loaded gameboy sp. He was later caught because the cashier saw the serial number.
@@SilversEC Yeah I remember reading that in the news
I find the lack of wood disturbing...
I have a big piece of wood 🪵 if you want it ?
The clam shell was 100% the best form factor. Man I miss the SP.
Who’s gonna tell him about the GBA Slate mod already 😢
I find that it's impossible to enjoy this stuff because for every person working on ideas and sharing them collaboratively there's a UA-camr presenting all that work as their own unique idea. Bro made his own slate. Seems a fuck of a coincidence
@@MikeeTeeveeI dunno. With how little he seems to know about Game Boy hardware, he might genuinely not know about the Slate. Maybe the extent of his research was just buying a some mods off a single online store.
Or boxypixles unhinged
@@MikeeTeeveePeople can independently make a similar project
Ffs it's just a case mod for a gba
@@KaitouKaiju Yes, good reading comprehension. that's correct, people are allowed to do that. Just as other people can criticise presenting it as reinventing the wheel. That's the freedoms we both enjoy.
Powering on the clear case was so nice. Looks amazing!
I’m a plumber with a caveat to what you said about copper and solder; copper and solder do not like each other that much, the flux is what the solder likes, combined with matching the melting point with your heat control. Melting point of copper is approx 1300 F and solder is approx 750 F so you essentially glueing the copper on to the circuit board because the copper never gets hot enough to melt. I love your videos and I’ve been looking to transiting my soldering and brazing knowledge from my plumbing career to an electronics soldering hobby. Thanks for the content.
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.
Are you sure it's from a BlackBerry? I must have been one of the last people to ever use a BlackBerry across the range and don't remember them getting to OLEDs! I'm sure they had decent IPS displays at best.
I think he’s right
@@PL-fj4uq I think so? I recall hearing something like that being mentioned in a video about the kit. I could easily be mistaken though.
EDIT: Looked it up. The screen does indeed come from the BlackBerry Q10 which was released all the way back in 2013 and featured an AMOLED display. So I'd say if you are considering the OLED kit for your GBC then you might want to pick one up while they're still available. No telling how many of those screens they were able to source.
You’re right, I misread GBA, GBC had a square screen like the Q10 with 1:1 aspect and it was AMOLED.
man the clear shells, looks so freaking good! I were a bit disappointed at first with your "buttons" after the 3d print and it looked awful but not after you got them made in clear... *chefs kiss*
The plastic itself is what makes the click in the power button not the switch itself.
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.
I don't typically like a clear case, but this one looks so slick!
Thanks Deric! I'm actually kind of with you, but when its crystal clear like this it just kind of does it for me
@@ZacBuilds agreed, this looks sick, especially with the lights
The clear case with any mod is good because it showcases your work.
@@ZacBuildsZac can you make a guitar hero/fortnite festival controller. They just released a new one. It is going take years before it’s in stock and available for regular people like me whose kids want one. So I figured let’s just make one 😂
Personally I'd make the huge amount of space behind the screen be for a new , way larger battery for literal DAYS of playtime
If buying isn't owning then pirating isn't stealing.
Pirating was never a form of stealing and if it is, how tf is Johnny Depp still roaming around freely
Ok but with the gameboy buying is owning. Piracy is definitely 100% illegal on this case. Morally, it's fine imo because the console is 20+ years old and Nintendo doesn't even sell these games anymore
I see this quote a lot and it doesn't go beyond 2 seconds of thought. It also doesn't apply to Gameboy era games, so it's doubly stupid. If you're wondering why lookup how a cartridge works.
@@MostlyPonies1 Just a year ago Nintendo was running around taking down UA-cam videos showing modded Zelda BOTW on the Switch. Those are cartridge games. Checkmate.
@@jeshlandBecause Johnny Depp has never committed an act of pirating, nor has he never been a pirate, he's only portrayed one. And portraying a person who does illegal things is not a crime... Actually being one is.
genius move to do a "easy" version first and do the full mod after! love to have a the ability to just print out the case and transfer a gameboy with not much additional work, but also love to see all the extra stuff you did with the "hard" version!
im pretty sure that already exist ready to sell cases for what you wanted to do
yeah man slate mods are old news. unhinged sp case has been around for a minute
It's not about finding if it's feasible or not, nor making a commercially viable product, it's for tinkering and trying stuff out yourself.
@@rafaelsousa5 yeah but he got a bunch of facts wrong and then presented this build like it's a novel concept. it's not.
This thing looks fantastic. Love that you can see all its internals and the back lit buttons looks great his way too.
How much would you sell one for?
