A Tale of Two Game Boys - A Restoration and Modding Project Log - Part #3

Fresh off of my successful restoration project I was feeling confident and ready to take on my first ever Game Boy mod. I began by watching a few video tutorials and found myself wincing a little when it came to certain stages of the backlighting process. There would be no turning back after this, the mod would either be successful or the Game Boy would be killed in the process. Nevertheless I was determined to see it though and so undeterred I started shopping for parts.

I began by browsing a well-known UK based Game Boy parts supplier; Deadpan Robot. I was familiar with the company through a Facebook collector’s group I was on and I knew that they would have everything I would need. Searching through their website I was soon overwhelmed by choice. Backlights, shells, buttons, and even lenses are sold in a wide array of colours. The combinations are almost endless and I found myself in a daze as I tried to picture a finished Game Boy with various colour schemes. An hour went by and in the end my indecisiveness got the better of me. I couldn’t bring myself to settle on any parts reasoning ‘What if the buttons don’t match the lens? What if the backlight doesn’t look right with the shell?’ I knew I needed to see the parts in the flesh before I could be happy. 

Luckily for me I knew I would have the chance to do just that. The following Sunday would be the date of the London Gaming Market, a bustling retro-gaming bazaar held in Russell Square. I had seen Deadpan Robot there with a stand in previous events and I was fairly sure they would be there again.

Sunday came around and I drove the 30 mile journey to the Royal National Hotel; site of the London Gaming Market. Learning from my previous trip to the event I had opted to arrive well after the peak hours to avoid being enveloped into a fleshy mass of bargain hunters. 

 

It didn’t take me long to find what I had come for. Deadpan Robot’s stand is a neon beacon that entices a weary traveller with a rainbow of handheld joy. Rows of backlit Game Boys stand and stare out like an army of miniature robots; it really is a sight to behold. 

Before long I had a wad of lenses, buttons, backlights and shells before me and at last I felt ready to settle on my Game Boy’s new look. I to'd and fro'd for a while before finally deciding on a clear shell, translucent blue buttons, white glass screen lens, and a cyan blue back light. I also picked up a bivert chip to give the screen extra clarity (more on that later). After perusing the other stalls and picking up a few carts, I battled the busy London traffic to get home, eager to get cracking.

Once again the first task was to remove the six tri-wing screws holding the Game Boy together and gently pull out the ribbon cable. I then removed the phillips screws holding the front PCB in place and gently pulled it out. I now had access to the screen which is where I needed to begin. 

 I removed the two small screws which hold down a shiny plastic strip which connects to the screen. I then took a tiny flat head screw driver and began to carefully prize the screen away from its housing. The screen is held on with adhesive and makes unpleasant cracking sounds as the old glue snaps, with care and patience the screen lifts away unharmed though.

The next step really is the point of no return. Stuck to the back of the screen is a polarizer which allows the pixels to be displayed and gives the Game Boy its iconic green background. It is made up of several layers and all of these must be removed for the backlight to work. Using a craft knife I carefully lifted away a corner of the polarizer, trying to keep all of the layers intact. Unfortunately I was not successful first time around and so I switched to a different corner and tried again and thankfully this time all the layers lifted together. I then carefully worked from this corner pulling the sticker away whilst using the craft knife to help with more stubborn areas. The whole process required a fair amount of patience and force but in the end all of the polarizer was removed and all that remained were a few areas of adhesive. Using a cotton bud and isopropyl alcohol I cleaned the screen as best as I could. Sadly having been without a protective lens, the screen had developed a few scratches at some point and with no way of repairing them I could only hope that they wouldn’t be that noticeable.

It was now time to insert the new backlight. The backlight is a thin glass screen with a strip of LED’s at the bottom. Two wires hang from the bottom which need to be connected to the board to provide power. The backlight slides behind the Game Boy screen and fits snuggly into the housing. With the backlight kit comes a new polarizer which allows pixels to be displayed on the screen. This slots between the backlight and the screen but needs to be properly oriented before installation. By holding the polarizer up to an LCD screen and turning it 90° you can see it change from transparent to dark. For now I wanted to install the polarizer so that it appeared dark.

