How to add a frontlight to your Gameboy Color

If you grew up with playing Gameboy like I did, I'm sure you remember countless hours of pokemon battles, many of which were only possible by the saving grace of your wormlight. I know I owe many long nights of Gameboy to that wormlight.

Now that I'm older though, a wormlight doesn't really cut it. This tutorial will show you how to very simply add an internal frontlight to your Gameboy Color. A feature that blows your wormlight out of the water.

Step 1 What you'll need.

1. Your favorite Gameboy Color
2. A Broken Gameboy Advance Sp. (Make sure the model is NOT an AGS-101, this version uses the wrong light)
3. Tri-Wing screwdriver
4. Soldering iron and basic soldering skills.
5. Some wire and solder.

Comments

[N00B5L4Y3R]

Say guys, i don't know if I should do this. my gameboy color is a limited edition pikachu version. I don't think I should mod it. Unfortunately, the screen is old and the lcd is pretty dark. So dark I can barely see what's on my screen in daylight. Help?

[saulsanch]

Need some advice. My front-light isn't very bright and the screen twitches.. Anyone have any ideas to why?

[N00B5L4Y3R]

i have a feeling that your contacts( to the power ) is not done well. maybe you soldered badly?

[rbliss]

do you think it can work well with a game boy advance ?

[N00B5L4Y3R]

it should work better. the gameboy advance is rather "hollow" and somemore, the screen is the same as the advance sp, therefore the light should fit better. alternatively, you can use an newer advance sp with a backlight and screen. i don't know if it works or fits(the backlight method) , but no harm in trying. after all, the advance is really easy to assemble or dissassemble.
Good Luck!

[XO Liam XO]

i wouldn't trust this way of doing it, mostly because you aren't using a resistor which could either mean the light burns out or the whole gameboy dies.

i would suggest using a 47 Ohm resistor and soldering it in between the audio jack and the speaker on the 4 metal blobs (use the top one as it worked best for me)

mine works like a charm and i used this guys, tutorial mostly for the reason it had a resistor.
http://mikejmoffitt.com/tut/tut_cgb.html

[sillyzombie666]

yo if any one has some extra front lights letme know im looking to mod a gameboy color with a front light and with lights in the case

[defghui]

quick question, why cant you use the newer brighter sp version? whats the difference?

[Zachariah Cruse]

You can not use the newer version. The new ones have a light behind the screen that works completely different. You need the light from older ones because it's made to sit on top of the screen to light it up. I don't completely understand it, but for some reason, the way the GBC screen works, when you put a light behind it you can't see the image anymore, which is why you need a frontlight.

[defghui]

i see. thanks very much!

[charker]

Very good tutorial! Very well written and plenty of good pictures. Think I'll give it a try,thanks.

[northernmagnet]

Does anybody know how to do something like this to a GBA? really could use help

[Satella]

Mmm... I think is ver good idea to do this, only you have a dead GBA-SP....but if don´t shuld prepare another with some external leds. Verywell. Nice project.

[kirillre4]

Awesome guide. I just finished building one myself, and here is some notes on problems I encountered during process

1) You don't really have to peel piece under the rectangular piece with solder pads (step 3). It will work without it fine, however, it will be more difficult to solder wires to it, But adding more flux to wire will solve this problem.

2) Light panel can easily fall out of it's metal holder (where is LED placed). If it did so, then things will get a little bit more difficult. Follow the guide, but don't put everything back into the housing, just solder everything and connect batteries. Turn it on. If you can't see anything on the screen through working light panel - then you plug it wrong way, flip it over or turn it 180 degrees around. Keep trying until you get visible image on the screen with working frontlight.

3) DON'T scratch the light panel, even slightest scratches will turn into highly visible dark areas when it will be powered on. I've got one myself (small, though) and it suck.

Few words about result. I am a bit disappoited about it, colors look washed out a little, the best angle to use GBC is like on the photos here - this way colors will lok pretty AND you will havw a backlight. Now I'm working on adding a switch for frontlight, because since I don't need it al the time, I'd prefer to save battery life

[TeamDuck]

Thanks, I'll probably get round to doing this at the weekend. I have a dead SP lying around and needed something to do with it :)