Nintendo Sold FAKE GameBoys…

[@Resident_Elmo]

"If you're new to repairing GameBoys, don't start with a GameBoy Micro." If only someone had told me this like a year ago...

[@TheRetroFuture]

Eeeek! Yeah it’s a really tough one.

[@joemungusphart]

Oh geez... I ruined my SP a few years back by trying to install a glass outer screen. The screen is GLUED to the shell instead of just laying against it like the other models and between dust getting under it and trying to align the screen with the shell I ended up screwing it up.

[@GiuseppeGaetanoSabatelli]

I assume the Game Boy Micro exists partly because of the existence/competition of the PSP. Even just a PSP-1000, the sheer size of the screws (and half a dozen lengths, some only 2-3 threads long), layering of the multiple PCBs with multiple ribbon cables, sandwiching of the disc drive, buttons, etc. Just a housing replacement took me well over 2 hours and I fucked something up with the reassembly. Nintendo products are like Duplo Legos compared to Sony products.

[@JamesJAKAZeldaboy14]

@@TheRetroFuture i took mine apart a few years back to try and fix the l and r buttons not working (they work apparently) and i had little issue getting inside, but it seemed someone prior to me opened it up. Can't be too mad tho cuz i bought the system for 25 cents at a garage sale

[@MadsterV]

@@GiuseppeGaetanoSabatelli AFAIK Game Boy Micro was more of a novelty. I don't know globally, but I had a hard time finding mine because I waited too long to get it.

[@sojannedos]

They probably did this to get rid of excess boards they had laying around. Would be interesting if you could repopulate the new board with all chips and capacitors. Would be a very hard soldering job.

[@TheRetroFuture]

Very likely.

[@stevesstuff1450]

@@Dave-rd6sp : That was my thought too... Just keep the original back plate with the serial number :-)

[@adswers6900]

even if you solder all the components there, it wouldnt function without flashing the needed soft-/firmware

[@SineN0mine3]

@@adswers6900 thats pretty easy compared to the solder job tbh but maybe I'm just crap at soldering

[@adswers6900]

@@SineN0mine3 oh is it ? where do you get the soft/firmware needed for the chip? where do you get the adapter to flash that chip ? where do you get the software to flash that chip? soldering is pretty easy, if its not your first or second time, but to get internal nintento software is pretty hard

[@jakethreesixty]

I remember begging my parents for a Micro and then immediately changing my tune after seeing a PSP in the flesh. I'm glad I got the PSP because I already had a GBA and an SP, I have no clue why I thought I needed that too.

[@EmergencyChannel]

I had a SP and then a DS. DS played GBA games, so I didn't see the point of getting a Micro.

[@gmcnewlook]

I had a gba for a bit sold it, was about to get a sp but the ds was coming. So I held off, saw the micro but didn’t see the point kind of wish I had. Bought one , micros are collectable because most people didn’t buy them…

[@tacokoneko]

psp is much more powerful. when it was new it was a very good MP3 player assuming you had a lot of sony's irritating little cards. today there is a huge amount of homebrew and emulators for it just like PS vita.

[@swaggyt609]

I wanted a GBA when i was young but my father bought me a PSP. It was great i got it hacked and then installed GBA emulator.

[@RetroPlus]

The psp is a magical device, you picked well

[@kevanswaffles]

Regarding 3:36 in the video, the rear housing is based on the Japanese version of the console (which makes sense since the reward was only released in Japan), and the Japanese version doesn't have the recessed area for the serial number sticker. Instead, the serial number was included directly on the housing.

[@arl9980]

Indeed. The french version is the same, without the recessed area.

[@gibraltar4841]

I still think it's funny that it was released a year after the DS did

[@giec3484]

That's because the GB Micro was essentially thought and released as Nintendo's "Plan B" in case the Nintendo DS had failed

[@littlecr0w]

@@giec3484 Exactly, they initially saw the GBA as their "third pillar" before the DS took off.

