Game Boy Advance RGB LCD Project 134
JohnHegarty writes: "Ever wanted a large backlit screen for the GBA, or even watching it on a 28" TV?
Here is a project to use a GBA on a PlayStation screen." Another example of the lengths people will go to to mock the term "pocket sized."
Playstation screen? (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Playstation screen? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Playstation screen? (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Playstation screen? (Score:2)
Honestly, this mod would kill pretty much all battery life in the GBA. Running two screens at once, one of them 50% bigger then power specs are meant for, plus backlighting, ugh. Go to TritonLabs (http://www.tritonlabs.com [tritonlabs.com]) for a more elegant backlighting mod.
Re:Playstation screen? (Score:5, Funny)
Well, I also ran into this problem. so to combat this you may want to check out my Gameboy Advanced Backpack Diesel Generator Mod. [link.goes.nowhere]
Re:Playstation screen? (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Playstation screen? (Score:1)
"The concept of irony is completely lost in this one"
Re:Playstation screen? (Score:1)
I think you meant "The concept of humour"
Re:Playstation screen? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Playstation screen? (Score:1)
Re:Playstation screen? (Score:1)
I'll explain it to you briefly:
new article appears -> very few posts -> quickly post something not completely off-topic -> get moderated to +5 funny by moderators who didn't read the article either, and only moderate the top 20 posts or so -> get moderated back to +1 overrated -> get banned from posting because now you got 4 downmods in a row.
No I didn't read the full article, it was just a reflex to what I at first glance thought was a strange way of phrasing things.
Erm... (Score:2, Informative)
What he's actually done is connected a slightly bigger and brighter screen to the original LCD connector. Doesn't seem all that wonderful really.
Re:Erm... (Score:1)
...of course, it uses a composite video signal. Creating a device that uses S-video or even component would be impressive.
Playing it in the dark... (Score:5, Informative)
It does invalidate your warranty, but the pictures [tritonlabs.com] on this page show you how impressive it is. Those of you with a PPC will know what the lighting is like.
It claims to get 10 hours gameplay with the light on, which isn't bad in the slightest.
Re:Playing it in the dark... (Score:2)
$35 gets you the kit - the backlight, anti-reflective plastic lining, wires, resistor, and the brightness dial.
To install it, you also need:
a triwing screwdriver (you can use a flathead, and destroy your screws)
a dremmel (to sand away enough plastic to make the backlight fit)
a drill with a very, very tiny drill bit (to install the brightness dial)
a soldering iron
My recommendation after getting the sucker to work (and pretty much making my GBA look like shit because, to be honest, I've never soldered before and I majorly suck at it).
A GBA costs $70. Find someplace online who will install the afterburner *for you*, ship it to them, and let them do it. Should cost you anywhere from $50 to $75 dollars. Make sure it's somebody who's done a lot of them, so they have the practice.
I think there's a company out there who will ship a new GBA with the afterburner installed for $150 - that sounds the best option to me.
Of course, if somebody could just convince Nintendo to make a GBA+ with the backlight already installeed, that would save even more time. But I'm not holding my breath.
Re:Playing it in the dark... (Score:2)
Lik Sang [lik-sang.com] sell GBA's with Afterburner already installed for 109 USD (74.83 GBP). You can also find places who will fix it for about 35 GBP (probably about 50 USD).
Personally I'd look on EBay [ebay.com] for an unused/unwanted GBA, buy one of them and then pay someone to install it. Since you're invalidating your warranty anyway, there's no real point to getting a brand new one - it'll also work out quite a bit cheaper.
Re:Playing it in the dark... (Score:2)
I'll agree with the first part. I love my afterburner. The second part, well, that depends on the person. Myself, I had no problems installing it at all. I spent maybe an hour and a half one night modding my GBA case to make room the the light and the dimmer. Maybe another hour and a half the next night getting the soldering done, installing the dimmer, and finishing everything up. It plays great. Everybody I've shown it to thinks it looks great. Especially people who have stock GBA's.
If you really have no experience soldering (I don't have much myself) and no experience with a dremel, having it installed probably isn't a bad idea. But if you have even moderate skills and patience, you should be able to do it without any problems.
Re:Playing it in the dark... (Score:2)
Re:Playing it in the dark... (Score:2)
Re:Playing it in the dark... (Score:1)
I agree entirely... A friend and I spent 4 hours in the clean(ish) room at my dad's work getting the thing installed, and even though we were super careful, we still got visible dust in there.
