Someone Just Did, What Nintendidn’t

[@Alien_Bob]

Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether they Nintencould, they didn’t stop to think if they Nintenshould.

[@Pridetoons]

Nice 😂

[@gluttonousmaximus9048]

"Don't let's ask for the Nin. We have the mods." from "Now, Game Boy Color"

[@pwnedd11]

Wow, you deserve an award for this one!

[@natebragg]

Today the best comment on the internet award goes to you sir 👏

[@thepaper888]

Brilliant

[@maddoggaming1171]

I loved how insanely durable the Game Boy Pocket was. My family couldn't afford to keep buying batteries, so we got an AC adapter and had to stay within a couple feet of an outlet. I have a lot of siblings so it wasn't uncommon for someone to accidentally trip over the cord while we were playing, and it would rip the system out of our hands and go straight to the floor (wood we didn't have carpet) sometimes with enough force to shoot the cartridge out across the room. The screen never broke, the system never stopped working, just had a lot of scuffs in the end. Amazing system!

[@IVIUT3D]

my grandfather had a charger for all sizes of battery. regardless of the make we would recharge them using the outlet and that adapter, it elongated the battery game for us, I used to have 4 on with 4 in my Og brick.

[@tinkertheprol]

You just reminded me of doing the same with my Sega Gamegear. I forgot handhelds used to allow an AC adapter to play without batteries!

[@rockapartie]

@@IVIUT3D I've always been wondering why people kept buying non-rechargeable batteries. A charger + 4 batteries was one of my first purchases with my pocket money.

[@Drgoldthumb]

I spent many any evening tethered real close to the wall with my ac adapter plugged in for my hand held… why didn’t we have more ubiquitous extension cords in those days???😢😅 Damn you gamegear and your 6 aa batteries!!! Damn you!!!

[@locobrown]

@@rockapartie I'll tell you why and with wholesome resentment ... Our "Boomer" parents considered rechargeable batteries a "novelty" and a "unnecessary" expense. S4.99 for a charger and $1.99 for a pair of batteries in hind sight today it was a steal. We would be subjected to guilt trips like, "oh this month I will be short with the mortgage, and could lose the house", or "those bags of chips or action figure will not allow me to make it to work today". That's the kind of B.S. our boomer parents subjected many of us, so my siblings and I always grew up worried. A 16 pack of garbage "Rocket" batteries, you can imagine the laughing stock we were, they tears of joy that rolled down our cheeks. My siblings cried of being thankful at the expense of our sanity. A life time of examples i can post but the battery one came to mind. If we knew now what really happened behind the scenes, it was gaslight manipulation by narcissistic parents of mine. Your wondering about non-rechargeable batteries made relive suppressed memories. We are better than that, survivors, due to those experiences. I'll send them a birthday card printed in monochrome for their birthdays with magazine cutouts of potential gifts. I am thankful for giving us life, but the wounds are too deep for it to heal that being so far away is best.

[@zerodeadbit]

since you have the hot air reflow station, you should look at getting solder paste, you can use it solder all the surface mount mounted packages without a lot of effort or worry about bending leads. It would also open you up to do replacements of parts with BGA in the future. Don't worry about need solder paste masks, most of it comes in a syringe and you can dose it out on all the pads by hand. Another bonus is the paste has flux in it so no need to add additional flux.

[@AndrewStottisTheIndiWerWlf]

Exactly what I was thinking. Much quicker and more reliable. Especially for ICs that are in short supply.

[@KPocket98]

​@StottisTheIndiWerWlf I just thought, bet someone just commented what Im thinking , doing it like he did is just a waste of time

[@ConsolesAndCasks]

I love that it's open source too - lets us do stuff like make a version to put it back into a Game Boy Color shell if you like that form factor better (or maybe even a Game Boy Light shell) with most of the upgrades, or reintegrate the IR sensor

[@flying-carrot]

who would ever do that though? :^)

[@marcogenovesi8570]

@@flying-carrot as said in the video, it's a way to harvest components from broken game boys so the more types of shells they can fit the better Also someone can make a new shell or shell mod with the IR sensor window

[@ConsolesAndCasks]

@@marcogenovesi8570 - @flying-carrot making a joke - he knows that I've been working on that exact thing for a few months

[@doq]

Man, the Pocket is probably my favourite Game Boy form factor, and giving it the Colour treatment is so cool. Well done BucketMouse!