[@gibraltar4841]

@@giec3484 were the sales not booming by that point? Or did it really kick off after the release of the ds lite

[@giec3484]

@@gibraltar4841 no idea, I guess it was planned years before but was sold a certain time AFTER the DS in order not to "steal" the market for the newborn console

[@gibraltar4841]

@@giec3484 I thought so

[@jrob0021]

I vaguely remember getting a little basket thing that held Wii remotes from Club Nintendo lol

[@xXKaizoHarinezumiXx]

aaa its you

[@the_peefster]

I got the same one haha

[@AvengedDH]

Oh hello there, I watch you as well Epic

[@refinedotter425]

Yooo hi

[@Napa39]

I have that still, holding my Wii remotes behind my TV

[@frankie6273]

That is actually pretty cool for a collector though, so if you had your actual micro on display, Nintendo basically gave you the dummy to display alongside it with the player 2 faceplate

[@SHADOWKNUX1]

seeing a fresh new Game Boy Micro shell like that, maybe it's worth swapping with that rougher Famicom one?

[@Home_Rowed]

It would be interesting to see if the dummy Game Boy micro shell could be swapped on to a real motherboard.

[@TheRetroFuture]

Yeah it certainly could fit.

[@fxckrio]

i was having the same thought, seems like a good way to restore that scuffed one lmao

[@ekaterinateale2830]

i just commented that :)

[@PrinceDanzel]

@@TheRetroFuture then could you make a video of fixing your scuffed micro to the fake shell?

[@GamesCoffeeCollecting]

@@PrinceDanzel I was thinking the same thing! That's what I would do if my real Micro was scuffed up

[@mistermax98show]

You have to appreciate the absolutely unnecessary amount of effort Nintendo puts into their dummy systems. I figured they'd just put a weight that is just enough to simulate the actual console weight.

[@TheRetroFuture]

I know yeah… madness

[@legros731]

It absolutely less effort to use actual pcb to hold the button and connector why fab something when you can use something that already exists and cost nothing blank pcb are cheap

[@poplel]

@@legros731 not anymore

[@legros731]

@@poplellol you have no idea what you are talking about man

[@JODA93]

my skin is crawling watching you put them face down on that counter.

[@melty4204]

They probably knew the Player 2 faceplate would be treated as a collector's item and wanted to provide an authentic way to display it without having to give away a whole game boy.

[@kushbus420]

Sounds like they included the pieces that break easier as replacement parts in this unit alomg with the faceplate. Not sure that was the intention or not but would have been a bonus to anyone who bought one

[@HoroJoga]

My bet is that they used spare parts or parts that didn't pass a certain QA test. Japanese companies have a very intense recycling policy, so they probably did this to avoid disposal of unwanted hardware. When you think about this way, it's a pretty neat concept.

[@SATOhara3173]

I remember as a kid I had no interest in the Micro since the DS was out and the Micro couldn't play GB and Colour games, but now I'm definitely on your side. My best friend and his wife gave me an old Micro his wife used to have, I swapped out the face plate and refurbished it a bit (didn't need much work, she keeps good care of her stuff) and now if I'm going out, I'm usually taking it and my EZ Flash with me. It's the perfect form factor for pocketing. There definitely a sacrifice to comfort, but nothing beats being able to hide the thing quick when your boss walks in lmao. Great teardown.

[@jameslangridge8849]

I wonder if that motherboard would work as a replacement for say, a console who's board was snapped or corroded or something. On the other hand it might be a reject from their Quality Assurance that they just repurposed instead of recycled. I suppose we'll never know. Thanks for keeping making such fascinating content elliot ❤️

[@thatguyalex2835]

Me personally, I think it is a waste of material to make a motherboard and an entire inoperable Gameboy Micro, just for a faceplate. Nintendo should've just shipped the faceplates separately. :)

[@rich1051414]

It's probably a faulty revision that would be thrown away otherwise. One of the daughter boards might work, though.