It probably didn't help that we got wasted at a bar before hand...
I'm kidding, you silly people! It takes more than 6 Kamikazes and 3 shots of Jaegermeister to get me drunk!
Anyway, we had some parts left over afterwards, and it rattles a bit now, but the GBA is way more usable than when I bought it. Even though the B key doesn't work anymore...
-If
Re:Playing it in the dark... (Score:2)
Well worth the $35!
Re:Playing it in the dark... (Score:2)
I haven't run any scientific tests, but the battery life seems pretty good with the Afterburner installed. However, I also switched to NiMH's at about the same time as I installed my AB so I can't say how much it dropped by. I probably get 6-8 hours out of a pair of 1800mAH batteries. Which is fine, since it's easy to carry around a spare pair. The light itself is just two surface-mount white LED's, so it probably isn't drawing more than 20mA tops. It's not like you can cram a couple of incandescent lights, or a CCF tube into a GBA easily.
Re:Playing it in the dark... (Score:2)
Re:Playing it in the dark... (Score:2)
Re:Playing it in the dark... (Score:3, Interesting)
The best tips are to use scotch tape to peel off the backing on the AR film and light surface. You don't want ANY fingerprints. Also be sure to use canned air to blow dust off everything prior to mounting it.
Applying the AR film was easy with a trick I found. Do NOT remove the backing yet. Use tape to peel off a very small part of the backing on the sticky side. Position it right on the edge. Use a long piece of tape and stick it to the remaining part of the backing. Then slide the black card along the surface while pulling the tape to peel the backing. Do that in one quick motion and you get a perfect, dust/bubble free application.
Re:Playing it in the dark... (Score:2)
Big RECCOMMENDATION:
The directions reccommend putting the top cushion back on before applying the AR film. Don't. Had to redo mine twice, and that's where the air bubbles got in.
Playing your GBA without an Afterburner is like renting VHS tapes. Sure, it works, but you know there's something better out there.
Hammy.
Whoopee... (Score:1, Funny)
Seems strange... (Score:1)
I guess people will do it just because they can, but if you're going to play a low quailty side-scroller, why not play something on the good ol' NES or SNES. About the same quality, and you get that whole nostalgia value too...
Or you could play Halo, while drinking Steel Reserve 211, like a real man.
Re:Seems strange... (Score:1)
Very interesting (Score:4, Insightful)
TV = $75
Adapter = $200
Total = $375
PS2 = $200
TV = $75
Total = $275
i really dont get it!
(prices not exactly the same on real life)
Re:Very interesting (Score:2)
but you still have a point.
GBA + AfterBurner = $109 roughly
Re:Very interesting (Score:1)
The.
Article.
It's not being attached to a TV.
Re:Very interesting (Score:2)
Re:Very interesting (Score:2, Informative)
As for getting the PS2 instead and saving yourself some money...that misses the point entirely. The whole reason to get a GBA, regardless of whether you mod it or not, is to play the games available on a GBA. There are plenty of titles available on the GBA that won't be showing up on the PS2 (or any other system) for a very, very long time - if ever.
As for why you might want to attach the LCD screen... It is fairly common knowledge that the screen on the GBA basically sucks. It is small and dim. There is no backlight of any kind. This is usually cited as the one and only major flaw with the GBA. Attaching an LCD screen would eliminate this flaw. Granted, it reduces the portability, but it greatly increases the playability.
yrs,
Ephemeriis
I saw it before it was /.'ed (Score:2, Funny)
The mod itself is interesting. I think that pressure on Nintendo to improve the screen situation is probably a longterm better course of action, but folks around here like to take things into their own hands (and disassemble them, modify the hell out of them and make them do things that nobody else had even imagined).
Re:I saw it before it was /.'ed (Score:1)
Re:uhhh... (Score:1)
If you're going to play GBA games, get a GBA (Score:1)
Why not just get a real gaming system? Or better yet, a PC?
I already have a PC (Acer TravelMate 721TX, 333 MHz PII with 128 MB RAM, which I bought when I entered college three years ago). It's just barely fast enough to run VisualBoyAdvance at a semi-playable speed. And it's a lot heavier than a Game Boy Advance system. And $200 rechargeable battery packs don't seem to live very long.
The cradle to copy Game Boy Advance cartridges into your PC [lik-sang.com] (so that you can run them in VisualBoyAdvance) costs $45. For only $65 more, you can get a real Game Boy Advance system with a real Afterburner light [tritonlabs.com].