[@MachoNachoProductions]

Totally agree!

[@brandogg]

*Color. They don't call it "Game Boy Colour" anywhere in the world.

[@doq]

my b. prolly seen too many bootlegs that I got confused

[@DonutTPOTer]

​@@doqEurope moment

[@otterdonnelly9959]

⁠​⁠@@DonutTPOTerpossibly a Canadian one too

[@FullaEels]

Man, it must be so satisfying to do all that work, tighten the last srew and see all your hard work come together when you boot it up. Thanks for showing this off!

[@numberoneappgames]

I'm happy to see people producing parts for these older consoles. :)

[@ryan02s2k]

Your solder skills are even more on point than usual in this video 👌Fantastic job!

[@MachoNachoProductions]

Thank you 🙏

[@lathamhardee]

@@MachoNachoProductionsany soldering irons you recommend? I have a cheap one from the hardware store that I use for replacing cartridge batteries. Would love to tackle this mod but want to make sure I have a suitable iron.

[@rolandleyco573]

@@lathamhardeeget a pinecil with different tips. I can also recommend a 60w usb c charging brick will get you easy soldering

[@wrentubes1886]

As someone who has done SOIC drag soldering, I appreciate the pain you went through to accomplish this mod @MachoNachoProductions

[@tokin420nchokin]

​@@lathamhardeeI repair consoles/handhelds in my free time to sell, and I use a solder station. I am using a more affordable yihua setup with really great results, has pid temp control which you will want to keep things in the right heat range. Also has a hot air station on the other side for smd work. Honestly I would at least want hot air available to use if you need it because when you need it you absolutely need it.

[@theanomynousguy]

To prevent damaging any IC's, such as the CPU that was removed early in the video, put some flux all the way around the chip to help get that solder moving! Won't have to hold the hot air for as long, heating up the chip.

[@MASF_]

This is one of the coolest projects ever made. A GameBoy Pocket Color is something me as a child thought would be impossible, but here were are in 2023 will proof that it can be done. Much respect to BucketMouse, an absolute legend.

[@user-or6yn8pm3c]

There are literally a gazillion handheld machines from China that run Gameboy and 1000s of other retro games. My mind was blown seeing a handheld run Ps1 Dreamcast and N64 games.

[@user-or6yn8pm3c]

Not only that but the systems sold by Ambernic and Retroid are quality built.

[@robertzendejas8349]

Given the budget sizes for GenY and Millennials, combined with their computer/programming skills their passion projects won't largely be rebuilding a 60-70 era or early 00's-15 muscle cars. Nope they're going to literally make their teenage dream machines into reality. Impressive in it's own right. And with a little luck and timing, they might very well be able to make enough money to be able to do the muscle car rebuild with their son(s). I know, this is done for the passion and not to cash in.

[@mikinard]

Don't let the music fool you. Tito listens to some heavy metal while soldering. Dude is a legend.

[@alicevioleta3184]

i jam to Whitesnake while coding or working on hardware too. it gets the blood flowing

[@Great_White_Great_White]

Nice try. I walked past his house and saw him soldering to Celine Dion.

[@shadow306k]

I've been praying that the Pocket colour mod became as simple to use as possible, and this might just be the step in progression that finally lets me get my hands on one without chopping up a PCB! BucketMouse is a legend

[@GapingSquid]

Check out Natalie the nerds version, it seems a heap easier but haven’t done either one so can say for sure.

[@hawkfeather6802]

5:11 literally the size of fruit flies 😮 You definitely need to be a soldering master to do this mod! Nice work

[@tasa4904]

it's much easier if you use a solder reflow oven, but sheesh, placing them isn't easy

[@hawkfeather6802]

@@tasa4904 what's a solder reflow oven?

