A full aluminum build would be something I wouldn't mind seeing. It's projects like these that I wonder what Ben Heck would think of now compared to back in the days when he was making home consoles portable. He doesn't do much in that realm anymore but he does still make accessible controllers for those with physical disabilities so I have to give him props there.
"Now comes the fiddly bit." he says after full on microsoldering those buttons, and doing a beautiful job with the flex cable install. This mans soldering skills... Solid.
1. Just get a grip for your SP. 2. Modern systems are to skinny so that's why. Try the og GB or the color and you will see. Much better. Heck if you can get your hands on an Nvidia Shield then try thatbthing out for size. It's to big IMHO.
Funny enough, I use a GB emulator on my Playdate to play some classic games, and though some parts are a bit tricky (like mapping Start/Select to the crank), it works well enough in its current state. Glad to see that its design sensibilities have been studied to make a brand new GBA form, though I know a lot of folks feel like it's hand-cramp city.
So cool to see you cover this too, Tito! You should totally try out aluminum too, it's such a better experience. Also, you should put the speaker in a different position behind the screen. You can see in my videos :)
Thanks Marisa! I’ll definitely check that out! I was I having trouble trying to find a spot for the speaker. How’s the sound when it’s behind the screen?
@@MachoNachoProductions it's surprisingly decent, not muffled or anything. The speaker I used from the BOM is rather quiet, if you want to go louder, Joseph used a Nintendo switch speaker that goes in the same little nook and I imagine is significantly louder 💚
I'd been following this project for a while, and it's really cool to see it get a lot of support. The thing that puzzles me about it is why they went with surface-mount membrane buttons instead of just putting conductive traces on the PCB and then use the rubber button pads to actually make contact to get the original button feel and have less work to do, but it's still a really nice build and I am super tempted to this myself, especially now that there's that flex cable that makes the final assembly so much easier. I do wish they had a built-in headphone jack as part of the mod though.
If it feels too small to play with for a long period of time, because of using the stock back plate of an SP, i bet a majority of 3rd party accessories of the era would still be compatible. Would love to see how this looks in one of those push-to-fit grips you use to get back in the day.
Not my favorite form factor, but low key a big fan of the non destructive mods. I think the planning around those mods adds a nice challenge with the rule of not cutting up anything.
Nice mod, but it looks like it'd be horrible to use if ever wanting to use the shoulder buttons. The target market of these retro handheld mods isn't getting any younger; not sure why nobody's targeting larger variety mods with larger screens.
Ain't the Game Boy Macro just that tho? There's only so far you can increase those screens without them looking terrible anyway (...or not, Game Boy Player enters the fight)
@@gyroninjamodder On Super Mario World they perform the tasks from the Y and X buttons on the Super Nintendo if I recall, and on Drill Dozer they're pretty much essential. Frankly, it looks interesting but it's just taking a GBA SP and making it worse in every possible way.
@@Kalvinjj I think it depends on how you scale the screen when making it bigger. I recently got an Analogue Pocket and my Gameboy games look amazing on it! I do think it would be cool if someone made a mod that could give the original hardware a 3.5 or 4 inch screen though
I wouldn't do this myself, but I really appreciate the design and engineering which has gone into making it. It looks amazing and that ribbon cable is lovely
A lot of people complaining about the ergonomics but personally I really love absolutely tiny handhelds. They make me want to actually take them out and about with me more.
One improvement that could possibly be made is to install some kind of touch sensor at the top of the unit above a space between a shoulder button and a connector port that allows you to adjust the screen brightness.
The Slate and the Unhinged aren’t the only ones; there’s also the Open Sp, the MK0, and my favorite build, the Slab but I really hope it gets a better shell/buttons someday. I love your content, it’s really motivating! A while ago, I saw someone make a Gameboy Macro with a DS Switch screen and a button for it. It would be an amazing device if the mod got more attention, with both card readers and a new shell. You might like it!
How about a gamecube X/Y button as the B button on any of the 2 face button consoles? It might make rolling for run and jump more comfortable. That or add an extra B button where the X button would be.
Neat. This looks like something Nintendo themselves would've made, if they hadn't made the gba micro. The gba micro was probably a better idea for them though. Probably more comfortable to more hands and fits in more bags and pockets.
