Here’s a life hack: if you want to play your GBA on a bigger screen, simply put on a pair of reading glasses.
I have a pair to perform fine repair work, but I rarely play any of my Game Boys without wearing them.
This shouldn’t be a Sophie’s choice. You can have both physical and digital media in a market, and that choice empowers you as a consumer. Even if you’re all-in on the supposedly digital future, the mere existence of physical media indirectly benefits you in numerous ways. If Sony is allowed to secure a monopoly over its ecosystem, there will literally be zero advantages for its customers, with the possible but unlikely exception of meaningful consumer protection regulations being forced to catch up to the present day.
@Retsoptihs That’s true of all IPS screens for exactly that reason. You might be able to mitigate it slightly by replacing capacitors, but you should probably expect headphones to become unusable, especially if you also use a flash cart and add additional mods like LEDs.
@GravyThief It looks like he’s got Hispeedido’s RIPS V5 Ultra screen kit. They’re horrible, horrible screens. I went through two of them. My first screen had three dead pixels, dark bands along both the left and right sides of the screen, really bad light bleed on the top, and an annoying strobing effect. Plus, it had terrible image retention. The screen I replaced it with (the original RIPS V5, actually) had even worse light bleed on the right side of the screen and a different but equally annoying flickering effect, not unlike interlacing. I tried to live with it, but ended up trashing the second screen as well. It just wasn’t fun to play on, especially when I also have a GBC with a stunning AMOLED screen. I ended up rebuilding my DMG with FunnyPlaying’s new laminated “Retro Pixel” kit, but you have to use their shells with it, and the quality of the plastic they use isn’t great. Still, the screen itself is in a whole other league—easily the best thing you can put in a DMG today. Plus, the pixel grid effect actually imitates the dot matrix screen of the DMG instead of a generic TFT screen like Hispeedido’s. It’s far from perfect, but its biggest issue is light bleed from exactly two pixels in the bottom left and right corners of the screen lens. There will also be additional light bleed if you go with anything but the black screen lens, which I learned the hard way. The fourth screen I ordered had a faulty circuit board, but I was able to swap it with the previous screen’s. I hear RetroSix is working on a Pico-powered laminated screen kit for the DMG, so it might be worth waiting to see how that turns out. If Luke can manage to top FunnyPlaying’s features, I’ll probably be putting a fifth screen in my DMG later this year.
Over the past year or so, I’ve been collecting fully modded, custom built handhelds. At this point, I have a GBC, GBA, GB DMG, and DS Lite, and I’m looking forward to adding a GBA SP in the future.
I started out hiring modders because I was overwhelmed by the sheer volume of mods on the market and intimidated by soldering, but with the sole exception of my DS Lite, each experience was arguably worse than the last. In the end, I still had to learn all about the modding market in addition to finally adding soldering to my right-to-repair skillset so I could solve problems and perform repairs myself. In fact, I’ve done extensive work on my GBA, and I’ve had to completely rebuild my GBC. Worse, I’ve rebuilt my GB DMG twice already, and if a better laminated screen kit ever comes out, I may swap the shell, buttons, and screen yet again.
I don’t even want to think about how much money I’ve wasted on multiple redundant orders, but considering the costs of international shipping, I wouldn’t be surprised if a month’s pay has gone straight into the trash. I’ve been tempted to pitch an article covering my experiences or start a YT channel reviewing various mods and services, but at the end of the day, I can barely find the time to play these handhelds. It’s outdated in terms of the mods they cover, but MLiG have a really good video on Game Boy screen mods—it will give you some idea of what you’re in for if you ever choose to go down this rabbit hole.
Still…it was almost worth it. When paired with a good flash cart, there’s something magical about playing old games on original hardware while enjoying a host of modern features, from save states to laminated LCD and OLED screens to USB-C rechargeable batteries.
Sega is a Japanese company, and corporate Japan has convinced itself it can quadruple profits while halving labor costs with gen AI. In fact, the Japanese government is planning to subsidize gen AI translation with tax payer money so the largest publishers in the manga and anime industry can export more IP overseas. If that sounds like a dystopian future to you, then you’ll have to be loud enough for rich people who don’t speak your language to hear you. I would call them out of touch, but my sense of it is that the letters “AI” aren’t nearly as toxic here as they are in the West, even among the general public. It may only be one small voice at the back of the choir, but articles covering outrage over gen AI air fresheners can only help to avert the tidal wave of pop culture slop coming your way.
@Shaw_Brothers The DSpico is awesome. You can read a recent review here. Obviously, if you want to play GBA games on your DS, this will work for that purpose too. The EZ Flash Omega DE has Dual-Slot Mode functionality, though.
