There have been numerous video video games launched over the a long time that had been unique to moveable, handheld consoles and had been by no means ported to dwelling consoles. Nearly the whole Pokémon franchise previous to the discharge of the Nintendo Swap, for instance. That’s a disgrace, as a result of enjoying video games on an enormous TV whereas enjoyable on the sofa is a way more nice expertise. To take pleasure in that have whereas enjoying Recreation Boy Advance titles, GouldFish transformed a damaged Nintendo DS Lite right into a GBA dwelling console.
If you wish to play Recreation Boy Advance video games on a house console, there are simpler methods to do it. You may flip to emulation or, should you desire actual {hardware} and have a Recreation Dice, you should purchase a Recreation Boy Participant accent. However GouldFish’s undertaking remains to be actually cool. It runs GBA video games on actual {hardware} and is probably extra inexpensive than a Recreation Dice with the Recreation Boy Participant.
GouldFish selected a Nintendo DS Lite as the start line for this undertaking, as they settle for GBA cartridges and are fairly inexpensive — particularly if yow will discover one with a damaged display screen, as GouldFish did. The DS Lite additionally helps a variety of mods that had been essential for this construct.
The primary of these was a “TV Out” board, which takes benefit of an unused characteristic of the DS Lite: composite video output. The board can take the video sign from both the highest or backside display screen, then output that by composite to a CRT TV. It carries audio, too. On this case, GouldFish set it to the highest display screen, which exhibits the GBA recreation screens. A easy mod (including a single resistor) disables the underside display screen, so it doesn’t activate for no motive.
One other essential mod was the addition of a SNES controller adapter from Inside Devices, which connects an SNES controller’s button outputs to the DS Lite’s button pins. Additionally from Inside Devices was one other mod, which lets the DS Lite run on exterior energy with out the battery in place.
To tie that every one collectively, GouldFish designed and fabricated a customized PCB. It hosts the SNES controller adapter and has an influence swap and energy LED, each of that are linked to the DS Lite mainboard. GouldFish then put all of that right into a 3D-printed enclosure of his personal design, which takes styling cues from each the GBA and the DS Lite. It seems to be very nice, with an “indigo” purple and white paint job.
Now GouldFish can play Recreation Boy Advance video games from the consolation of his sofa, utilizing an SNES controller and show the video in giant CRT glory.
