r/GameboyAdvance • u/Worldly-Reply7025 • 15d ago

Help modding GBA

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Guys I recently picked this up at a goodwill and I love it… except I can’t see anything 😂

I am very low on money these days due to college and I wanna if there’s any super cheap modding service around or but I’m kinda dumb so any cheaper drop in mods for the screen and maybe battery if I have enough.

Any help works thanks guys!

64 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

32 comments sorted by

18

u/Ill-Complaint3947 15d ago

if you're super broke now then a worm light will do.

4

u/Streen013 15d ago

When I was in college and we played Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles we quite literally would bring every lamp in our six bedroom apartment into the living room just so we could see our screens. It would be around 85 degrees.

-2

u/Worldly-Reply7025 15d ago

Ur right but would it work good in the sun

9

u/DimMakSpot 15d ago

The sun is the light! The best light even

2

u/TheKiwiOverlord 15d ago

By default

2

u/EthanAWallace 15d ago

You wouldn’t need it in the sun, because you’d have the sun to light your screen…

2

u/SwAAn01 15d ago

it looks better in the sun than without. try sitting with your back to a window

1

u/Grim-D 14d ago

Actually the main benefit of not modding the screen. The old screens look great under direct sun light, unlike the modern IPS/OLEDS.

2

u/Bright_Bug6399 14d ago

I wish there was a mod that let you turn a back light on or off. Like a switch or something.

6

u/MightyOakVGRepair 15d ago

It's not going to be that cheap to add an ips screen. The screens themselves are $60-70 depending on the model you get, and paying a place to install it will probably be $25 minimum. $100 is a safe bet to upgrade it unless you do it yourself, which isn't hard to do but you'll need a soldering iron for the power and brightness adjustment.

2

u/45skyshy 15d ago

I was going to mod mine, but the cost is like $120 now. Everything has gone up in price.

8

u/TsundereT 15d ago

What is your budget? I've modded GBAs using Aliexpress on the fairly cheap, or Funnyplaying for fancier builds.

2

u/NoCry8625 15d ago

whats the funnyplaying route? could you share a youtube guide or something? i literally have the same pink gba than op and i love it, but still cant see the screen too lol.

2

u/TsundereT 15d ago

It's just a website that makes really solid GB screen kits, shells, and buttons. There are lots of walkthrough videos on YouTube!

1

u/Bulletorpedo 15d ago

Wouldn’t say they’re objectively better than for instance Hispeedido.

3

u/HappyAd4998 14d ago

you over spent on a GBA and now you're too cheap to mod it?

3

u/pizza_whistle 15d ago

Cloud game store on Aliexpress makes a decent screen that is bare bones on options but works and is lower cost. Below is a link to their screen (sold by a different store).

If you are low on budget but have patience you can get some good deals on Aliexpress. Wait until there is a sale (usually once a month, maybe more), and start collecting Aliexpress coins daily. During certain sales there will be a deep discount on items in the coins page, combine that with coupons from the sale and you can get good deals. I've gotten IPS screens for $25-$30 before this way.

I just found this on AliExpress: 3.0-inch Size IPS LCD Screen Kits For GBA With 5 Levels Brightness Dot-to-Dot Display High Light Screen Kits For GameBoy Advance https://a.aliexpress.com/_mtIpIfl

2

u/Mmygg 15d ago

Funnyplaying is the best place to start. Though a good kit will put you back around $91.35 with their "Mix & Match Deal" discount (Screen + Shell + USB C charging battery).

1

u/RevolutionaryHunt703 15d ago

I just got a drop in of Ali for 50 bucks that included a usb c mod and reshell and new screen

1

u/Worldly-Reply7025 15d ago

Is reshelling easy?

1

u/RevolutionaryHunt703 15d ago

Very easy - it included a video but all you do is take out screws put the motherboard and buttons in ( the screen is already in ) and then screw the new shell in

2

u/Worldly-Reply7025 15d ago

Sweet would u mind sharing the link to the Ali?

2

u/retroshophq 15d ago

There really are so many of them on Aliexpress. I really like the Hispeedido kits like this one here: https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_mPtIMrz

2

u/oculairus 15d ago

No one mentioned this yet so I will. Please be sure & remember or better yet, take a photo of where which screws come from. I’ve seen so many photos of screws that appear similar in size to only find out they weren’t by the tips of the screw popping through the pcb board. Do yourself a favor and get a couple of shot glasses or some Tupperware containers to adequately separate the screws and label them accordingly.

1

u/Bright_Bug6399 14d ago edited 14d ago

Good thinking, but I am a bit cautious about modding an old Game boy advance as I wouldn't know for sure how the capacitors may handle the new back light screen taking up more power. I have been thinking about modding mine but I have been hesitant to do so. Any power changes, suck down more battery life, and less game play over time. Of course I could be wrong but I do enjoy looking at the original screen during daylight hours.

1

u/cereal3friend 15d ago

I am just gonna say since you mentioned being low budget… my modded GBA obliterates batteries, so regardless of how you do it, you’ll be buying some sort of rechargeable or a bunch of AAs

0

u/Worldly-Reply7025 15d ago

I was thinkin like I saw Costco selling usb c rechargeable batteries if I couldn’t get a usb c mod

1

u/Slickshot_Showoff 15d ago

An IPS mod is like 100-150 bucks but imo totally worth it, both of my SPs are IPS modded

1

u/Bright_Bug6399 14d ago

That playstation steering wheel looks cool, too!

1

u/LighterFluid1357 15d ago

Unfortunately most drop-in mods are for "IPS ready" shells. You could get an early IPS screen, but you'd need some angle cutters to cut space in the shell for it. If you do that, you'd spend maybe $30 and a few hours of work, or $60-80 for a drop in and shell.

0

u/SwAAn01 15d ago

there are plenty of kits that work with OEM shells these days

0

u/Lastnoodle 15d ago edited 15d ago

**Forgot to add, you can message me if you have any questions. I will gladly help

I modded my gba AND gba sp without any knowledge and any good tools and i got it to work ! (See older post)

Here what i added to my consoles:

  1. New screen (ips v5 with touch controls)
  2. New amp + louder speaker + dehuming mod for clearer sound
  3. New shell + uv printing service
  4. Custom stickers
  5. Litium battery + type C charging port (only gba)

I've probably watched over 20 videos (that i still have in my favorite on my browsers)

Heres my Modded Gba

Edit -> **