I have 2 objections- first, you did NOT need 128 GBs. A 16 GB SD card would be enough (for every single NES, SNES, GB, GBC, and GBA game). Second, while it is really cool that you started with an actual GameBoy Advance SP, the same thing could have been achieved with a Raspberry Pi Zero. I’m not trying to be a hater or anything, I LOVED the video, and this is a great channel I really enjoy watching, but I did want to point out these things to anyone wanting to do something like this. (Also, downloading ROMs is technically a legal grey area, something I personally don’t think is illegal but Nintendo does. It is completely up to you what you decide about the subject.) Aside from that though, thank you for the great video!
A pi zero is emulation, not original hardware
@@KaitouKaiju yeah, doing it with original hardware is much cooler, I just wanted to put it out there.
Im at 5:11 and im asking myself "when does he slap on the stupid out of place wood"
Love the modern xx builds.
I absolutely love these “slate” style shells for the GBA SP, but I‘be seen one creator actually flip the motherboard and wire up separate mobos for the buttons, so that your cartridges load from the top, rather than the bottom.
That way when you’re playing classic GB and GBC cartridges, they’re not awkwardly sticking out of the bottom
I loved the game boy sp. The ability to use it as a controller for some game cube games was genius.
"Something that Nintendo removed from future versions of the Game Boy." The only Game Boy that released after the SP was the Micro, which was essentially just another Game Boy Advance in a different form factor.
that cannot play GB or GBC carts
The Micro did not support Game Boy and Game Boy Color games because it only had the GBA's CPU and not the 2nd CPU from the Game Boy that the previous GBAs both had.
For the wireless charging port, you probably could have used the space in the back of the display. I loved that you were making it as sleek as possible, but the back of the screen being so much thinner than the bottom made me nervous that it could snap in half. But if you were not make another casing where the back of the display goes out to the same length of the battery port, it would give it a more classic gameboy look, but still be thin and that extra space could allow you to install a wireless charger, though it would not be centered of course, unless maybe you put the innards of the wireless charging behind the LCD screen and move the actual charging pad more into the center if you know what I mean. In any case, you did a great job and it looks really awesome!
That’s some clean OLED GBC footage at the end there😉 love your channel btw!
oh hey Jake! cool seeing you here
Thanks Jake! Really appreciated your video on the OLED screen. It was the first place I heard about it and you did a great job of breaking it down.
You might be able to make the pla clearer by brushing some clear epoxy onto both front and back and then sanding it back a bit.
Babe wake up! Zac just dropped a banger!
This looks fantastic! I appreciate all the effort in keeping these old machines running and looking great
Thanks!
My pleasure, thank you for watching and the support!
@@ZacBuildswould be so cool to somehow repurpose a cell phone into a handheld emulation device that looks like a retro handheld machine. I get we have switch's and steamdecks but I love the retro look
Amazing and inspiring rebuilds. I love it
I would strongly recommend redesigning speaker area, You can either add another layer of print going horizontal as well as vertical or add a mesh port or juat change it to a mesh style print. That open slotted design is like begging for junk to get in there and a car key or something to poke it
Zac crushing it lately
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.
You mentioned that the gba sp screen is backlit. Only the ags 101 model was backlit. The others were front lit. Judging by your terrible viewing angle, I’d venture to say yours was front lit.
Okay holy shit this actually turned out incredible with that PCB Way housing wow. Didn’t even know they made those. Awesome build man! Definitely wanna do something like this with a device one day. 😄
The power switch "click" is made by the plastic part not the switch itself
The replacement switch he's using has an internal click. Using a DS Lite power switch is the way to go.
- …My hands and wrists have an ergonomics complaint to raise against your casig preferences: OBJECTION!!! (I grew up with the OG, horizontal-layout GBA, though.)
- A bulge for the link cable port honestly wouldn't be that big of a deal. Or, alternatively, why not think of using the Game Boy Micro.s link cable port? I may not be remembering this correctly of the top of my head, but I think it had one, and it was smaller?
- …What _is_ it with people's obsession with excessively thin devices these days?! _Cradles their OG DS._
- Why not build a Wireless Adapter in while you're at it?
Yet another great build!
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.
Basically a copy of existing mod kits. Also you could've extended the bottom of the shell to fully contain an original Gameboy game to add an ounce of originality.
I made a flipped version of the SP's back with a ribbon cable. The battery is on the bottom and the cart slot is like on the original GB. The GBA cart tabs on the side made it a bit difficult to make the GB carts stay in sturdy, but it works.
The SP was absolutely the superior Gameboy product, form factor included. It does what the Gameboy was mean to do the best, and the clamshell means it's actually portable and safe, you an throw it in anything, pocket etc and it's fine.
front-lit screens*
Why would you basically glue the screen open?