 It was now time to solder the wires to the board. I seated the screen back into its housing and replaced the two small screws to keep everything secure. I then soldered the red positive wire to a solder point above the capacitor and just below the screen. I then soldered the negative black wire to a solder point directly to the right of the positive wire. (Some guides recommend adding a resistor but I opted not to.)

With that done it was time to test if the backlight was working. I reconnected the ribbon cable and plugged in the mains adaptor and flicked on the on switch and to my delight the bright blue backlight was beaming. 

I wasn’t finished however. Simply backlighting the Game Boy screen reduces contrast and can result in a washed out image. To help overcome this, a special chip can be installed. The chip biverts the Game Boy’s display so that it shows light pixels as dark and vice versa which, for some reason, results in sharper contrast. The image can then be reversed back to appear as it should by turning the polarizer we previously installed 90°. 

The chip needs to be installed on the back PCB and attaches to the ribbon cable connector. I removed the ribbon cable and set the front PCB aside. My first job was to find the sixth and seventh pin (counting from right to left) of the ribbon cable connector. These two pins would need to be desoldered and lifted away from the board. I heated my soldering iron and using some copper braid I removed the solder on the base of the pins. Keeping the soldering iron on the pins, I then used a craft knife to gently lift them up, one at a time.  It took a few attempts and a steady hand but in the end they thankfully came away unharmed. 

On the bivert chip itself are two contact strips and these need to be slotted underneath the two lifted pins, which can then be soldered on. As well as this there are several holes which should line up with specific solder points on the board. Taking care not to bridge any unwanted connections I soldered the two pins on the chip and then filled the necessary holes with pools of solder making sure to melt the existing solder below first. 

I then went back to the front PCB and removed the polarizer and flipped it 90°, screwed everything back in place, reinserted the ribbon cable, plugged in the AC adaptor, flicked the switch and…

Bugger. The backlight was beaming, the sound was working but the picture wasn’t displaying. Adjusting the contrast showed strips of vertical lines on the screen but no gameplay. I suddenly felt out of my depth and I panicked that I had broken something. Maybe I had held the soldering iron too long, maybe I had shorted a circuit? I needed help and so I turned to a Facebook group for advice. It didn’t take long for help to arrive and I was advised to check my soldering connections for bridging. Though I couldn’t see anything obvious I decided to resolder the lifted pins to the chip, hoping that it might solve the issue. 

I once again reinserted the ribbon cable, plugged in the AC adaptor, flicked the switch and crossed my fingers…

Success! It had worked! It wasn’t the prettiest bivert chip installation but it was working and that’s all that mattered to me. It was now time to screw both PCB’s into their new custom shell, stick on the new lens and finally screw everything back together with the tri-wing screws. 

Holding the finished Game Boy in my hands was immensely satisfying. I’d transformed a yellowed, broken relic into a beautiful neon gadget, reborn, renewed and ready for decades of gaming goodness. The screen was bright and sharp and the blue tint gave familiar games an all new exciting look. I started to see the appeal of regular modders as I began to ponder how other backlights would look, and how certain games would suit certain colours. Something had been ignited in me but for now, I was over the moon with my very own custom Game Boy. 

I'd been on quite a journey with my two unloved 'spares or repair' Game Boys. I set out to discover whether I felt that modding or restoration was the best way to keep the iconic handhelds alive. In the end I found that there are pro's and con's of each. Restoration is likely to be a cheaper and safer option that's great for stirring nostalgia in those that remember staring through that small green window into countless worlds. Modding undoubtably involves a greater risk and a greater cost but it gives the Game Boy a new life as something more than any of us could have imaged back in the early nineties. 

 So whether you're someone who likes to keep everything as authentic and original as possible or someone who likes to tweak, customise and improve, we all have one thing in common; a love of Nintendo's Game Boy and together our passion will be what keeps the plucky handheld alive for future generations.