I picked this up despite already having an EZ Flash Omega DE for the new motion and solar sensors, but since the ED GBA Pro still lacks rumble (and DS Dual-Slot Mode functionality afaik), it didn’t completely replace my old flash cart. It would have been nice to have one GBA flash cart to rule them all, but I have more than one handheld with a GBA slot anyway. If you want close to full functionality, you still need to juggle both, unfortunately.
The fan community can do whatever it wants. But anyone who plays an AI translated game should adjust their expectations accordingly. AI translation is often “good enough” for low stakes personal use, but it will never be able to interpret context, let alone account for the complexities of human culture. What’s wholly unacceptable, however, is any company selling a fully AI translated game to consumers as a commercial product.
I’d like to see more critical coverage, or just less coverage in general. I bought an AYANEO 2S a while ago, and it was the worst purchase I ever made.
Plugged in the charger and got sparks and smoke. Then, the spring that ejects the microSD card snapped within the first month. A couple of months later, the next thing to go was the fan, and it was not an easy device to open and repair without causing cosmetic damage to the chassis. In less than a year, the battery swelled to the point that it snapped the clips that held the chassis together clean off. As the problems mounted, it became harder and harder to overlook how unprofessional the English localization for its proprietary launcher was.
All the while, dealing with customer service was a miscommunication nightmare despite having over a decade’s experience communicating in simple English with non-native speakers. And simply because my mailing address was in Japan, they insisted on responding in poorly machine translated Japanese, even though I never communicated in anything but English and Chinese. When they finally stopped responding, I bought a ROG Ally X and immediately fell in love with the handheld. To this day, it’s still my most played device.
All I can say is BUYER BEWARE!
Comments 13
Re: I Turned My GBA Into A Switch To Better Enjoy Its Unsung Japanese Gems
Here’s a life hack: if you want to play your GBA on a bigger screen, simply put on a pair of reading glasses.
I have a pair to perform fine repair work, but I rarely play any of my Game Boys without wearing them.
Re: "I'm Back With More Dumb Game Boy Camera BS" - Someone Used The Game Boy Accessory To Take A Picture Of Jupiter
I love this. Thank you for digging up a feel-good story at a time when gaming news has become as crazy as real news.
Re: I'm Really Not Sure How I Feel About Sony Killing Physical Media
This shouldn’t be a Sophie’s choice. You can have both physical and digital media in a market, and that choice empowers you as a consumer. Even if you’re all-in on the supposedly digital future, the mere existence of physical media indirectly benefits you in numerous ways. If Sony is allowed to secure a monopoly over its ecosystem, there will literally be zero advantages for its customers, with the possible but unlikely exception of meaningful consumer protection regulations being forced to catch up to the present day.
Re: Thanks To These Upgrades, My Beloved Game Boy May Have Reached Its Final Form
@Retsoptihs That’s true of all IPS screens for exactly that reason. You might be able to mitigate it slightly by replacing capacitors, but you should probably expect headphones to become unusable, especially if you also use a flash cart and add additional mods like LEDs.
Re: Thanks To These Upgrades, My Beloved Game Boy May Have Reached Its Final Form
@GravyThief It looks like he’s got Hispeedido’s RIPS V5 Ultra screen kit. They’re horrible, horrible screens. I went through two of them. My first screen had three dead pixels, dark bands along both the left and right sides of the screen, really bad light bleed on the top, and an annoying strobing effect. Plus, it had terrible image retention. The screen I replaced it with (the original RIPS V5, actually) had even worse light bleed on the right side of the screen and a different but equally annoying flickering effect, not unlike interlacing. I tried to live with it, but ended up trashing the second screen as well. It just wasn’t fun to play on, especially when I also have a GBC with a stunning AMOLED screen.
I ended up rebuilding my DMG with FunnyPlaying’s new laminated “Retro Pixel” kit, but you have to use their shells with it, and the quality of the plastic they use isn’t great. Still, the screen itself is in a whole other league—easily the best thing you can put in a DMG today. Plus, the pixel grid effect actually imitates the dot matrix screen of the DMG instead of a generic TFT screen like Hispeedido’s. It’s far from perfect, but its biggest issue is light bleed from exactly two pixels in the bottom left and right corners of the screen lens. There will also be additional light bleed if you go with anything but the black screen lens, which I learned the hard way. The fourth screen I ordered had a faulty circuit board, but I was able to swap it with the previous screen’s.
I hear RetroSix is working on a Pico-powered laminated screen kit for the DMG, so it might be worth waiting to see how that turns out. If Luke can manage to top FunnyPlaying’s features, I’ll probably be putting a fifth screen in my DMG later this year.
Re: Thanks To These Upgrades, My Beloved Game Boy May Have Reached Its Final Form
Over the past year or so, I’ve been collecting fully modded, custom built handhelds. At this point, I have a GBC, GBA, GB DMG, and DS Lite, and I’m looking forward to adding a GBA SP in the future.
