I have one of those also, it’s awesome.
I switched from a $30 Weller to that one and it was a huge difference for me. Worth the price
Just saw this video pop up if anyone is interested in the mod. Still on the fence about sacrificing a GBA when I have other high quality ways to play the games on a big screen.
2 Likes
I bought a scratched to hell filthy beater GBA for $10 to do this mod to. Really looking forward to this one!
Yeah, I’ll probably do the same. I have a GBA with a 101 mod, one with an Afterburner mod I installed years ago, and an unmodified unit in mint condition… None of them I want to mess with.
1 Like
Man that looks awesome… Not a fan of the 3D printed case myself, but the mod is great.
1 Like
Yeah, I imagine they’ll get better over time.
Pretty cool mod, I have to say. How does it handle the off-spec refresh rate?
From the project page:
By default, the GBA Consolizer runs at a standard 60 Hz vertical refresh rate, requiring the GBA itself to operate with a slight overclock from its original speed. The GBA Consolizer can also output digital video at a 59.7276 Hz vertical refresh rate. In this mode the GBA is running right at the Nintendo specification. Both modes are low latency, tear free, and stutter free.
1 Like
Interesting stuff.
1 Like
My Benn Venn Freckle Shack screen arrived today and I jumped into the install as soon as could. I had been trying to get a custom glass lens from Jelly Belly Customs that would cover up the small strips of silver that are visible on the new screen, but they’ve been perpetually on back-order. So I tried Plan B and painted the sides of the LCD black. I figured it was low risk and could always order a lens when they’re back in stock.
I’m pretty pleased with how it turned out (results look even better in person, I think):
I went for the full mod and soldered up the brightness controller that lets me select several different levels. You can even turn it off completely and the GBC remains playable in direct sunlight:
Swapped out the original sticker for a new one to finish it off:
This shit is addictive…probably the only thing keeping me in check are the long lead times to order any of these items. 
3 Likes
Agreed it’s very addictive! I had all the parts in the cart ready to go, when I realized I have my AGB-101 that ice only played one game on in a year and a half!
I told myself that if I finish 3 more games on the AGB, that I can do up a GBC. 
Game Boy Macro
I recently snagged a beat-up original Nintendo DS for $5 and decided to try my hand at a Game Boy Macro mod. Here’s what showed up in the mail:
The hinge was destroyed, but amazingly both screens still worked OK. The lower screen had a lot of visible scratching and the whole thing had a general grimy vibe about it.
First step was to take it all apart and make sure I could get the lower screen working successfully without the upper screen attached. I used a 1k ohm resistor wrapped around the back side of the board. You can make out the solder points on the right side of this picture next to the start button:
You’ll notice I tried to preserve the original speaker set up after trying to solder new wires to the back of the board got too tedious for me. The advantage to keeping everything in tact is that it’s “plug and play”, but the obvious downside is the massive amount of real estate it takes up. I ended up having to lose one of the speakers because I just couldn’t make it all fit. Next time I’ll dedicate more time to making the soldering work because mono sound on this thing is messed up.
And while I was at it, I replaced the touch screen with a new one. Even though touch isn’t necessary anymore, it’s nice to have a bit of protection in front of the LCD.
After everything checked out OK electrically, I moved on to the case modding. I don’t have a lot of tools at my disposal, but a dremel with a few attachments got me to this point:
Thankfully I didn’t slice off a finger in the process.
The goal was to make it look more attractive. I used some PlasticWeld repair epoxy to fill in the gaps. Spent some time sanding it and realized later I was too impatient with that as well and could have made it look more even. Oh well.
After a couple coats of paint and a clear coat, I got it to this point:
And wouldn’t you know it, the damn thing works:
Pretty happy with this as a first attempt, although if I’m honest it’s all a bit janky. The biggest problem I ran into was how brittle the plastic has become. A couple screw posts broke off making closing it up much more difficult. Also, I think the screen sucks compared to an AGS-101. Perhaps using a DS Lite would be better in that regard. But I do really like the fact that the GBA carts sit flush with the case.
All in all, it was a fun project and I learned a lot.
5 Likes
Looks smart. Well done!
Looks good! If I ever find a beat up DS I might try this myself.