other mods and projects
Aside from a the more common modifications I often like to try something a little different; either to solve a problem or just to test out a theory or an idea I may have had. Testing myself, particularly with processes that haven't been done before or if there are no guides available, is always the most satisfying thing to do. Well, when it works anyway!
Love this black and Gold themed pair. I used scotchbrite to rub down the DMG shell and give a matt black finish.
Matching gold prosound ports too.
"Arduinoboy" allows MIDI sync with Gameboy and other audio equipment
View of the innards on another Arduinoboy I built. Powered by a 9v battery.
I love my Odroid Go! Customised it with buttons from a Pokemon edition Game Boy Color.
The only downer to the Odroid Go was the overly loud and distorted sound. I sorted that by adding a 100 ohms resistor in line with the speaker. Sounds perfect now!
Passive mixer in an old mints tin is simple but handy for a quick way of connecting a number of inputs to a single output speaker.
I've had fun making a range of different laser cut stands for handheld consoles.
Another DMG display stand I designed.
Game Boy Pocket display stand I designed.
Nintendo Famicom with RCA composite video and audio mod.
Game Boy Pocket bivert chip wiring. I used thin wire and devised wire routing that avoided overlaps. A little needs cutting away inside the shell to accomodate the larger, more robust hex chip which is glued to the top corner of the PCB.
Cut some sections from this old carry case to allow two Game Boys with prosound mods to fit inside
Made for a pretty cool gig bag! Room for cables, carts, batteries etc.
When I started needing more than two Game Boys and my portable mixer for gigs later on, I upgraded to this flight case and modified the foam insert to house all my stuff. It's been severely knocked about over the years and keeps my stuff safe!
SNES pad hack inside a Game Boy shell made for the perfect controller using Super Game Boy for LSDJ! Even wired up a little red power LED that lights up when it's connected.
Bluetooth boom box customised with Joe Bleeps stickers and added front 3.5mm aux and top RCA stereo connections.
PAL SNES in matt black with blue power LED, region switch, 50Hz/60Hz switch and widened cartridge slot to accommodate US cartridges.
Another modded SNES with region and display switches.
When I got Mario Kart and Smash Bros on Wii U I made a pad hack using a Wii Classic Controller and remapped its circuits to an original GameCube controller. Plugs straight into the Wiimote. Works a treat but that solder job was not for the faint of heart!
Dubbed the "Disco Boy", this playful DMG has a clear rear shell with a number of flashing RGB LEDs inside. Looks fantastic on a live show!
Wooden buttons made by using thin veneers laser cut into circles, glued onto a cut-down original button, sanded and varnished. Unique and beautiful. Feels nice too.
3mm blue LED wired up near a translucent power switch makes for a neat light-up button!
Better view of the light-up power switch in action
Three audio sockets and a switch to swap between pre and post pot connections gives a total of six prosound options! Overkill? Yes. Fun? Also yes.
Simple jig to get the speaker holes consistent on my Game Boy Macro builds.
Detail of the switch arrangement for the RGB backlight I fitted.
REG backlight with case mounted micro slide switches. an on/off for red, green and bllue for a range of combinations
Another blue LED power switch, this time on DJ Cutman's DMG.
Analog sync mod. Wired up to the link port allowing connection via 3.5mm stereo cable with a switch to swap between in/out for the signal.
One of the projects that is both the most ridiculous and that I'm proudest of is my JAMMA Sega Mega Drive. In short, it's a Mega Drive that connects to an arcade machine. When connected to the JAMMA harness it sends video and audio, is powered by the arcade machine itself so no need for a separate power supply and can be controlled by a 2-player arcade control panel. In addition to this it is still a fully functional Mega Drive for regular use and has language and 50/60Hz switch and widened cart slot for Japanese cartridges. There was so much squeezed inside that console I'm still amazed I got this thing working to this day!
One of my favourite Game Boy projects to build was this Game Boy with internal Buletooth stereo audio transmitter. I hacked an existing transmitter and connected it to work with the DMG's audio outputs. In addition to that I managed to get it powered via the Game Boy itself and used the select button on long presses to activate/deactivate/sync etc, all with blue and red indicator LEDs behind clear start/select buttons. I made a YouTube video demonstrating it and Nintendo Life ran the feature on the left here.