I found my old gameboy color, and I started playing Pokémon gold on it.
The thing is, the screen sucks. I see there are backlight mods and wanted to know if anyone has experience with this.
I’m not sure if all the displays made for the gameboy color have the same resolution.
I can only buy kits directly from China where I live, but the resolutions are not listed. I’m worried it’s going to distort the original image.
Most kits ship with screens that are a multiple of the original Game Boy resolution. So the displays aren’t distorted.
Look up Funnyplaying. They make some of the best kits on the market, I’ve used several of them myself.
Their site is awesome. I just saw this.
https://funnyplaying.com/products/fpgbc-console
Unless I’m looking at the wrong thing it seems a whole fpga system is just twice the cost of the display. Is that right?
Yes, that basically sums it up.
I haven’t handled one of those things myself, but they seem pretty excellent for total Game Boy replacements.
Depending on how much work you want to put in fixing up your old console, it might be worth considering one of those.
For example, you’ll want to replace all the OEM capacitors on your old motherboard. Even if the system works now, a modern screen will put a greater strain on the power circuit. So if the 30-year-old capacitors don’t get replaced, they could quickly start to fail.
Also, laminated screens need a full shell replacement.
So, including the capacitors, you’re talking about around $65 in parts.
If you’re comfortable working on small electronics, it makes sense to pay the $65. But if you’re not, the $99 becomes more appealing.
Yeah, I am leaning towards that as I do not know how to soldier and its only slightly more expensive once you add the shell and stuff. The only downside is the shipping time is pretty long. But I live nearby, so hopefully it will be on the shorter side.
I was looking for a review on it and it was hard to find. I am hoping there are not any big compatibility issues.
I actually end up using my FPGBC more than my backlight-modded GBC these days, it’s just nice to not have to worry about maintaining ~30yr old circuit components lol
Definitely check out makho’s firmware repo https://github.com/makhowastaken/GWGBC_FW and docs if you go this route, using these I get perfect compatibility with all authentic game cartridges (flash carts can be a little iffy, but the point of this device is to play original carts, so imo not a big deal, but worth stating).
I would need to use a flashcart. I live in a region where it could be difficult to get original games due to it being a poor country.
I recently saw a dmg model for sale around here really cheap since the screen doesn’t work. I might try to just do a dmg mod instead. I’m not sure if there are really any gameboy color games that I am wanting to play in particular.
There aren’t. I’ve read up on it, it seems to work really well. And the firmware is upgradable, so they will probably release updates occasionally.
FPGA systems aren’t like software emulators. The hardware itself emulates the original circuits, so the cartridges think they’re talking to original hardware.
+1 for FP - fantastic hardware and if you order direct from them it meets the requirement of ordering & shipping from China.