gameberry: my project, to make an original gameboy a raspberry pi gaming handheld!

[jaqie]

New video, and update, in one! View it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krDwgdmBhS8
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I finally ordered the parts for this so I thought it would be a good time to start a thread here about it.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0045IIZKU
3.5" LCD with composite in

http://www.adafruit.com/products/1344
raspberry pi model A

http://www.adafruit.com/products/966
low profile SD to microSD adapter, push-push

http://www.ebay.com/itm/321133378545
black color original gameboy (yes the big fat one with olive screen)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/390396278619
7 port "octopus" usb hub

already have:
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cheap playstation 1 like usb controller
regulated 5v wall wart power supply, 2 amp
wireless rii tiny keyboard-touchpad combo
8gb microSD card
usb 10/100 ethernet device
usb2 realtek based wifi b/g/n device
tools and supplies needed to do the mod!

I am going to just run it off of a wall wart at first, build the basic unit saving as much space as I can for a big pack of batteries, and then once it is fully up and running I will figure out what kind of battery life I can get and build the batterypack and charger from there. I am really hoping I can fit a pack from a modern 9 cell laptop into it. I will eventually add a better amp for audio, better speakers into the unit, secondary storage, and a realtime clock.

similar to mine is this project, however I aim to make mine look better and be more functional:
http://www.adafruit.com/blog/2012/0...-boy-case-mod-piday-raspberrypi-raspberry_pi/

Why the original gameboy and not something smaller / sleeker / newer?
because I want a lot of battery life and as shown below the newer stuff just doesn't have the space inside for all the gobbledegak and also batteries I want!

 

[KeithTalent]

Subscribed. Sounds damn cool; looking forward to updates. :thumbsup:

KT

 

[jaqie]

This is kinda what I want to make, though I don't want green, nor the lights in the back and I want a full functional pc along with emulation instead of just a gaming system.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9KrlGChPy8

Very neat!

 

[nsafreak]

Very interesting, I'll keep an eye on this one as well. I might do something similar although perhaps with a unit that has a few more buttons on it by default. Perhaps I can find a non working Sega Nomad, Game Gear or Atari Lynx. Those are all fairly beefy units with at least four buttons on them. Although I suppose if you're really good with a dremel you might be able to modify the GameBoy to have four buttons on its face.

 

[jaqie]

I'm going to do more than just that. wait and see!

The black gameboy works, but I also bought a white gameboy that does not, which the insides will go into.

I considered the nomad, game gear, and lynx, but I really wanted one of the black original game boys for my first raspberry pi.

 

[jaqie]

small update. Got the black and white game boys, in really good shape. Got the raspi model A, got it working, works a treat, got occidentalis v 0.2 running.
http://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-raspberry-pi-educational-linux-distro/occidentalis-v0-dot-2

My current 3 blade philips like bit cannot reach the screws in the GBs so I ordered a manual one.

The LCD screen was broken so I had to send it back, waiting on the RMA so I can get another.

my wifi and ethernet usb cards work great out of the box with the os.

lesee...

ordered a cheap hdmi to vga adapter to work on it in the interim.

 

[jaqie]

The gathering of the parts.

 

[KeithTalent]

Ha, looks like one of my old junk drawers! So much stuff I would never know what to do with.

Looking forward to seeing the next steps!

KT

 

[jaqie]

Ahh, progress.

All up and running. Going to use the white gameboy as a first run, if I make any game ending mistakes it won't be with the good black shell.

 

[EliteRetard]

I happen to know somebody getting a degree in electrical engineering...he needs to put together some sort of master project but doesn't know the first thing about electronics. Can't even solder. How much would you be willing to sell your project for (once complete)?

On his last year, and this is all that's between him and 60-80$k a year starting.

 

[jaqie]

I wont sell my black one but I would make a second in the white case and consider selling it. Im not sure how much, but it would be several hundred dollars, it's a whole lot of work.

 

[jaqie]

Video update! I made my first ever video and put it on youtube instead of just taking more pictures.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krDwgdmBhS8

Tell me what you think, of the video and of the gameberry!