Re:SNES adaptor for GB (Score:1)
It was called "Super Gameboy," and I happen to have one that I bought (used, of course) during a quest to find a cheap way to sit back and play Tetris on my TV without having to buy a new console system. Shortly thereafter I found "Dr. Mario + Tetris" for SNES which completely negated the purchase, but I kept it anyway, just because I like Donkey Kong for the Gameboy so much. It's kind of silly, really -- some games had preset colors to use on the SGB (including Donkey Kong), and "Donkey Kong Land" among others had some "special" border that framed the screen in order to use up the real estate that would be ignored otherwise due to the need to preserve the aspect ratio.
You're all missing the point (Score:4, Insightful)
He gave up on the 20 in screen, the resolution looks terrible on that size.
What amazed me was the brightness of the interact lcd compared to the GBA screen. Nintendo must have spent 20 cents on that screen, its truely worthless. I'm betting people will go this route to improve their display - I've seen a mod someone is selling that installs a very bright light in their GBA. I still think the first pre-order hasn't been completed yet, tells you something about demand for a better screen. Nintendo really screwed up on the screen.
Re:You're all missing the point (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:You're all missing the point (Score:2)
How much would it have cost them to implement a decent backlight? I doubt it would have been more than a dollar of electronics.
Re:Pretty Cool (Score:2)
btw i play the tetris that i originally got for my first GB(the huge gray original) more than any of the new GBA games!
Tetris on GBA (Score:1)
tetris
Ever tried Tetanus On Drugs [pineight.com] for Game Boy Advance? It's like playing Tetris on LSD, except without having to run from the DEA.
cool (Score:1)
And they'll run Linux, of course.
:P
Good games, baaad platform. (Score:4, Insightful)
In fact, since the days of 16bit processing, games have not expanded in playability as fast as they have expanded in terms of special effects, graphic capabilities and system usage.
Despite the fact that you can now play Sonic in a glorious 3d world on the Nintendo Game Cube, the playability and enjoyment factor just isn't the same as the old side-scrolling platform Sonic games. Sonic 2 and 3 on Genesis are incredible, infinitely playable games. I fire up a Genesis emulator about once a month and play them through again just for kicks. I occasionally find something new when I play.
Since this is the kind of game best suited for the GBA and the people at Nintendo and Sega *do* understand the difference between 'playable' and 'dazzling', it's not surprising that they've chosen this platform to 'ressurect' some of these older sprite-based game engines.
That said, it's a shame that they didn't include RGB or composit out on the GBA, because the size of the GBA's display just doesn't do these kinds of games justice. It's true that they don't have particle and polygon-based graphics. It's also true that the games are playable on a small screen albeit with lots of lighting. What Ninentdo seems to have missed is that the first time we played these games, we did so on larger displays. The games are just more enjoyable if you don't have to squint against the glare of a halogen spotlight to see them.
I, for one, would like to see every handheld in the future ship with either a RBG or Composite video out plug so that you can play the game on a TV or a 'portable' LCD screen. The fact that people feel the need to mod the game to make it more enjoyable means that Nintendo hasn't don their job.
Re:Good games, baaad platform. (Score:1)
It's a small box, but you can do some pretty crazy things with it.
(The game is for a movie that comes out this month, staring a CG dog. 'Nuff said.)
Re:Good games, baaad platform. (Score:1)
Re:Good games, baaad platform. (Score:1)
Re:Good games, baaad platform. (Score:1)
Ruh-roh! Rou wan me to go see the movie? Ri don't think so! Not even for ree Scooby snacks!
Re:Good games, baaad platform. (Score:1)
Re:How about I just download the ROM? (Score:1)
1. You'll hurt the publisher, but hey, nobody worries about hurting a big bad publishing company, right?
2. You'll hurt the start up that made the game. But hey, to hell with the small business guy who started the studio (two cofounders, actually, both with wives & children).
3. You'll hurt me and the other 5 folks that busted our asses for 8 months (short schedule) to make the game. We get a royalty based directly on number of units sold. And the more units that are sold, the bigger percentage of royalties we get for the whole game. So enough downloads instead of buys can have a rather dramatic effect on how much money I take home in any given year.
So, in a nutshell, that's what happens when you download instead of buy. Kinda sucks for me and my friends.
Just FYI.
Re:Good games, baaad platform. (Score:3, Informative)
The fact that people feel the need to mod the game to make it more enjoyable means that Nintendo hasn't done their job.
