Game Boy. The console that rewrote the rules of portable entertainment, cultural icon of the '90s if there ever was one, and an endless source of inspiration for retro hardware enthusiasts, thanks to the enormous number of available mods. Another positive aspect is that, except for a few specific cases, Game Boy consoles are relatively easy to restore. The person behind the 3DSage channel shows us the complete process after receiving a Game Boy from his cousin in a state that causes us a lot of pain...
With 118 million units sold, the Game Boy console is one of the most popular in history, surpassed only by the DS family and PlayStation 2. That means there are many units out there, in very different conditions. Some YouTubers dedicate themselves to hunting the rarest variants (associated with special events, collaborative works, or promotions that lasted very little time), but if there is something more satisfying than that, it is taking one of the classic models and restoring it completely.
In general terms, disassembling and cleaning a Game Boy is not that complicated, but we must not lose sight of a detail: most of these consoles were squeezed to the maximum by children who did not hesitate to stick stickers and paint their shells with markers, crayons, and other more aggressive substances. Thus we arrive at the 3DSage YouTube channel, where its owner received a Game Boy from his cousin in a... disturbing state. The entire shell is covered with Sharpie and yellowed by the passage of time, there is corrosion on the battery contacts, the front cover came off, the pins are dirty, and the screen stopped displaying vertical lines:
And so the surgery begins. As expected, Nintendo used tri-wing screws on the Game Boy, so a special screwdriver is needed. The shell was treated in five phases: superficial cleaning, a bit of Goo Gone to remove the old protective cover glue, immersion in isopropanol (attacks the Sharpie), a second manual cleaning on the most awkward parts, and 14 hours in Retr0Bright that helped restore the original color and remove the rest of the Sharpie. Corrosion on the contacts does not present major difficulties, and the next step is to attend to the screen.
From a technical point of view, the chances of restoring the missing lines on the screen are very high. All that is needed is to pass a soldering iron over the affected point on the flexible cable, but 3DSage decided to cut the problem at the root with a screen mod, which requires modifying the shell and correctly aligning the new module. The final result is a restored Game Boy, and a screen that explodes with color and definition, with access to additional palettes if we press the contrast wheel. I think his cousin will be very satisfied with the final appearance of that console...
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https://old.neoteo.com/fotografia-jupiter-y-tres-de-sus-lunas-con-una-consola-game-boy-y-un-telescopio/
