[palmertech] and [Bibin] have both completed backlight projects for the Game Boy Pocket recently. The most difficult part of the transplant is carefully removing the reflective backing on the LCD. After a thorough cleaning, a diffuser and backlight panel were added. [palmertech] used a backlight salvaged from a DS, while [Bibin] built his own using LEDs. You can see his backlight in the video embedded below. There’s a disassembly video too.
[youtube=http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=-n-iORmV3Qk]
Here is a video of a GameBoy Color being played on an LED matrix. He has built it up to 140×140 LEDs so far and it seems to be going well. He needs to add the final 20 LEDs to get the 160×140 resolution of the GameBoy. He notes in the comments that he had some problems with dead LEDs in the boards he got from eBay. Trying to remove the dead LED with a hot air rework station resulted in massive damage to the board. At one point he says that the power consumption is 1KW when showing all white. Wow, that’s a drain.
[Kevtris] gave us some more info in the comments with a link to the build pictures in his blog.
[thanks tReg]
[Mark] had a broken TI-83 graphing calculator and an overwhelming urge to play Pokemon in math class. The solution to his predicament, obviously, is to hack a GameBoy color into the body of his TI-83. He gutted the calculator and connected the front buttons to the contacts on the GameBoy. After some cramming and taping bits together, he got it all working. Now he just needs to find a way to make the cartridge a little bit less conspicuous.
[via Make]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgKSLxRPtu8]
For roughly $250, you too can have this sweet bit of gadgetry based off of the Arduino platform. It is open source, and has some pretty impressive specs. Sporting a rumble pack, lithium ion battery, OLED display, and space for expanson. You can buy the pieces pre assembled, or as a kit. If you get the kit, you’ll see that the controller board has been laid out so that you can solder your buttons and joystick in as either left handed or right handed. The only problem? No games yet.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22yI_nk09Fc]
[Bacteria] sent us this sweet video of the Multi Platform Plug’n’Play system running his new GameBoy Advance module. He’s made an addon for his unit that allows him to play his GameBoy Advance cartridges as well as GameBoy ones. Watch the vid for the details and some views of the insides.
Reader [John Grayson], known for his multiconsole portable, has constructed a brand new portable. Not liking the controls or the tethered nature of retro TV games he decided to build a modular portable system. He built a custom system that uses cartridges created from TV game systems. The device has a 5.4″ screen and two Canon batteries for 4.5 hours of play.
Pitchfork.tv is showing the documentary Blip Festival: Reformat the Planet for one week only. The Blip Festival is an annual chiptune event in New York City featuring musicians who use video game consoles as part of their production. The documentary has a ton of artist interviews and music from all across the spectrum. Most of the initial featured artists are using the Game Boy LSDJ tracker cartridge. [Nullsleep] has put together a tutorial for the device. You’ll see a lot of other old hardware and hear discussions of coveted mods like adding backlights as well. [Mark Denardo] is shown using a PSP as part of his performance. Other people are using software like Fruity Loops to build tracks with Nintendo samples. Honestly, our favorite part was a clip of the loud objects doing a live soldering circuit bending performance on top of an overhead projector at the Bent Festival. Although not musical, Element Labs’ Versa TILE makes a fairly mesmerizing backdrop throughout the film too. You can find links to all the featured artists on last year’s festival page.
Blip Festival 2008 happens December 4-6 in Brooklyn, NY.
[via Waxy]
[photo: ziggy fresh]