-------END QUOTE----
In this case, yes. the mod is something that everyone can appreciate. it is something that if it's cost had been integrated at Nintendo rather than having to be produced independently and installed haphazardlly would probably have only added about five dollars to the unit price(i'm talking about the Afterburner here, not the PSOne screen). I can't think of anyone(not a single person) who has seen a gameboy with and without the afterburner that wouldn't have been willing to pony up the extra five for that feature when they bought it.
That hardly applies to all mods though. Ever since the video game generation grew up into hackers and consoles started to appeal to adults, there have been techies that will take any excuse to poke around inside the machines.
If somebody takes the trouble to install a burner and a larger hard-drive in their X-Box, that doesn't mean that microsoft hasn't done their job, even if every other X-Box owner thinks it's pretty cool. The cost and other issues of making that mod standard(or even an official option) would simply outweigh the benefit to the users(and the company).
Even if a system is ever "perfect"(is the exact balance of what most people want and what they're willing to spend), there will be countless geeks who mod it just on principle.
Sega was never planning to market a beowulf cluster of Linux Dreamcasts, nor should they have.
Re:Good games, baaad platform. (Score:2, Informative)
I agree totally. Some of the mods I've seen, such as the portable wooden Playstation we saw a little while back were cool and neat, besides making a template for people who wanted to do something similar.
The GBA display hack, on the other hand, is a case of Nintendo just not providing what people want or need. It would be as if Apple had released the iMac without a floppy drive, but also without the option to add a floppy drive via USB. Most people just put up with it. Those who want the technology and are unwilling to put up with it change the technology.
Re:Good games, baaad platform. (Score:2)
The gameplay of Super Mario World took me by storm and the 3D versions of Mario and Sonic don't compare.
3D means it's almost impossible to make those clutch jumps etc.
I think cool idea compared to your RBG or Composite out would be a USB or Firewire out. Hook up your next-gen handheld to your PC and viola... it's on your screen. The bandwidth on USB 2.0 and Firewire is enough and the games could even be played in a window while using the handheld as the controller (doesn't the GBA kind of do this now with the GC?)
The Dreamcast was/is cool because it had SEGA games that focused not on glitter but on games... the other two guys either pump out titles (sony) or focus on graphics (ms).
How far we've come. (Score:1)
Back when I was 11 and playing w/ my SNES, I thought that I'd never see the day when Sonic was on a Nintendo console.
Proof (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Proof (Score:2)
The colors look "lit" as in viewable, so the red is red and not Maroon, but other than that I can only assume that you are judging by the photos circulating.
The Afterburner project shows that it is relatively easy to add at least a frontlight, which is a workaround made more difficult by Nintendo's refusal to use a backlit LCD in the first place.
From what I understand, the backlight relies on the LCD being semi-transparent, since the GBA LCD is not, a frontlight had to be devised. he key is to get a light source and then a distributor of that light. With a backlight, you put in a CCD and a diffuser. Assuming that this would raise the Price of a GBA to $150, (Price of a GBA and Afterburner + a little to pay the sweatshop laborers) users of the GBA have already voted with their feet and said the extra cost is worth it.
Why couldn't Nontendo release a Lit and Unlit version??
Also, Adam(?) over at Triton Labs knew next to nothing about LCD lighting a year ago. If you look over the pages at his site, It was about 6-8 months ago that he discovered a backlight wouldn't work for the reasons described above. So, in 6 months, he designed, manufactured, and shipped this kit, but for Nintendo it would have been "impossible".
Also, with the manufacture of so many 1600x1200 LCD's 22" diag. fully backlit, why couldnt have Nintendo used a 3" diag LCD with a backlight again?? They are already using an LCD... The backlight is that much an issue??
You must also think that Un-integrating IE is just as technically unfeasable as MS has been saying.
~Jason M.
Arcade PCBs w/LCD? (Score:2)
Mind you, "portable JAMMA" is a bix of an oxymoron. The main thing preventing it are the PCBs themselves. They're not ruggedized, and they are often quite big.
Re:Arcade PCBs w/LCD? (Score:2)
Search Google before posting DUMB question (Score:1)
You plug the PCB into a box which has RCA out's to the TV and has small arcade sticks as controllers. Fits nicely on the lap.
Re: Use intelligence before posting DUMB answer. (Score:3, Insightful)
Your response was "Something like that already exists dude." Kinda, yes, no, not really at all.