I'm really tired today, so I saw 4:06 and thought "Wow, this guy has really small hands" until I realized it was a scaled up cartridge-shaped container for a product package, lol
I printed the front face plate in a lot of materials Resin and PLA, I suggest the PA12 Nylon (SLS) is so much though and do some sand and paint job (more cheaper than CNC), the other contra is there no more IPS V3 compatible kit available on AliExpress so the model have to be updated before ordering anything
I wonder why they stacked the start and select buttons like that... And yeah, I'd want some bigger buttons to stick out a bit haha. Looks cool, though. I really wish GBAs and SPs were cheaper, I'd consider making one of these but I have too many Gameboys as it is...
The soldering on all your mods always comes out immaculately - is there any chance in the future that you’d look into providing some tips and tricks on this? I find I have trouble getting tips to last for any length of time, though that could be due to the quality of the tooling I have available.
Awesome video Tito!! That silkscreen on the button PCB is far out! Was it hard to focus your eyes while soldering the buttons on? I am a huge fan of the Micro, but my eyes aren't as good as they were when I got the Micro back in the day.
Haha it was a bit trippy to look at! I absolutely love the Micro, it was actually my first gba so I got a soft spot for it. The screen is definitely on the smaller side for sure!
I can do the vertical handhelds. But this has no room for my fingers to rest on the back. The rg35xx barely has enough room and that's the smallest I can handle. Id prefer something like the rg353v as far as room for my hands. Out of all my handhelds the stream deck has absolute perfect comfort. I can play that thing for 10 hours if I wanted to.
It might look nice at first glance but I don't see any point of it. As it looks like a closed sp with everything outside that makes the ergonomic worse.. especially that the sp has shoulder buttons unlike the playdate.
Funny enough, the two different yellow tones actually look quite good together. Interesting mod but frankly... kinda pointless. EDIT: About the screws and warping, indeed as you mentioned it's because of the resin print. Creep is part of their life always, and they're absolutely horrible to screw into, and will shatter easily if you need any force to screw anything on them. If screws are a tight fit, it's likely you'll have to tap the threads beforehand and use a metric/UNC screw instead of self-tappers then. In that case they'll also end up feeling a bit loose... there's no winning with functional parts on resin really.
Let's be real, they were sold in so many millions that there's still plenty mint ones as well. Not to mention the more beat up ones likely starting to need power button replacement and some extra annoyances. I even managed to find one that no matter what I did the charge LED would not work (replaced the LED, tried finding anything along it's route, no good).
@Kalvinjj not sure about your market but SP are expensive here. I went to get one to play back through some games and I ended up buying 2 DSlites and an og DS for cheaper.
@@kaydog890 Yeah true that they're now much more expensive than they were in like 2017 or so. Prices just exploded cause yes. People are just overpricing them for the sake of doing it, as if that was a valid price. I gotta say tho that the GBA SP on the AGS-001 (which Tito used) front lit variant is MUCH cheaper than the AGS-101 backlit one, that one sure is much more rare indeed. I do recall even back in 2016~2017 when I was getting into the retro gaming scene and selling refurbished handhelds, the 101s in meh condition were easily twice the price of a 001 in great condition. Then the aftermarket backlit screens popped up and who knows why the prices didn't drop. In all fairness, I did have an original screen 101 or a while and damn it had some incredible contrast, like modern IPS tier (IF, the corners haven't gone bad already... which most did).
No because this uses only one specific screen kit currently available. The accellerator only works with one specific screen kit as well and they are not the same kit unfortunately.
Honestly, I really love the form factor of this gameboy, but my 6'5ft body/hands would say elsewise
While not 6'5, I fully understand your situation. My buddy is 6'4 with long fingers and some controllers are just not built for him.
I love how it looks but god knows I will not have fun playing on it.
A full aluminum build would be something I wouldn't mind seeing. It's projects like these that I wonder what Ben Heck would think of now compared to back in the days when he was making home consoles portable. He doesn't do much in that realm anymore but he does still make accessible controllers for those with physical disabilities so I have to give him props there.
"Now comes the fiddly bit." he says after full on microsoldering those buttons, and doing a beautiful job with the flex cable install. This mans soldering skills... Solid.
