Back in the olden days, there existed physical game stores, which in addition to physical games would also have kiosks where you could try out the current game consoles and handhelds. Generally these kiosks held the console, a display and any controllers if needed. After a while these kiosks would get scrapped, with only a very few ending up being rescued and restored. One of the lucky ones is a Game Boy kiosk, which [The Retro Future] managed to snag after it was found in a construction site. Sadly the thing was in a very rough condition, with the particle board especially being mostly destroyed.
These Game Boy kiosks also featured a special Game Boy, which – despite being super rare – also was hunted down. This led to the restoration, which included recovering as much of the original particle board as possible, with a professional furniture restore ([Don]) lending his expertise. This provides a master class in how to patch up damaged particle board, as maligned as this wood-dust-and-glue material is.
The boards were then reassembled more securely than the wood screws used by the person who had found the destroyed kiosk, in a way that allows for easy disassembly if needed. Fortunately most of the plastic pieces were still intact, and the Game Boy grey paint was easily matched. Next was reproducing a missing piece of art work, with fortunately existing versions available as reference. For a few missing metal bits that held the special Game Boy in place another kiosk was used to provide measurements.
After all this, the kiosk was powered back on, and it was like 1990 was back once again, just in time for playing Tetris on a dim, green-and-black screen while hunched half into the kiosk at the game store.
Is it true that it does not work outside the kiosk? And what that circuit board does? Is it only a power supply or it injects some signal that makes the gameboy run?
It’s a normal gameboy with a (lying) sticker
From what I remember there was one jumper inside that was either cut or shorted. Reversing this made it fully functional.
They explain this in the video he posted earlier on the channel where he visits a guy that has one in mint condition. they touch on the fact that it’s a lie. It’s a perfectly standard gameboy.
Maybe the sticker originally was meant for a Gameboy in a another type kiosk?
As far as I know, there also was a kiosk type with a CRT monitor hooked to a Gameboy or Gameboy Pocket.
It’s a small world, I am one of the people who helped Elliot debug that board. The circuit board powers the gameboy and is an audio amplifier that gets audio from the gameboy’s headphone output and amplifies it for the loudspeakers in the kiosk cabinet. AFAIK the gameboy itself is basically stock, just has a sticker on it.
Repairs and restorations are always fun to watch. Looking at it, noticing the mess, and being aware of how difficult it is to actually make it look good again. I love the story telling of this particular one, as every seemingly trivial issue has an epic solution.
While writing this reply, I got thirty. With the kitchen six meters away, I knew it would be tough. Against all odds, I’ve managed to lift one leg, and then another, inching towards the kitchen. Only to realize that I should have unstuck myself from my electronic widget earlier for scheduled periodic caloric intake. Thanks to inventions of the Romans, getting refreshments was a breeze, only to realize that I’ve still a lot to learn in story telling.
heh in all fairness i think a single preposition (‘with’) would have cleared up the original paragraph. there’s an awkward adverb ‘fortunately’ but imo it’s actually correct and clear