Table of contents

Part One: Background

1 intro to Modding and the History of ...... 3 Consoles I’ve Owned...... 7 Using This Book...... 12 A Brief History of the Game Boy...... 16

2 Tools, Techniques, and Repair...... 29 Modding Tools...... 30 Quick and Easy Soldering...... 36 Soldering Resistors...... 38 Cleaning and Fixing Common Issues...... 39 General Cleaning...... 41 Shells...... 42 Sticky Buttons...... 43 Silicon Pads...... 44 Speakers...... 45 Changing the Speaker...... 46 Corrosion...... 47 Replacing Battery Contacts...... 50 Yellowing...... 51 Scratched Screen...... 52 Power Supply...... 53 Game Pak Batteries...... 54 Fixing Vertical Screen Lines...... 56 Horizontal Screen Lines...... 60 “Won’t Turn On”...... 61 Screen Burn...... 62 “Screen Cancer”...... 62 Cracked LCD...... 63 Game Boy Graveyard...... 64

ix  Part Two: Mods

3 game Boy DMG: “The Brick”...... 69 Tools and Materials...... 70 Opening the Game Boy...... 72 Removing the Polarizer...... 74 Installing the Bivert Module...... 78 Prepping the Backlight...... 82 Newton Rings...... 85 Putting It All Back Together...... 86 Adhering the Lens...... 88 Troubleshooting...... 89 Meet a Modder! Jaqueline Ruther (@mizucatofficial)...... 90

4 ...... 95 Tools and Materials...... 96 Color Code Key...... 98 Light Panels...... 100 Frontlight...... 100 Backlight...... 101 Opening the GBC...... 102 LOCA...... 104 Applying the LOCA...... 106 Wiring the Screen...... 110 Finishing Up...... 111 Spidering...... 113 Troubleshooting...... 115 Drop-In Backlight Mods...... 116

5 get the Look! Customizing Your Game Boy...... 119 Customizing Your Game Boy Console...... 120 Buttons...... 122 Shells...... 123 Battery Door...... 123

x Table of Contents Screen Lens . . . Glass or Plastic?...... 124 Labels...... 126 Painting Your Shell...... 127 Masking the Shell...... 128 Spraying the Shell...... 131 Colored Power LED...... 134 Changing the LED...... 134 Colored Backlights...... 137 Meet a Modder! Owen Liza Winter (@aspirationmods)...... 138

6 game Boy Pocket...... 143 Tools and Materials...... 144 Opening the Game Boy...... 146 Preparing the LCD...... 148 Prepping the Backlight...... 150 Biverting the Pocket...... 151 Soldering the Light Panel...... 153 Finishing Up...... 154 Troubleshooting...... 155 Five-Volt Boost...... 156

7 ...... 157 Tools and Materials...... 158 What We’ll Use...... 161 Opening the Game Boy Advance...... 163 Trimming the Shell...... 166 Installing the LCD Screen...... 168 Troubleshooting...... 172 IPS GBA Screen Mod...... 173 Meet a Modder! Sean Duran (@esotericmods)...... 174

8 Collector’s Guide...... 179 Q: What Is the “Holy Grail” of Your Collection?...... 180 Retro Gaming Publications...... 182 “Game Boy World”...... 182

Table of Contents xi “Gameboy Perfect Catalogue”...... 182 “The Game Console”...... 183 Terminology...... 184 Tips for Collecting...... 185 Games...... 186 Some Cool Games to Try...... 187 Label Art...... 188 Storage...... 189 Spotting Fake Game Paks...... 190 Cleaning...... 192 Accessories...... 193 ...... 196 ...... 197 Game Boy Cases...... 198 Game Boy Variants and Box Art...... 200 Original Game Boy...... 200 Game Boy Pocket...... 202 Game Boy Color...... 203 Game Boy Advance...... 204 Pokemon Mini: Hunting My Holy Grail...... 206

9 pokemon Mini...... 213 Tools and Materials...... 214 Opening the Mini...... 216 Preparing the Screen...... 219 Preparing the Backlight...... 220 Soldering the Backlight...... 222 Troubleshooting...... 225

10 Conclusion...... 227 An Ever-Expanding World...... 228 Resources...... 230 Photo Credits...... 232

Index...... 233

xii Table of Contents