[@tasa4904]

@@hawkfeather6802 You apply a solder that's in paste form instead of wire form onto the circuit board pads. Then you use tweezers to plop the tiny components onto the right spots. Once you lay everything down, you toss into an oven and let it bake. The heat melts the solder and natural forces align the parts to the board. A solder reflow oven is a better toaster oven. Some of its advantages include evenly distributing the heat so that you don't have hotspots inside. Accurately calibrated thermistors so that your oven doesn't just shoot past the target temperature and cook the chips. Finally, the ability to schedule temperature over time. You want to get the board up to a certain temperature, then zap it quickly with heat to melt the solder paste without damaging the components, then let it cool slowly so the board doesn't warp. Quite frankly, you can just use an oven or a hotplate, but the solder reflow oven takes a lot of the guesswork and monitoring out of your workflow.

[@hawkfeather6802]

@@tasa4904 sounds interesting and complicated. I think I saw something like that on tv,on How it's made. They were assembling a vacuum and slid the motherboard through a long metal tunnel that soldered all the components on. What you can do with technology is really cool!

[@Lukes_Arcade]

This kind of job is challenging, but certainly attainable with a little practice and technique. The smallest components here (the ones at 5:11) are 0603, which are the smallest I recommend for common hand-soldering. It could be made easier with a smaller iron tip, syringe solder paste (instead of wire), and technique practice. For the technique, tin one pad (tin means to apply solder and melt it with the iron), then use tweezers to position the component while using the iron in the other hand to keep the solder molten. Remove the iron to allow solder to cool and solidify while continuing to hold the component in place. Now the component won't move and other pads can be soldered without having to "juggle" between holding solder wire and tweezers while the component moves around. If a component has many leads, the process begins the same, by tinning one pad and anchoring that point, then solder the leads starting at the opposite side, drag soldering, working towards the original anchor point. If any pins are bridged after drag soldering, use solder wick to remove excess. Also get better PPE, all available from ifixit, adafruit, etc.! Fume extraction (flux fumes are bad), disposable gloves, heat-safe silicone solder mat, eye-protection, workholding vise, and ESD wriststrap,. All can all be got for

[@jedewitz]

I think I saw a few on IG that were using Natalie's parts too. I love the cool things makers are doing with old hardware. Very awesome.

[@michaelkreitzer1369]

I need an entire album with the vibe of your intro music.

[@ERey55]

I'm not into Game Boy world but I really enjoyed the good production and editing. It's a very nice and well executed video!! Ps. The intro alone gave me joy, it has that "Netflix nostalgic-documentary" vibe haha

[@bluephreakr]

Novices might be turned off by the micro-soldering. For a long series of fine pins, drag-soldering can be your friend; have a bit of solder on the tip, tack-in, then once well-aligned drag it across on well-fluxed conductors. No-clean paste flux is also your friend for these things; it's lazy, but lets you avoid having to mind a mess, at least until you are finished if you wish to neaten things up for use in a clear plastic case. Y'know, in case you end up in prison or something.

[@wesleywheeler7891]

I can't be the only one who finds soldering tiny components like that super satisfying and somewhat therapeutic

[@TheShoe1990]

I primarily play retro games via emulation, but man do I love watching your videos. Perfect way to relax on my lunch breaks 😎 Happy holidays!

[@StrangelyIronic]

The new amp gives a LOT more base while cutting back on some of the top end some call "sparkly." Would be interesting to hear that through headphones, the little speaker probably won't make a difference at all. The greatest benefit of projects like these is that it gives a main board replacement for damaged boards to save Game Boys. Most of the time the key components you need to salvage are fine even if the donor has gone through hell and back. The rest are already easily sourced (shells, buttons, membranes, etc.) so it truly gives a way for the "soul" of the damaged Game Boy Colors to live on if the board was fubar.

[@JamesJAKAZeldaboy14]

I recall someone did shove the parts of the color into a pocket model years ago. Tried to find the video but couldn't. good to see the idea wasn't left in the dust

[@Art_Murder]

Other channels has "postmortem analysis style" analysis sections and make no signs of removing them. I find them engaging and truthful. I'd rather see a breakdown of what went right, wrong, and what needs to change in the future rather than just "here's a thing I did enjoy". Maybe the answer wasn't to remove it, but to try a different take on the formula. Placing something a large majority of your viewership enjoyed and placing it behind a paywall comes off more as a money-grab and appealing to the loud minority rather than a smart move for your channel.