[@thatguyalex2835]

@@rich1051414 One way to find out. Find one of these consoles, and test out the daughter board and compare it to a functioning Game & Watch. :) Sadly, I don't know how to test out chip boards, but someone should know.

[@ArcNeoMasato]

I may have to see if I can find one of these now to repair my actual Micro with. My Start and Select buttons are basically worn away to just be glowing blue sections instead of any words, and my faceplate is ruined beyond all heck. lol

[@EvilTurkeySlices]

Mine has a few dings and dents, the face buttons are scratched, and the faceplate has a few scratches and has a minor crack, but overall it’s in pretty good shape.

[@ArcNeoMasato]

@@EvilTurkeySlices Mine spent.... many years in my pocket during my short lived "skinny jeans" phase. Enough said. lol

[@tonytheriault1186]

You do realize that he’s probably going to track down the player 2 faceplate, right? He has that completionist collector kind of mentality.

[@ApeArcade]

What a great way to provide replacement parts along with a faceplate.

[@tdata545]

They did this for the NS dummy unit as well. Must be standard practice at Nintendo. WEIRD.

[@daltonikenberry5620]

Because that is what you needed, another Gameboy that doesn't work just lying around. Surely you have enough of those by now lol

[@HaloVortex]

I think the reason behind the entire dummy system is just to ensure the faceplate made it to the customer in one piece. It's a lot less likely the faceplate will get bent in half or snapped or broken if it's attached to a dummy system as opposed to being loose in an envelope in the mail.

[@JB9000x]

That's ridiculous

[@robertdanker6193]

I had the famicom micro back in the day and liked it alot! I wonder if Nintendo just had some spare shells and motherboards they wanted to get rid of?

[@importaku]

I remember getting mine from club nintendo japan along with many items over the year. To be able to even buy it with your points you had to register the code that came in the famicom gb micro which then allowed you to buy it with your points. They released so many really cool things on the japanese club nintendo. Still got everything they sent me some of it is pretty valuable now like the special wavebird.

[@SakuraShuuichi]

iirc most of the dummy systems are made using boards with manufacturing defects, they were used as display pieces as well as packaging for securing faceplates/shells to prevent damage in shipping, because they could be packaged and shipped in the boxes that were already being made for the working device(it may not sound like it saves money, but in the mass production and large scale of these products it saved time and money in material costs, manufacturing costs, and design costs.)

[@256ElNino]

I have a european version here, which also does not have that indentation for the serial number sticker. So it's not a completly new part.

[@UcellFyn]

Yes, I sold mine years ago, but I didn't remember that indentation for the sticker (or sticker at all)

[@retromario6130]

1. The “fake” title made me think it was pirated by Nintendo 2. Just for clarification: the version you’re demonstrating is the actual rewards version minus the original face plate

[@eltadashi1]

Well, they gave some dummy GBM and not fake ones, slightly difference.

[@MCAlexisYT]

“That’s over-engineering at it’s finest” - Elliot, 2021

[@jakedelmastro]

I wonder if those were PCBs that failed quality testing or were an earlier revision so they figured why not just get rid of them

[@WhirlwindSet9]

I almost bought one of those, until I figured out it didn't work -_-

[@METALMAN4Wii]

Dam Nintendo for an extra $5usd back then you could of gave your customers a real GB Micro all I needed was a battery a screen and a cartridge reader and a cpu.

[@persechini]

the different back piece I think is likely to be using molds from the prototype stage in the micro development rather than being made specifically to be a dummy shell for a face plate stand

[@Mandiness]

I was thinking the same thing. Either a prototype mold or some sort of “not for resale” demo unit mold.

[@marble-q6j]

I'd love to see you put the alternate back from the dummy system onto a real system if that's possible, it would be even cooler if you got the 2 faceplate to put on there, it would basically be a playable version of one of the dummy systems

[@624static]

That smooth shell should be fitted with a real micro

[@luckeycat_]

Could be a reject board that failed QC. Thought it would be a nice piece to mount and frame as a show piece.