My hands started cramping up just looking at it 😭
so cute, but I can't hold the vertical style consoles anymore... Gotten so used to the horizontal style like the Switch.
Same.
Totally agree with you.
Think it’s more our hands got bigger so it’s uncomfortable now
1. Just get a grip for your SP.
2. Modern systems are to skinny so that's why. Try the og GB or the color and you will see. Much better. Heck if you can get your hands on an Nvidia Shield then try thatbthing out for size. It's to big IMHO.
Funny enough, I use a GB emulator on my Playdate to play some classic games, and though some parts are a bit tricky (like mapping Start/Select to the crank), it works well enough in its current state.
Glad to see that its design sensibilities have been studied to make a brand new GBA form, though I know a lot of folks feel like it's hand-cramp city.
So cool to see you cover this too, Tito! You should totally try out aluminum too, it's such a better experience. Also, you should put the speaker in a different position behind the screen. You can see in my videos :)
Thanks Marisa! I’ll definitely check that out! I was I having trouble trying to find a spot for the speaker. How’s the sound when it’s behind the screen?
@@MachoNachoProductions it's surprisingly decent, not muffled or anything. The speaker I used from the BOM is rather quiet, if you want to go louder, Joseph used a Nintendo switch speaker that goes in the same little nook and I imagine is significantly louder 💚
Cool uncle is in the comment section
I'd been following this project for a while, and it's really cool to see it get a lot of support. The thing that puzzles me about it is why they went with surface-mount membrane buttons instead of just putting conductive traces on the PCB and then use the rubber button pads to actually make contact to get the original button feel and have less work to do, but it's still a really nice build and I am super tempted to this myself, especially now that there's that flex cable that makes the final assembly so much easier.
I do wish they had a built-in headphone jack as part of the mod though.
If it feels too small to play with for a long period of time, because of using the stock back plate of an SP, i bet a majority of 3rd party accessories of the era would still be compatible. Would love to see how this looks in one of those push-to-fit grips you use to get back in the day.
the SP was fine to start with. not really sure why anyone would want to do this.
Neat! Best Gacha SP Video I’ve seen so far. So excited to eventually build one. I think I’m going to wait a bit longer though :)
Not my favorite form factor, but low key a big fan of the non destructive mods. I think the planning around those mods adds a nice challenge with the rule of not cutting up anything.
This is fantastic! A real Game Boy Micro killer.
Nice mod, but it looks like it'd be horrible to use if ever wanting to use the shoulder buttons. The target market of these retro handheld mods isn't getting any younger; not sure why nobody's targeting larger variety mods with larger screens.
Ain't the Game Boy Macro just that tho? There's only so far you can increase those screens without them looking terrible anyway (...or not, Game Boy Player enters the fight)
The shoulder buttons were rarely used from whar I remember, so I don't think it would be a big deal in practice.
@@gyroninjamodder On Super Mario World they perform the tasks from the Y and X buttons on the Super Nintendo if I recall, and on Drill Dozer they're pretty much essential.
Frankly, it looks interesting but it's just taking a GBA SP and making it worse in every possible way.
@@Kalvinjj I think it depends on how you scale the screen when making it bigger. I recently got an Analogue Pocket and my Gameboy games look amazing on it! I do think it would be cool if someone made a mod that could give the original hardware a 3.5 or 4 inch screen though
@gyroninjamodder he even shows the game in the video; go play Metroid without shoulder buttons
I didn't know Wolfsden was a proper engineer. I just thought he was a collector.
You don't need to be an engineer to design PCBs. There's no logic in the ribbon cable, just traces and vias.
Super cool mod even if my big boy hands hurt looking :) I love to see these consoles still getting new designs and parts :)
Hello hand cramps!
Yep. The palms of my hands down towards the base of my thumbs started cramping up just looking at it. Lol
the intro music always hits bro. and by the name you'd think this was silly or relaxed, no this is serious gaming. great work
I hope the buttons are at the top.. the current layout looks like camp magnet to me
love this one conceptually, i just don't how practical it'd be for me
Now add a crank!
