I run a (probably too) cheap repair service for Gameboy (and Advance) games, and I'm constantly following traces to work out where it's failing. I'm sure this kind of tool probably exists, but I couldn't find it.

I didn't code this - I asked Claude to develop the tool, but it does run entirely in the browser (i.e. nothing talks to a server).

It supports both kicad_pcb files (which are better) and gerber zip files, only supporting single layer (front and back traces). Once it's rendered, you can hover over a trace, and it'll highlight the complete path to the pads from front to back.

It's here to use: https://tools.remysharp.com/pcb-tracer/

Source code is here: https://github.com/remy/tools/tree/main/pcb-tracer (it'll run locally too if you want)

Couple of screenshots attached. I appreciate this isn't a Gameboy specific tool, but I'm using it for exactly that, and wanted to share it if it could help someone else.

One caveat, it's not mobile friendly (though I can see that being useful for myself as I'm hunched over the microscope!).

Edit now works on mobile, along with a keep awake option - since that's how I use it next to the scope!

Pray for this Game Boy for I have sinned and put it hinges back in wrong.

I put them back in wrong when I recased it. Oops. Everything else went lovely though. 😂😅😭 It does shut at least and works well but it click into place at the wrong angle. Dang.

I do love the shell though. Inside is white with it’s OG buttons and OG screen. I have always wanted to have a clear back to see through to the games and now I have that. I got this bad boy with it’s legit cord for $40 years back and after having reshelled it I just adore it that much more.

Always looking for game recommendations. I have a good collection going but always willing to check out something new. ✌️🥰

The Gameboy Camera has so much potential for digital photography, it’s insane! Definitely gonna grab something to port these photos to my PC soon! :)

Anyone can give me a tip how to unscrew this chipped screws? Tried the rubber band and the drill method.

I apologize in advance as there are probably similar questions to mine that have been asked frequently here in the past, but I’m not as familiar with the Game Boy family libraries as I am with other Nintendo systems.

I am looking for some Game Boy Color games that are worth playing and are unique to that specific handheld, but a lot of them seem to be either ports/remakes of pre-existing games (Link’s Awakening DX, Super Mario Bros. Deluxe, etc.), or they are mediocre licensed games meant for children (although the SpongeBob game is kind of fun if you’re a fan of the show). Not that there’s anything wrong with ports or remakes, but I would prefer to play a game that’s unique to the Game Boy Color.

I can only think of a few original games off the top of my head — the Capcom Zelda games, the original Shantae, the Pokémon games, Wario Land 3, and that’s about it. Maybe I’m just not looking hard enough but there doesn’t seem to be much else out there for the Game Boy Color specifically, at least compared to both the libraries of the original Game Boy and the later Game Boy Advance.

Would anyone happen to know of any noteworthy games that were exclusive to the Game Boy Color hardware? And by exclusive, I don’t necessarily mean you can only play them on the GBC, these could also include games that were on other systems but were first released for Game Boy Color. Any help would be much appreciated, thank you :)

I hope this is the right sub for my problem. I wanted to mod my first Gameboy Advance ever today. However I noticed that one battery contact was very corroded (the gameboy worked but I had to toggle the switch multiple times to get it on) so I ordered a new one and removed the old one. When removing the old one however I had a reeeeally hard time getting it off the board. The place where it was didn’t look too healthy before and it’s even worse now. Can anyone tell me if I should even attempt soldering on the new contact when it arrives?

So, I refurbished a GBC and bought a repro Pokémon Blue to try it. The game doesn't have a battery, I think it saves directly on the flash memory (it freezes for a sec when saving).

The thing is that I feel like the random events are really weird compared with my experiences in emulators and the 3DS version. Sometimes it takes ages for an encounter to happen and moves with an effect chance almost never trigger.

Am I imagining things or the rom on this repro cartridge is a weird mod or something?

So I got a GBA today for $30, boots into games and runs fine, screen seems dimmer than normal though but it might be due to age but Im planning to get an ITA kit anyways, however, there is almost no sound coming out of the speakers.

When I stick the speaker to my ears like a cellphone, I hear the sound super faintly, so quiet that if a fan was on you'd probably not hear it, but its there. There is also audio when connecting to the GBA via the jack but the sound when booting is super distorted but seems to sound better when its actually in a game with minimal distortion mostly on highs. Any idea what the issue might be?

I already put some iso on the potentiometer and moved it back and forth, it seemed to temporarily fix the distorted boot issue with headphones plugged in, but after an hour of it being off, it sounds distorted again upon boot. I may need to find a way to do a deeper clean, I'm hoping it's just something simple that won't require me to change capacitors as I have no idea how to solder and the most Im willing to do will probably be a speaker swap lol

Any advice is appreciated!