[@blu_lennox]

Idk why but I think I’d be funny to change out the shell of the gameboy micro to the one that says “does not work” so it says does not work, but it works! Lol

[@craigbillow]

Yay! More retro future! Much love my dude ✌️

[@Sparl486]

LOL, too late started repairing my Gameboys with my micro. Works fantastic, ezflash cartridge made it so I take the thing when traveling.

[@TR-kg7lh]

I've always wanted one of these, but they were never very cheap AND the price spiked so hard recently. I missed my opportunity to acquire one affordably. Guess I'll just stick with modding my childhood SP to heck and back.

[@ice9dragon]

Well, there's always the Unhinged SP you can do! All metal and IPS screen upgrade would make it a total beast to play, in comparison to the tiny micro. Yes, the micro is neat, but man it kinda hurts to play after a while 🥲 look into modding your own Unhinged SP, I would if I had one!

[@TR-kg7lh]

@@ice9dragon this is a great idea, but talk about still pricey! I think that shell is almost like $100 on it's own!

[@ice9dragon]

@@TR-kg7lh yupp, and keep in mind you have to also buy the buttons as well, the stock ones won't fit. Yes, pricey, but built to last. Quite some quality components haha.

[@seyguh4177]

I got the FamiCom gameboy micro like two years before micros started to skyrocket in price. I think I got it for like $57? Opened it up, cleaned it, and use it anytime I’m out and bored. I love it because it looks like iron man, the best avenger

[@someoneyoudontknow3257]

Kyosho makes hyper-realistic body shells for their little rc cars. Because they're sold as a collectible as much as a toy, they come mounted on a fake chassis so you can display the shell without removing it from the case it comes in.

[@lain328]

I'm just amazed how many reusable parts are inside that, you could even reuse the circuit board if you had the components to put on it.

[@west-texas9806]

You just made my morning a lot brighter things for the video

[@MobCat_]

Your other famicom gameboy micro is in a messed up shell, swap it into this shell...

[@m4t7eo]

"If you're new to repairing GameBoys, don't start with a GameBoy Micro." heh, it's the first gameboy I took apart. Thankfully I had experience repairing smartphones and laptops. It was a piece of cake compared to those

[@kitchenbriks3685]

I used to work at a phone store decades ago and they would send non working demos of exclusive phones. I remember they sent a chrome Motorola razr that was actually a metal case plated in chrome. The best part was it was a legit case with no internals. A few screws later all of my friends wanted to know how I got a Chrome Razr before it was released.

[@GldRush98]

How bizarre! I remember going to the store and playing a Micro demo unit and after just a few minutes my fingers were dying. I decided to not buy one as it was just too small for my large hands to deal with. I wish now of course I had bought one as they ended up being so rare/collectible. Oh well, what can yah do.

[@xxdannynlxx4105]

Same here, i remember they ware on sale for 50euro now they are 250plus

[@TheDeathmail]

Considering it was for Club Nintendo... I don't think it counts as "for sale"... rather, it's a prize... technically.... and it was probably just something to collect/look at rather than a real product...

[@DarthPooh]

I would put a working gameboy micro in the on that was just for the face plat

[@jackyfan]

Yeah was totally thinking the same thing. Then Elliot would practically get a brand new limited edition GBM lol.

[@sleeksm4]

@@jackyfan limited edition of a limited edition

[@jackyfan]

@@sleeksm4 The RAREST of pepes.

[@AntiPseudo]

The only reason, ONLY reason I could think of this being necessary is if Nintendo had such a tight production line that the faceplates, bodies, buttons and board were all ordered in a single batch, so if they wanted to sell JUST the faceplates, it was cheaper/easier to just order a full batch rather than establish a new production line.

[@SuperJackman117]

4:25, that one in particular looks like a display model back in the day that whatever company using it probably sold off to some guy who from the looks of it sold it to you.

[@rtyuik7]

its almost like Nintendo wanted to give you an entire Shell, along with the "Player 2" Face Plate...like, for people who didnt have the "Player 1" one to begin with...for 200 points (and a bit of fine-tuned screwdriver work) you could turn your 'black and silver' Micro into a Player2 Famicro...