I wouldn't do this myself, but I really appreciate the design and engineering which has gone into making it. It looks amazing and that ribbon cable is lovely
Your work, determination, dedication and vids never ceases to amaze me
A lot of people complaining about the ergonomics but personally I really love absolutely tiny handhelds. They make me want to actually take them out and about with me more.
I would definitely like to see the aluminium build with updated parts. thanks.
I couldn't help but be more than shocked when I saw the Game Boy that I loved more than endlessly.
I legit want to get one of these
One improvement that could possibly be made is to install some kind of touch sensor at the top of the unit above a space between a shoulder button and a connector port that allows you to adjust the screen brightness.
The Slate and the Unhinged aren’t the only ones; there’s also the Open Sp, the MK0, and my favorite build, the Slab but I really hope it gets a better shell/buttons someday.
I love your content, it’s really motivating! A while ago, I saw someone make a Gameboy Macro with a DS Switch screen and a button for it. It would be an amazing device if the mod got more attention, with both card readers and a new shell. You might like it!
Plus one for the MK0
How about a gamecube X/Y button as the B button on any of the 2 face button consoles? It might make rolling for run and jump more comfortable. That or add an extra B button where the X button would be.
Awsome. Bob definitely came through on that one. Nice job.
I love the fact that Bob Wulff has been innovative for real lately
I picked up a bare working SP board years ago and never got around to sourcing a shell and screen. Seems like it's a perfect candidate for this mod.
They should call it the Panic Advance.
Pretty neat little project. I'm not sure if it's possible, but the creator should consider a way to see the power and charging indicators.
Neat. This looks like something Nintendo themselves would've made, if they hadn't made the gba micro. The gba micro was probably a better idea for them though. Probably more comfortable to more hands and fits in more bags and pockets.
Nice new edition to the modding scene.. And another one I won't dare attempt.
I love the jazzy music
I'm really tired today, so I saw 4:06 and thought "Wow, this guy has really small hands" until I realized it was a scaled up cartridge-shaped container for a product package, lol
My man Bahb coming in clutch with the ribbon cable
Nothing beats the original GBA with a screen mod. Best form factor by a mile
Tito i wish you'd release another run of aluminum shells for EVERYONE again. They were beautiful
What a great looking system. God bless you and yours. Praying for you.
I really want this a Gameboy Pocket to really get the Playdate vibes.
I printed the front face plate in a lot of materials Resin and PLA, I suggest the PA12 Nylon (SLS) is so much though and do some sand and paint job (more cheaper than CNC), the other contra is there no more IPS V3 compatible kit available on AliExpress so the model have to be updated before ordering anything
How cute! ☺️
I love the look of it. If it had a speaker, or at least a normal headphone jack it would be perfect
Man, starting to get the modding itch again watching all these videos. Haven't touched anything since the Hitachi 79 drive in the Xbox 360
Reminds me of the “Chubby” iPad Nano 😂
I wonder why they stacked the start and select buttons like that... And yeah, I'd want some bigger buttons to stick out a bit haha. Looks cool, though. I really wish GBAs and SPs were cheaper, I'd consider making one of these but I have too many Gameboys as it is...
I like the grip accessory that I use to use
Nice Kraft Singles GameBoy!
Macho you are a GOAT 4realz
The soldering on all your mods always comes out immaculately - is there any chance in the future that you’d look into providing some tips and tricks on this? I find I have trouble getting tips to last for any length of time, though that could be due to the quality of the tooling I have available.
Looks nice by no sound and no brightness button is pretty dumb, and buttons are way to flush with the shell, it can be done well
Cuuuuuuute! Wish it wasn't a difficult build.
I wish there was a shield to protect the screen while not in use
I got 2 sps, but I'd be scared to try taking em apart for this
Awesome video Tito!! That silkscreen on the button PCB is far out! Was it hard to focus your eyes while soldering the buttons on? I am a huge fan of the Micro, but my eyes aren't as good as they were when I got the Micro back in the day.
Haha it was a bit trippy to look at! I absolutely love the Micro, it was actually my first gba so I got a soft spot for it. The screen is definitely on the smaller side for sure!
Drinking game: watch Tito's build videos and take a shot every time he says "form factor".
5:22 the smallest solder point ever!
Its a gameboy cube
this is actually really funny
My hands were cramping up just looking at that design. Why would anyone want to play via pinching the device is beyond me.