I started out hiring modders because I was overwhelmed by the sheer volume of mods on the market and intimidated by soldering, but with the sole exception of my DS Lite, each experience was arguably worse than the last. In the end, I still had to learn all about the modding market in addition to finally adding soldering to my right-to-repair skillset so I could solve problems and perform repairs myself. In fact, I’ve done extensive work on my GBA, and I’ve had to completely rebuild my GBC. Worse, I’ve rebuilt my GB DMG twice already, and if a better laminated screen kit ever comes out, I may swap the shell, buttons, and screen yet again.
I don’t even want to think about how much money I’ve wasted on multiple redundant orders, but considering the costs of international shipping, I wouldn’t be surprised if a month’s pay has gone straight into the trash. I’ve been tempted to pitch an article covering my experiences or start a YT channel reviewing various mods and services, but at the end of the day, I can barely find the time to play these handhelds. It’s outdated in terms of the mods they cover, but MLiG have a really good video on Game Boy screen mods—it will give you some idea of what you’re in for if you ever choose to go down this rabbit hole.
Still…it was almost worth it. When paired with a good flash cart, there’s something magical about playing old games on original hardware while enjoying a host of modern features, from save states to laminated LCD and OLED screens to USB-C rechargeable batteries.
Re: Sega's Crazy Taxi Spins Its Wheels Thanks To Another GenAI Kerfuffle
Sega is a Japanese company, and corporate Japan has convinced itself it can quadruple profits while halving labor costs with gen AI. In fact, the Japanese government is planning to subsidize gen AI translation with tax payer money so the largest publishers in the manga and anime industry can export more IP overseas. If that sounds like a dystopian future to you, then you’ll have to be loud enough for rich people who don’t speak your language to hear you. I would call them out of touch, but my sense of it is that the letters “AI” aren’t nearly as toxic here as they are in the West, even among the general public. It may only be one small voice at the back of the choir, but articles covering outrage over gen AI air fresheners can only help to avert the tidal wave of pop culture slop coming your way.
Re: Review: EverDrive GBA Pro - Praise The Sun!
@Shaw_Brothers The DSpico is awesome. You can read a recent review here. Obviously, if you want to play GBA games on your DS, this will work for that purpose too. The EZ Flash Omega DE has Dual-Slot Mode functionality, though.
Re: Review: EverDrive GBA Pro - Praise The Sun!
I picked this up despite already having an EZ Flash Omega DE for the new motion and solar sensors, but since the ED GBA Pro still lacks rumble (and DS Dual-Slot Mode functionality afaik), it didn’t completely replace my old flash cart. It would have been nice to have one GBA flash cart to rule them all, but I have more than one handheld with a GBA slot anyway. If you want close to full functionality, you still need to juggle both, unfortunately.
Re: Site News: Want To Work On Time Extension? Now's Your Chance
When you expand to the point of offering Japan-only positions, I’ll be ready.
Re: "I Was Always Very Against AI..." - Cyberpunk Saturn JRPG 'Cyber Doll' Is Getting A Fan Translation, But There's A Catch
The fan community can do whatever it wants. But anyone who plays an AI translated game should adjust their expectations accordingly. AI translation is often “good enough” for low stakes personal use, but it will never be able to interpret context, let alone account for the complexities of human culture. What’s wholly unacceptable, however, is any company selling a fully AI translated game to consumers as a commercial product.
Re: "I Would Like To Express My Deepest Apologies" - AYANEO Suspends Pocket PLAY Crowdfunding And Apologies For Failing Customers
I’d like to see more critical coverage, or just less coverage in general. I bought an AYANEO 2S a while ago, and it was the worst purchase I ever made.
Plugged in the charger and got sparks and smoke. Then, the spring that ejects the microSD card snapped within the first month. A couple of months later, the next thing to go was the fan, and it was not an easy device to open and repair without causing cosmetic damage to the chassis. In less than a year, the battery swelled to the point that it snapped the clips that held the chassis together clean off. As the problems mounted, it became harder and harder to overlook how unprofessional the English localization for its proprietary launcher was.
All the while, dealing with customer service was a miscommunication nightmare despite having over a decade’s experience communicating in simple English with non-native speakers. And simply because my mailing address was in Japan, they insisted on responding in poorly machine translated Japanese, even though I never communicated in anything but English and Chinese. When they finally stopped responding, I bought a ROG Ally X and immediately fell in love with the handheld. To this day, it’s still my most played device.
All I can say is BUYER BEWARE!
Re: Hands On: Retro Handheld Face-Off - Anbernic R351 Vs Retroid Pocket 2
I went with the PiBoy DMG 😎