[@TheGameResponse]

Idk why but I would love to see you swap the working motherboard and stuff into the other shell.

[@smedlings]

Great video, I’ve seen the Player 2 Famicom faceplate for sale on eBay for years and always wondered why it came on a Game Boy Micro shell

[@sbcinema]

They probably built it as a store display peace and then used it so that the customers wouldn't feel like they were spending their money on a tiny piece of metal

[@hokman1]

that is the might of a big corporation and the mass scale of production of components leaving large amounts of spares to make this feasible and entertaining in its own right.

[@konstamoro]

Ngl the "non-working unit" backplate for micro looks badass.

[@ciaran7650]

I feel sorry for all the people that bought this

[@sleeksm4]

It was rewards points

[@ciaran7650]

@@sleeksm4 I know

[@ce7.0]

if the scale was similar to the us points then 200 points wasn't much, and it's not like nintendo claimed it was a working one, so i don't see why getting the exact neat thing you were expecting to get for a reasonable price would be a bad thing

[@LuigiTechProductions]

I just got that player 2 faceplate with the dummy two weeks ago… thank you for taking it apart so I don’t have to

[@kringhetto]

I love my micro. Got it day 1, never had a better game boy.

[@Madblaster6]

Nintendo knew that someone in the future would be looking for spare parts. Where else can you find a full shell with no scuffs? Albeit, with a non working label.

[@Jdbye]

Maybe they had a lot of extra parts laying around that they couldn't get rid of because they didn't sell enough units of the Micro? But that wouldn't explain why the back case is different.

[@animeking1357]

I'm pretty sure when these were released they were not sold in any stores near me. I saw plenty of commercials for them but was never able to get one. They're nothing special but like Elliot said at the beginning they would be nice to dump a bunch of roms on and shove in your pocket when you're going out. They're pretty pricey to buy online now.

[@cobaltdragon7072]

the way i see it, if you wanted to have the p2 micro as your main one you put the p1 plate on the dummy one so you can still have 2 complete LOOKING GB micro Famicoms

[@Semaze]

I wonder if you could transplant the internals from a working micro to the dummy one. There are loads of abused GBMs on ebay, so it would be nice to give them a new lease on life with pristine OEM shells. Plus a lot of the time, the GBM plastic frames become brittle and break, so it could be a good way to get some of those for repairs.

[@michaelwight9851]

They sold them in Woolworths, I can remember them in a glass display case, never bought one but did previously buy a gb advance from there.

[@IrrelevantToCommentLmfao]

The camera quality at 0:02 looks like it could be from an expensive camera that was released in like 2004-05, near effect

[@phantombrainm]

Mine also has "25 years Mario" and Mario gfx on the back. I think it's original.

[@Chriva]

It's the Iron Man Gameboy :D

[@cztech2631]

Could have been Gameboy Micro Motherboards that didn’t meet Quality Control. Nintendo then decided to put them to use in free giveaways to people since they failed during manufacturing, or they were leftovers and they wanted to use them for something. Or could be over engineering as well.

[@oblivieon1567]

I do know when the Micro came out they didn't sell very well. So I think they probably had a bunch of parts laying around and put these together.

[@darrencen6934]

Make it work , by putting together some working parts

[@LSnium]

My guys got a great taste in watches as well, hes got a nice vintage Tudor Submariner, same company as the Rolex submariner.

[@bwillythekid8249]

Its probably the same rear housing , just not pressed/stamped in in that spot. Therefore saving one ,unnecessary, step in the manufacturing process.

[@orsonzedd]

the reason there are no start and select buttons is because the player 2 controller on the famicom didn't have them

[@soul-6323]

Tudor black bay?

[@nintendians]

i think nintendo just did those for display only because most of the club nintendo rewards are only display dummy systems and posters.

