A Tale of Two Game Boys - A Restoration and Modding Project Log - Part #1

The Game Boy modding scene has always been something that’s intrigued and concerned me in equal parts. Whilst I love the creative and colourful designs that new custom buttons, shells and backlights can provide, I can’t help but feel that with each mod a small piece of gaming history is forever lost. Yes, I know there are likely millions upon millions of unaltered Game Boys out there in garages and attics, and I know that the number of people who still see value in them is fairly small in the grand scheme of things. However I also know that over the years many others will have ended up in landfill, never to be seen again. More to the point; Nintendo aren’t making any more of them. Whatever we have now is all there will ever be, and that number can only ever get smaller. 

But does it really matter? Should we be preserving and restoring Game Boys to keep them as original as possible ‘warts and all’, or should we embrace the new ways of keeping our outdated handhelds relevant in this age of smart phones and tablets? To find out once and for all where I truly stand on the matter I decided I would take the plunge and try my hand at both restoring and modding an original dot-matrix Game Boy.

Quest for Camelot - Game Boy Color - Review

In 1998 Warner Brothers released their feature-length animation ‘Quest for Camelot’. The film set in Arthurian England, was reportedly plagued with internal conflicts during its production and was met with widely negative reviews upon its release. The troubled film failed to make a splash in the box office too going on to lose a whopping 40 million dollars for the studio. I guess it turned out to be less of a Quest for Camelot and more of a Quest to lose-a-lot then? (Sorry.) Despite this, later that year a video game adaptation was released for the Game Boy Color courtesy of French developer, Titus (yes, the ‘oh, no, not Titus,’ Titus). 

The Game Boy Players League - Introduction & Rules

Description: The Game Boy Players League is a friendly competition in which participants are challenged with tackling a designated Game Boy game each month. Players are awarded points based on how well they did and the points are tallied into a league table.  There is no cost to join and players are free to participate as little or as often as they like. New players can join the league at any time. 

Aim: To encourage the playing and collecting of Nintendo’s Game Boy line through friendly competition and an active community. 

Rules: 

1. On the 1st of each month a new game will be announced.

2. Players have until to the end of the month to participate in that month’s challenge.*

3. Players are awarded 1 point for participating in each month’s challenge.

4. Players are awarded an additional 2 points for completing the game (defeating final boss, or reaching end credits, or equivalent – dependant on the game)

5. Bonus Points may also be available which will be outlined for each game.

6. Players can submit multiple entries throughout each month, though they are only awarded points based on their best entry. (I.e. points for participation and completion are only awarded once.)

7. To enter, each participating player must submit a photo. The photo must clearly show proof of the players achievement as well as a hand written note with their name (or alias) and the date it was taken.

8. Players are required to use a genuine, official cart of each game, and are therefore not permitted to use multi-carts, reproductions, bootlegs or flash carts. (Due to hacks and save states)

9. Players may use any model of Game Boy, Game Boy Pocket, Game Boy Light, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance. (Super Game Boy and Game Boy Players are not permitted due to differences in clockspeed).

10.  Please always play within the spirit of the game and refrain from using cheat codes, game genies or level passwords that were obtained from any means other than playing through the game legitimately. 

* Late entries may be made in subsequent months. Late entries will score 1 point with an addition +1 point being awarded if the player managed to complete the game. Bonus points may not be claimed for late entries. 


Players can submit entries either throught the GBPL Facebook group found here: Click Here

Or by email me at: timelessgaminguk@gmail.com

Follow this link to see the current challenge and catch up on the latest news from the GBPL: Click Here