The factory GBA SP: Sturdy, has a continuous range of screen angles from 0 to ~190.
"MODERN Gameboy": 1 single screen angle, of 180. Warranty void if bent.
I honestly can't believe that you nickel and dime your viewers after profiting from the video already to pay $5 for the 3D file
brutal
Those pieces at the end dont even look 3D printed. That's incredible.
Please sell this to me.
one issue i have with the newer shell design is that the thinner part containing the screen is much smaller and is almost certainly going to snap if put under stress from being inside of a pocket, especially something like jeans which are stiffer
How do you use a gameboy for crime? 😧
You don't wanna know. 👀
About the oem power switch being smoothe and not clicky, it's because it wasn't in the shell anymore. The part that you move on the original switch has a bump that slips passed a bump on the inside of the shell to give the familiar click.
So you just made a GBA SP Unhinged, but without crediting that project at all. Got it.
There is no copyright, trademark, or ownership over making a unhinged GBA SP. Anyone came make one, anyone can design their own. Nobody cares about who did it first and it's not your job to police the internet.
The unhinged is made from alum, has no button leds, and doesn’t come with an upgraded speaker. They both draw inspiration from the OG gameboy. It’s clearly not plagiarism. Silly comment.
All future versions of the Game Boy? What different timeline you living on?
uneven borders on the screen are killing me
Clickbait title
What do you expect?
Amazing video man! The SP was such an improvement over the DMG. One note though, @ 15:09 you counted to three wrong.
Each like on this comment =1 push up
Shut up and get a life
Alright chill guys my hands kinda hurt
You should make the LEDs under the buttons wayyyy dimmer. They shouldn't distract from the screen. Same reason you keep your dash lights on your car dim at night.
First
no
@@neb_setabed yes
Third* but still first in my heart.
@@ZacBuildsThanks man ❤
@@Bloop_z you were third so your yes is meaningless just like your original comment
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.
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.❤
Zac really deserves way way more than 400k subs. The things he does is very impressive.
Im working on this project right now! Im sad you beat me to it! It is hard for sure! I have learned a lot and a couple useful insights from this video! Very awesome!
"backlit screens" not all of them, some have archaic frontlit
I use a glass print bed, it seemed to work just fine. But I do like the bend ability and easy separation of the flexible textured beds.
AYE YOU BEAT ME TO IT! I was just talking about an all black gameboy advance or gameboy micro with purple backlights and a haunter or gengar theme. Personally I want haunter but i know gengars the final form and most people focus on gengar because f that.
I hate it when people insist on “modernizing” consoles like they’re not good enough already. Just get a lamp you can see the screen fine. Though I will admit this is a great video and a great build. I personally just don’t like it when people act like they can’t play the gameboy without an LCD screen and LED light up buttons and an SD card.
the top part above the shoulder buttons if you made that the same thickness as the bottom it would strengthen the top as well as making more room for things like the wireless charger and other mods, could have some scoops in the case to accommodate fingers for the shoulder buttons
Adding amoled is surely a huge upgrade. However, if you can add a Bluetooth audio connection, that is a killer feature!
Super cool! Thank you for sharing the files! Definitely like the BoxyPixel metal unhinged sp case but you can make it yourself!
I mean this with the most upmost respect. So you just made an unhinged GBA SP? This has existed forever on yeggi . I don't see the newness to this, but I totally loved and appreciated seeing this all happen.
Damn you're a legit engineer now! Your case and mods are not trivial.
Also, textured print plates are *chef's kiss*
Console is almost perfect, you should've add stereo speakers
here' a fun idea: you know those things that allow you to clip a wireless controller to your phone? what about making a raspberry pi that emulates old games and designing a case to fit in the controller attachment?
I LOVED the GBSP. I had one of the original red ones with Pokémon Emerald constantly in it ask the time. 2003-2005 was some of the best years for games and consoles.
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!
22:02 can’t you just put the charging coil behind the screen? This wouldn’t make anything thicker. Try a MagSafe one x-D
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.
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
What I'd really like to do, is learn how to program a motherboard and use different components to create a device. Because I have several old DS card slots laying around, and a plug and play device for DS games like the GB Operator would be hella cool
Looks really good, and this is the most comprehensive mod I've seen so far. But I think you made it too thin. I'd be afraid to keep it in my pocket or backpack because it looks like it could easily snap in half. I think making it a little bit thicker wouldn't negatively impact anything, but it would just make it way more sturdy.
You could use the soft parts for the back half to make it more comfortable, order the back parts from one and front from the other.