[@clutchyfinger]

I remember i got a gameboy micro from an arcade machine as a kid, i paid nothing for it lol

[@RetroPlus]

Perfect for replacing a damaged shell, I'd love to replace my pink GBM with one of these prettier famicom shells

[@DrMurdercock]

I would have put the working guts into the dummy case. The dummy case was nice and most people would be lik e"whoa, whats wqith that case, man?!!!!"

[@japanesemickeymouse6694]

I found the mario one in a gamestop back in the day for 60.00 and held on it to ever since

[@jbozarth81]

I guess they just really didn't trust any sort of packaging to get a micro faceplate through the mail in the same number of pieces it shipped in... and it made for a nice collectors display.

[@Gameboy_Steve]

Awesome video. Have you heard about the 1993 Nintendo Calculator Boy Pocket Calculator? Looks cool

[@BokBarber]

Maybe they expected this to be something that collectors kept on a shelf to display, rather than something anyone would actually use. A flimsy little bezel isn't substantial enough to display on its own, and it doesn't make sense to buy an entire functioning Game Boy just to display the bezel... so they thought, hey, let's give them a dummy Game Boy so they have a nice little way to display this thing. That's the best I can come up with.

[@davedotwojo]

You, sir, have become the biggest collector of non-working Nintendo stuff

[@GCJACK83]

Way I see it, these "non-working dummies" are meant to move out old boards Nintendo no longer plans on using, as well as old parts like battery covers and buttons they were no longer planning on using. So, need a replacement battery cover? Spend your points for a face plate and they'll send you out a dummy unit that has a new battery cover and other components that you need attached.

[@sickregret]

My guess would be that is a store dummy display unit like your other models and they just had extra ones and instead of coming up with separate packaging for just a small run faceplate they used already existing units and packaging setups to house the faceplate variant because it was actually cheaper instead of coming up with a new design.

[@sickregret]

To test that theory you’d simply need to find a dummy display gb micro and see if they are identical units.

[@hteekay]

I would frame them as a diagram art piece. That would look lovely

[@jesuschrist1875]

I’ve been into gameboys for a while now and I have a game boy advanced sp but I am getting a game boy color to start my customizing journey!

[@coolj4334]

Basically it was just a stand for the faceplate, but Nintendo wanted buyers to feel justified for making the purchase, so they made a non-working gbm with working buttons

[@briarbro9627]

The Japanese and EU versions didn't have the indentation on the back for a barcode sticker so the housing isn't that odd. Only the USA version had a barcode sticker with the indentation there as well.

[@SudiPaddi]

I just started repairing gameboys! I’ve done one and a half so far

[@RhizometricReality]

I would have loved to have HD photo of this unpopulated motherboard as a wallpaper on my phone

[@Meltrx]

The non recessed housing is standard for the Japanese model micros as they don’t have any serial number sticker on them

[@BeefJerkey]

6:49, Elliot, man, what are you giving me _that_ for?

[@NataSenpai]

So theoretically if you had the extra parts you could turn that non working console into a working spare console if you put parts in working with that motherboard?

[@melty4204]

That board is completely unpopulated meaning it is basically just wires stuck onto a piece of fiberglass. it's like a nervous system with no brain and no organs to connect to. In order to turn it into a working board, you would need to provide EVERYTHING, from the proprietary chips built for the game boy to the smallest resistor. Possible yes, but not practical in any sort of way. I suppose if you had micro where the board itself was broken but the components were fine you could swap the components over to the dummy board, but honestly in that case it would still probably be easier to glue the broken board back together and bridge the served traces with solder.

[@losalfajoresok]

could the motherboard be used as a GBA with the proper chips and stuff needed or is just a generic motherboard?

[@EvilTurkeySlices]

Probably, if you had all the parts you most likely could.

[@jacobbritt8191]

Just got my famicom micro today! I like using it to shiny hunt in Gen 3 while I go on walks!

[@asnozz]

Whoop I have one of these Player 2 shells sitting in it’s original shipment box stored away. I must have picked it up a good 13 years ago. Time flys 🥴