[@Demon-ym1of]

most of the soldering I do is usually guitars and the occasional electronics. This makes me want to hone my skills and learn to do micro soldering and be able to do stuff like this. I enjoy your content and soldering skills. Cheers!

[@adonian]

love this build. that intro music is always my favorite... so soothing, yet exciting.

[@NPC_YouTube]

its incredibly pleasing to see the original gb shell working like new

[@MrBoop4345]

Bravo BucketMouse 👏👏👏 I absolutely love all the brilliant people creating modern mods with such passion. Another great video Tito. Happy Hollidays 🎄

[@WebCamCartmell]

I was really excited until I realised it's basically impossible for me to do

[@JavierTorres-ww8iq]

subscribed for the intro alone

[@3joseph7]

You have a really precise and stable hand, it's a pleasure to watch (especially with this relaxing bg music). A small tip for your ceramic capacitor soldering; you can presolder the first pad like you do, then instead of pushing from above with your tweezers, you can slide it in place. It is easier and more elegant this way.

[@sega-re-trop-vieux]

Great upgrade but way out of league for 95% of gamers to make those tiny solders

[@u0000-u2x]

9:58 wish I could maintain my solder tips as pristine as this one

[@djbawb]

your soldering technique is really refined. awesome job!!

[@Mister_Phafanapolis]

This seems waaayyy more difficult, more expensive, and less practical, than buying a retro handheld that plays every Nintendo game made before the year 2000. Cool to see a GameBoy torn apart and put back together in this way.

[@bucket_mouse]

It is all of those things, but primarily it's a lot of fun to make things :D

[@MrMaxeemum]

11:50 C45 rocked over after removing the soldering iron which means the solder under it was still solid The 2nd side near U6 is ok but 1st side nearest the crystal is either not touching or is a bad joint.

[@Mr_Brainz]

Always impressed with how clean and precise your work is. Great job as always.

[@chrisagu28]

This is exactly what I have been wanting for so long. I have an extra gameboy color for parts ready for this! The best of both worlds with pocket form factor and game color compatibility. Btw been a fan of your videos for all these years, love your style and channel. ❤ The change of music caught me off guard. Like the change!

[@chocapic2373]

I gotta say I love how creative and hardworking the retro gaming community is in preserving the origins of gaming. Thank you for the video ❤

[@Wafflepants-dl8fk]

Oof that soldering

[@theretrocaveman]

Nice video Tito, I enjoy Bucket Mouse's work very much and he is a valuable member of our community. Personally I prefer the N64Freak MGBC Pocket Colors myself but the fact that Mr. Mouse has made his project open source leaves us many options for design and modification :O

[@monkeyhammar]

Good soldering skills could be even better if you tin the pads first before dropping the CPU on. You'll find you get neater connections with fewer bridges

[@marccaselle8108]

Very awesome video. I cant solder to save my life but you make it look easy. I so enjoyed the background music. The IPS screen makes a huge difference for a gameboy pocket / color / any gameboy 🙂

[@Babihrse]

When he took off the ic chips i thought oh hes gonna have an impossible job putting them back on. And here he is lightly painting them back on

[@fullautoshotty]

Awesome..personally, i'd love to see an internal rechargeable battery pack via USB-C

[@LeftEarth2]

_A replacement motherboard needs to be plug and play._ Not many people are going to populate a bare PCB. *Funny Playing* gets it, most of their stuff is drop in plug and play.

[@AnonymousDuelist]

I draw the line at the capacitors. I couldn't solder that to save my life.

[@AndrewStonerock]

I got a pocket shortly after borrowing my cousins original gameboy. I dont recall ever putting it in a pocket, unless you count my backpack as a pocket. I got a color like a year later because Pokemon was really popping off. I still have that copy of Red i got with the pocket. Both gameboy's disappeared sometime between early teenage years and adult hood. I moved a lot. Such iconic systems. I appreciate what modern tech has done with games, but there will always be something about those smaller hand helds that's just peak design imo.

[@Blit_Wizbok]

personally my favorite gameboy is the gameboy advance sp. It had integrated lighting, folded so that it was not only small, but also protected the screen, and could play SP and regular gameboy cartridges. Being able to tilt the screen to several angles to find a comfortable position was also a nice bonus

[@DaBudaa1]

The Gameboy Pocket was also my very first gaming device (90s kid) , with Super Mario Land as the only game, that my father bought to be shared between us siblings. I used to save my allowances so that I can purchase Eveready AAA batteries, because it did not came with a AC adapter; at least none was available for purchase in the Philippines :(.