I don't believe anyone is packaging an LCD display, using RGB input, for arcade PCBs. Yes, you could use "a box which has RCA out's to the TV" (otherwise known as an RGB->NTSC converter which you'd find as part of the wiring in a supergun) to do an svideo or composite video out. But that wasn't the point. The point was using the RGB signal and not having to go through the circuity (such as JROK's RGB to NTSC converter) to do the trick.
You'd be direct driving a display with RGB inputs, and not messing the video signal with conversions. And the PSOne appears to have the correct horizontal scan rate in order to work with arcade PCBs.
To address the subject line, use your wisdom and intellect before applying google to get DUMB answers.
Back to the issue of portability, that'd be one less mess of circuits to deal with (rgb->ntsc converter) and you could integrate a display into a supergun quite easier than arcade pcb -> converter -> LCD NTSC display (which would probably end up with a really bad picture because of all the conversion).
This was announced last week (Score:1)
It's amazing what passes for news here ; get up to speed!
zerg (Score:2)
Afterburner works for two hours @ best and only with games with bright palettes (Castlevania shows no improvement whatsoever). My two hour spec may be off because I use rechargeable batteries, but prior to Afterburner I was seeing 8 hours nonstop play before having to recharge.
Re:zerg (Score:1)
The light is amazing, it helps every single game. I notice _no_ wash out in any of my games. Many people did have trouble installing it but the process is really easy, if you're patient. I've done a couple installs and averaged about two hours per. Following the directions and not rushing things led to a couple flawless installs. Read up on the latest tips in the forum and be prepared to spend a couple hours doing the actual install and you'll be 100% satisfied with the results.
Also, I've hit 8 hours with energizer 2 batteries and they haven't had to be replaced yet. Rechargable batteries won't ever last that long probably, depending on what type of batteries they are.
Backlid + TV already done (and cheaper) (Score:3, Informative)
go here [lik-sang.com]
Want to play your GBA on a TV (cause we all know that 240x160 looks great on a 27 inch TV!) then go here [lik-sang.com] (or here [lik-sang.com] if you are in a PAL region).
So you can pay about 80 bux for the TV adapter and 35 for the backlight on a REAL GBA LCD...or build this ugly contraption...your choice
PCBs?? (Score:1, Informative)
Mind you, "portable JAMMA" is a bix of an oxymoron. The main thing preventing it are the PCBs themselves. They're not ruggedized, and they are often quite big.
Hardware based Super Eagle engine needed (Score:2)
Which, err, heh. Totally Friggin Rocks.
The output from a Game Boy Advanced is of a high enough quality that when paired up with SuperEagle engine it looks great even on a 19" or so computer monitor. I do not know if a 20 inch interlaced display would be better or worse. . .
Of course 2xSaI kicks ass too.
I wish that more companies would just implement those systems in Hardware, they definitely kick ass.
They ALREADY have this...its called: GBA TV (Score:1)
I just want to see (Score:2)
Or it may just be another example of the lengths people will go, to be able to actually see the games they are playing.
A question (Score:1)
A close-up of the test cable connector which was shaved to be more like a female connector.
I am single and living alone, so if I want to build this thing, can I use my Gillette Sensor Excel or do I have to buy a LadyShave?
Author's Comments and Clarifications (Score:5, Informative)
Erm... (Score:1)
Pi
Great idea! (Score:1)
Mario Kart, anyone ?
Re:Great idea! (Score:1)
GBA on a TV screen - TGS (Score:1)
Anyone else remember this?
This would be useful to me (Score:1)
Now that The Sims is coming out on PS2, I've been planning on buying one when the game ships.
So it would be useful to be able to play my French Pokemon Argent on one of my GBAs and display it on the PS2 screen (TV).
It would be real cool too.
-
Sonny Bono says you can't run them on PSX (Score:1)
But wouldn't it be easier for someone to buy a playstation rather than go to all this trouble to adapt a gamegear?
For one thing, it isn't a Sega Game Gear but rather a Nintendo Game Boy Advance. (The Game Gear was a portable Master System.)
For another, Game Boy Advance has some exclusive titles (Mario Kart Advance, Pinobee, Golden Sun, etc.) that won't hit the PlayStation for at least 95 years [wikipedia.com] because their publishers own copyrights on the games and will not license a port.
Re:Sonny Bono says you can't run them on PSX (Score:1)
Re:Call me ignorant if you like... (Score:1)
Re: (Score:1)
Re:What do you call them? (Score:2, Offtopic)
Their prefered term is Taikonauts.