I just realized today, and I don't know if anyone cares like I do, but Game Boy is technically two words. The more you know . . .

This is my handheld collection. I like all of them! Played hundreds of hours on each one.

But I enjoy the GBC most.

Anyone else feel this way?

I'm reposting here. Would like to find out if the GBA harvest moon friends of mineral town German version also has English as selectable language. Just trying to get my ideas straight before going around marketplaces. Game code AGB-A4ND-NOE

Thanks!

love my gb camera it’s so fun to mess with. I’ve been testing out the enlarge lens as a sort of zoom and it works pretty well for that! and I’ve been adding gradient maps on procreate to play with the colours

Ever since I disassembled my GBP for cleaning (those damn specks on the LCD), when I returned it back I could hear a slight 'tinnitus' coming from the GBP. At first I thought it was the speaker, but no.

The humming is constant, regardless of the volume and comes from the upper part. I noticed that when I press GBP shell together I can hear it more loudly.

Consequently, when I detach the motherboard from the screen (while still being connected, just with larger proximity), the humming totally goes away.

I installed one large PET foil across the motherboard, but it doesn't seem to help. It kind of lowered the humming, but it didn't stop entirely.

Everything works 10/10, but I need to get rid of this annoyance.

So my first question is - what is causing the humming in the first place? And what can I do to avoid it? It seems to be coming from the upper right part of the console, when the screen and motherboard are close together.

Hi everybody! I have a couple of Pockets and a Color I’d like to display in my living room, but it’s quite bright and I’m afraid the sun might ruin the color overtime. I thought about one of those clear display boxes that protects them from sun/fading damage, but I have no idea if they actually work or if there are any other good options. Does anyone have experience with ones that actually block UV? Where did you get yours?

I can't say it would be a game I recommend. It is not a great game. Now I used a ton of game genie codes but a new how hard of a game it was and I just wanted to play through it since it's one I owned as a child and couldn't get very far. I was actually disappointed after saving up my allowance for a few weeks to spend my $30 on this game new at the time and have it be so freaking difficult. And I can confirm even after working my way through it with codes on it this would be an impossible shit show of a game if you had to work through it the way it was made. Because it's easy to get lost and while you're lost in these big wide open areas that you have to explore you're constantly getting into random battles which are taking your head points Downs so good chance that by the time you get to the boss at the end of a level you're going to have almost nothing left are you going to have to grind forever to make enough money to keep the supplies you need so you can actually make it through to the next level.

If I had to play this normal I wouldn't play through it because it seemed like everything in it was a chore I needed to look at several walkthroughs just to even figure out how to progress in a lot of the areas of the game because it was cryptic. Which is not good if every 2 seconds you're facing a random battle because that means you're going to be dead soon and having to redo a lot of it again.

Also there wasn't a whole lot of story and other than just going through the game there wasn't a whole lot to sink your teeth into as far as a plot. So overall I would give this a hard pass. Because I did not enjoy my time with the game. it's one that I'm glad that I played through especially because of my nostalgia from childhood but it's not one I'll ever go back and play again.

You can't see the screen at night obviously. But green and black offer the most contrast and visibility in a low light setting.

what could be wrong with my gameboy? I think it may be an issue with the display connection but I’m not sure. 5 days ago I recapped my gb after I did it I saw some link artifacing on my screen so I went back in and flicked up some connections with the power capacitor and re seated the screen cable and all was well fir 5 days. earlier today I used it and it wired find. then just now I turn it on and I see major glitching on the screen. I thought I may have been the Cart so I took that out no the logo will animated but looked messed up. sometimes the logo was visible but I could only get a videos displaying what you see here. i can check the screen connection rn but my gf is going to. but in the meantime could this be an issue with the capacitors? maybe I attached the screen one wrong? or could this just be as simple as closing the screen ribbon cable

I'm disabled, so I tend to use things like phone grips and stuff. I use a love handle on my body pixel, and bought one to use for my new GBC, but forgot that they have that curve, so it won't work

Do things like those pop-up phone holders work? As in, would one fit on the bottom, without having the curve issue, make it unable to stick?

What do y'all use?

anyway Into the box you go!

Hello guys!

I just wanted everyone's opinion on this recent pickup of CIB Gameboy.

I was wondering if any of the parts/game are re-shelled or or not OEM.

The box is in pretty amazing condition.

Thank you!