TABLE OF CONTENTS PART ONE: BACKGROUND 1 INTRO TO MODDING AND THE HISTORY OF GAME BOY ....... 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 GAME BOY COLOR .......................................................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 GAME BOY ADVANCE ................................................... 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 Game Boy Camera ....................................................196 Game Boy Printer ..................................................... 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.