[@PLEYOR]

Interesting mod, I have owned a DMG, Pocket and Color over the years, and have never thought about a Pocket Color! Amazing work.

[@djliquidsmoke]

yknow, when I was a Kid playing the first kind of GameBoy, like in 1992 or 1993 whatever, I never thought one day I'd be 45 years old watching THIS tech nerd stuff. Its a wonderful future indeed.

[@lw2266]

🎆This looks like a LOT of work, I hope it does well for you and Bucket Mouse 🎆

[@ThickpropheT]

As soon as I saw the word "color" on the back, I knew I needed this.

[@ResistCircuitResist]

Done use sandpaper for any contacts unless you have to. Fiberglass pens work great for this.

[@brandman546]

I have been waiting so long for you to make a video on a pocket color. Excited to watch!

[@syntaxzedex4316]

When you can use De-oxit Green. It contains a fader lube and can be used on pots.

[@ClosestNearUtopia]

I was in love with my pocket. It was so impressive it could fit in your backpocket, and I was amazed how good its screen was compared to the og GB.

[@gilgabro420]

I actually did that as my first project and it worked out fine!

[@Psoewish]

"Advanced soldering skills" I like to think I'm pretty decent at soldering but being able to solder those tiny components with the board just laying there sliding over your table is a whole different story lmao. No idea how you're able to pull that one off, but I'm impressed.

[@briangilmartin662]

Cool mod! I'm glad that there's an option for a rechargeable battery, too. 5 hours seems really short, especially if you're into RPGs

[@ohyou_6599]

for something that small like the cpu, you should probably tin the pads. I like putting a heavy amount of solder on the pads, and the I take my ils size tip and go pin by pin with magnification. takes ages but it's foolproof and makes for exceptionally well done joints. good method for beginners too because no risk of bending pins drag soldering or making a big mess with too many solder.

[@heatherartsy8944]

I would totally do this if I knew what I was doing….Thanks for the video!

[@mfcfbro]

This is cool, but I don't really understand how this is much better than a normal color. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate all the work anyone does for console modding. I'm just dumb I guess. lol

[@syntaxzedex4316]

When you can use Deoxit Green. It contains a fader lube and can be used on pots.

[@8bitbros]

Such a great board. Awesome project albeit time consuming. I haven't been able to remove a CPU successfully with my hot air gun from a board yet. Need to work on that. Thanks for the vid!

[@TheScourgeSouffle]

The secret is a lot of flux. Good luck!

[@ravendrow83]

I actually hand built one of these back when bucket mouse was looking for testers. Mine is an all purple board

[@smeatr0n]

I personally prefer the design of the gameboy color for one very important reason, AA BATTERIES which provide nearly double the battery life. The iconic hump on the back gives a nice grip and is absolutely a good decision design wise to allow people to use batteries which are way more common.

[@TheBalthassar]

When I was a kid I "modded" my GBA by taping a pair of D-cells to it instead of AA's. It was great they lasted so long.

[@adriansoh3892]

I also really like that BucketMouse added the ability to reset the console by pressing in on the rocker switch. No need to switch off and on the console or perform acrobatic button presses to do that anymore. 😄

[@xinyster18]

I too have been waiting for this to exist. Thanks for the heads up.

[@AnthonyTeasdale]

This is really cool in a way. Though it will likely be for a very specific person. I have bought many GBC and repaired and upgraded them, most have audio issues and need a speaker or volume wheel replacing. I normally fit a IPS screen too. Makes for a great console.

[@marcorivas1534]

you have no idea how much I love the Retro Renew intro.

[@b1llygo4t]

Okaaaaaay. Out of all the crazy custom gameboy mods out there, this one is by far the most elegant and impressive. In an aluminum shell? I'd waste money on one.

[@CheekyChan]

I have a limited edition Ice Blue sitting around, this mod would be perfect. I remember being so upset as a kid that the smaller GB wasn't in color and felt it was misleading because they made them in so many different colors JUST like the Gameboy Color.