If only the Play Date had that screen.
I would love a metal body and maybe a Keychain loop
Been waiting for this video
what soldering iron are you using? you make soldering look so easy!
I'd love to see a game boy micro DIY
Ive always wanted this!!!!
Awesome!!!!
Cheaper than a playdate and has better games.
🎶 Insane button membranes 🎶
Very nice!
Just in time
How to make the Gameboy advanced more unconfterible. I sold my SP to get the first gen and replaced the monitor with a IPS back lit.
Hello, I've watched your videos for awhile and was wondering if you have links for the solder, iron and flux you use?
I can do the vertical handhelds. But this has no room for my fingers to rest on the back. The rg35xx barely has enough room and that's the smallest I can handle. Id prefer something like the rg353v as far as room for my hands. Out of all my handhelds the stream deck has absolute perfect comfort. I can play that thing for 10 hours if I wanted to.
Cool project but I'm not sure it'll be comfortable to play with. GBA SP was ergonomic nightmare to start with.
At some point id love to see you try to find a way to get a fat ps2 lens on a slim ps2
Are there OLED screens for the Advance SP?
Yes aluminum build please!!
Thank you for your video 🤩
It might look nice at first glance but I don't see any point of it. As it looks like a closed sp with everything outside that makes the ergonomic worse.. especially that the sp has shoulder buttons unlike the playdate.
The logical next step is a gbasp slide like the psp go
hmm. wonder if the GBA SP ITA screen fits here.
and then it will happen the Rabbit R1
Will you be covering the switch lite oled mod?
Nice!!
Funny enough, the two different yellow tones actually look quite good together.
Interesting mod but frankly... kinda pointless.
EDIT: About the screws and warping, indeed as you mentioned it's because of the resin print. Creep is part of their life always, and they're absolutely horrible to screw into, and will shatter easily if you need any force to screw anything on them. If screws are a tight fit, it's likely you'll have to tap the threads beforehand and use a metric/UNC screw instead of self-tappers then. In that case they'll also end up feeling a bit loose... there's no winning with functional parts on resin really.
Every time I hear the name of that company, I always hear it as “PCB guey!”
Why did you have to use a GBA SP in mint condition for this mod!? It hurts my soul :(
No worries it’s 100% reversible.
Let's be real, they were sold in so many millions that there's still plenty mint ones as well.
Not to mention the more beat up ones likely starting to need power button replacement and some extra annoyances. I even managed to find one that no matter what I did the charge LED would not work (replaced the LED, tried finding anything along it's route, no good).
@Kalvinjj not sure about your market but SP are expensive here. I went to get one to play back through some games and I ended up buying 2 DSlites and an og DS for cheaper.
@@kaydog890 Yeah true that they're now much more expensive than they were in like 2017 or so. Prices just exploded cause yes. People are just overpricing them for the sake of doing it, as if that was a valid price.
I gotta say tho that the GBA SP on the AGS-001 (which Tito used) front lit variant is MUCH cheaper than the AGS-101 backlit one, that one sure is much more rare indeed. I do recall even back in 2016~2017 when I was getting into the retro gaming scene and selling refurbished handhelds, the 101s in meh condition were easily twice the price of a 001 in great condition.
Then the aftermarket backlit screens popped up and who knows why the prices didn't drop. In all fairness, I did have an original screen 101 or a while and damn it had some incredible contrast, like modern IPS tier (IF, the corners haven't gone bad already... which most did).
Not calling it the playboy sp is a missed opportunity
Ergonomics are soo 1990...
new dring game everytime you say flux in one of your videos drink one :D :)
This specific build should be called the Notepad. The average notepad is 3x3 and off-yellow
button button button board
Honestky, i dont get why someone would take off the hinges of an sp
Would a gba Accelerator even be possible with this build?
No because this uses only one specific screen kit currently available. The accellerator only works with one specific screen kit as well and they are not the same kit unfortunately.
@@seanh5014 I have yet to actually buy/install one. Thanks!
Isn't the screen touch sensitive for brightness and display settings? Mine is..
Y’all can’t let the Playdate die 😂
Bod designed a ribbon cable? for real?
Yep!