I've been around long enough to have seen the Game Boy modding scene rise from a tiny niche of the retro gaming community to one of its most exciting sectors, but even I'm speechless at how beautiful this new device from @natalie_thenerd has turned out (thanks, Tom's Hardware).
The self-taught modder has created a Game Boy Color that has a fully clear PCB nestled within a transparent shell. It's the '90s trend for making 'skeleton' consoles taken to the next level, basically.
The modder reverse-engineered the Game Boy Color for this project, enlisting help with the PCB as it wasn't something she could fabricate on her own. The acrylic-like material has a low 200-degree Celsius melting point, which meant that the required soldering was a challenge.
Outside of a few components, the entire console is transparent – even the cart reader, which Natalie says she obtained from a Chinese clone system.
The bad news? This is a one-off project, so don't go pestering Natalie to make one for you. There's also the issue of this being a particularly delicate device, and one which might not stand up to the demands of portable play.
Still, who needs to worry about that when you've got the coolest-looking Game Boy Color on the planet?