[@_..-.._..-.._]

I bought a game boy -color- _Advance_ at Walmart in like 2002ish I had a Colin McCrae Subaru rally game, I was loving life already playing it walking out to the car, until we drove away from the store lights and I realized it had no backlight. Played it a couple more times and then lost it or put in storage. I’m in the age range that grew up hating old gaming systems. I was born in 1988, liked the NES a bit, super nes was okay, n64 was my life for a few years, then PS1 which I loved, it made my Nintendo systems seem like Vtech children’s toys. Played PS1 at night until 2002 or so and that was the end of my console playing career. People younger than me have an ironic love of old consoles and people older than me love the old stuff because they had them when they were new.

[@billykile8071]

I didn't know Tom Delong was so enthusiastic about video games

[@mythicalpanda309]

yo what was the song used in the beginning like at 0:50 is when it started playing

[@rodeo7clown]

I also need to know.

[@KRAFTWERK2K6]

Thank god this still runs on standard AAA batteries & rechargables. Because i'm sick of all thesae LiPo and Lithium Ion batteries in absolutely everything. Because part of the charme of playing on old handhelds is that you can power them with widely available standard batteries without always having to worry to carry a USB charger with you.

[@SilverAphelion]

very cool video mang I dont have the patience but love to watch the process.

[@husky3g]

It would be really cool if someone could make a Pocket mod to use AAs instead of AAAs. Would definitely come in handy for this mod. The significant capacity increase would lend itself well to this kit, likely pushing it up to 8 hours or more of play time.

[@kaio0777]

I love the pocket form factor I had a green one back in the day

[@GamerKiwi]

My kid self would have loved this so much

[@wilwyman451]

I am 48 and still enjoy my original NES from time to time.

[@skins4thewin]

Yer a madlad doing those chips without any sort of magnification!

[@Sadtiric]

I want it... I have the RG35XX and RG35XX Plus, but this is.. what I wish I could have had as a kid. The GameBoy Pocket was my first system, outside of my parents' old Genesis 3, so this feels like a special kind of "home."💚

[@LocalTechDad]

The Pocket was my first own GameBoy too and I´d love to build a poco for myself

[@NorseLax07]

If you had a channel where all you did was solder stuff and set it to smooth jazz, I would subscribe in a heartbeat.

[@pullingonthestrings]

UGH, I could watch your intro on loop for DAYS!

[@purplecyanblack3805]

Impossible. Next thing you know, you're gonna tell me someone out-pizza'd the hut!

[@kingmonday2918]

That colour pairing you've used of the blue red and black looks so slick.

[@aliceinmansonland448]

I'm really happy with my RG351V! I don't have to drag around a bag full of games anymore, got a bigger screen, and I can play the GBA enhanced versions of several GameBoy Color games. That being said, this looks like a nice hobby kit for GameBoy enthusiasts and would make many a gamer nerd happy!

[@reptilez13]

You know an Everdrive helps with the games thing. I use a real GBA or DS Lite and don't need to carry any games around.

[@Ben-ht5yf]

That's a really cool kit. I am only a little uneasy about the display floating in there without any sort of clamping or padding between the back of the panel, the control board, and the motherboard. Maybe a thin glue strip around the lcd to secure it in position?

[@ultimabear]

Thanks for the video, the product looks great. I could only watch half the video though as jazz is my kryptonite.

[@FatherMcKenzie66]

“For veteran molders only” Me, who never ever soldered something into my life: “heck it, I’ll do it”

[@onigvd77]

Very nice man! I also really like the new background music, its better than what you used to use :)

[@fishiku4898]

Completely ignoring the fantastic soldering the jazz in this video is a total banger

[@Legofan2676]

Imagine this in one of the boxypixel full metal shells.

[@jonnyOysters]

Ive never seen a gameboy pocket and color together. Honestly thought they were almost identical 😂

[@eobet]

love new homebrew hardware but what surprised me the most about this video was the "made in EU" label on that blue case!

[@marcelofrau8818]

I wish to have the money needed to do all these types of mods.. now I feel sad.. but the mod is fantastic and very nice.. thanks for the video!

[@RubioRaver]

I saw another guy who just cut the edges off of a GBC mother board and fit it into a GBP, it worked!