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Portable Monopoly starts taking preorders today!

T

ThaGrandCow

Diamond Member
I can't wait. I've been seeing it for months now and waited to get this kit. Basically it's a kit to add in a backlight to your Game Boy Advance, and it's beautiful.

Check it out here

Preorders go on sale tomorrow (Friday) at 1:00pm CST, cost is $35.
 
BTW the kit's official name is the Afterburner.
Pretty crappy name I think, but once it's in my GBA I won't care what they call it.
 
sweet! It's about time.

Any word on how hard it is to install? I'm looking around on the site but haven't found much.

Also, how legit are these guys? Don't want them to steal my CC# :Q
 


<< sweet! It's about time.

Any word on how hard it is to install? I'm looking around on the site but haven't found much.

Also, how legit are these guys? Don't want them to steal my CC# :Q >>



Apparently it's not too difficult. It's probably not for a person who's never looked at a circuit board before, but most of the people here do their own computers and shouldn't have a problem. As for how legit they are, I couldn't tell you because I don't know them. I can say that they've been around almost since the GBA was released. They've had a working prototype for months and months now. If they wern't legit they would have taken orders a long time ago and ran with the cash. Plus, watch the video. It actually works, and they've been waiting all this time to get their patent and set up a channel with a company that makes the special flat LED to go in there.

And I believe them enough to fork over my cash tomorrow 😀 Can't wait till April when these things ship
 
As for installation I remember reading that you will need to know how to solder. So if you don't have a clue you may ruin your GBA.
 
From one of the mirrors for downloading the video:

How difficult will it be to install the kit?
The difficulty level is in our opinion more than acceptable, perhaps comparable to an internal mod-chip installation, but it is not a 5 minute job. You can expect to spend at least a half hour to an hour to do the job right, possibly more if you've never done anything like this. If you are completely inexperienced in electronics, you might want to consider going with a professional installer.

To install this kit, you will have to achieve the following tasks (which will all be explained clearly in the included pictorial guide):

1. Unscrew... well, screws. And later, screw the... er, screws back in.

2. Remove the top cover from the GBA.
Note: If you are going to install a switch behind the GBA mainboard, the back cover will also have to be removed.
Note 2: Upon removing the top cover, the system's buttons will be loose - they should be placed aside to avoid being lost.
2a. Separate the LCD screen from the top cover.
Note: There is an adhesive cushion that connects the two.
2b. Remove the plastic screen cover.

3. Strip the included wires.

4. Solder the included wires to two specific points on the GBA.
Note: If you can color bubbles on a bubble-type test, you have the precision necessary for this step.
4a. If a switch will be installed, wires will also have to be soldered to it.
Note: Even less precision is required here than in step 4.
4b. Solder the included wires to the light guide.

5. Remove a small amount of plastic from the top cover that is normally covered by the plastic screen cover.
Note: For legal purposes the method of removing this soft plastic is in your hands. Did we mention that the plastic was soft?
5a. If a switch will be installed, a small amount of plastic will have to be removed where the switch will be mounted.
5b. Mount the switch.
Note: This is achieved by simply screwing the included nut onto the switch (bushing mount).

6. Arrange the wires in the system casing so that reassembly is not obstructed.
Note: There is plenty of room for this, and we include special "bendable" wires which hold their position to make the job easier.

7. Reconstruct the system with the exception of the upper case cover.

8. Remove any hair or dust that has entered the system during the installation process.

9. Remove the stickers from each side of the light guide after it has been situated above the LCD.

10. Close the system and reattach the plastic screen cover.

As you can see the individual steps are not difficult, but the entire process is anything but quick and dirty. You can start taking your system apart right now if you want to see how difficult the above steps will really be.

The most difficult part about the installation will be protecting the bottom half of the light guide - fingerprints are a major no-no. While the glass LCD screen can be wiped clean with ease, fingerprints on the bottom side of the light guide itself are much more difficult (if not impossible) to remove. It will have a protective sticker on both sides which should be removed only at the end of the installation process, immediately before closing up the system. Additionally, wearing thin gloves eliminates this problem quite nicely (we will probably be including a pair of these with every kit).

To find out more about the Afterburner lighting system for your GBA or to order one for yourself, go to: PortableMonopoly. We will have a hands on review of the Afterburner when it releases.


Looks like I may have to practice up on my soldering skills 😉
 


<< As for installation I remember reading that you will need to know how to solder. So if you don't have a clue you may ruin your GBA. >>



They mentioned liquid flux (or something along those lines) which AFAIK is heatless solder. It comes out in liquid form and dries into a conductive circuit. Using that should be a good way for people that haven't done it before to start.
 


<< $35! Shipping will be around $7 for UPS ground for customers in the US, and any poor folks in Iowa will have to pay sales tax on top of that. Yeah, we're talking to both of you! >>


woah, this guy's in iowa! (i'm in iowa!)
 


<< The most difficult part about the installation will be protecting the bottom half of the light guide - fingerprints are a major no-no. While the glass LCD screen can be wiped clean with ease, fingerprints on the bottom side of the light guide itself are much more difficult (if not impossible) to remove. It will have a protective sticker on both sides which should be removed only at the end of the installation process, immediately before closing up the system. Additionally, wearing thin gloves eliminates this problem quite nicely (we will probably be including a pair of these with every kit). >>



Thats what you have to look out for. If they don't send latex gloves with the kit... Go out and buy them. I can see getting a fingerprint on the light and being out $35, or jut having a worse looking light.
 
This is the first bump of the night bump 🙂

I want people to hear about this. My GBA sucks unless I'm in the bathroom or outside.
 


<< Heh, I bet a lot of people will fsck up the install. >>


I think this is too easy to install to fsck up bump 😀

Come on people... 12 hours to go until preorders start 😀
 
I love taking my GBA in the bathroom. That's probably the only time I play the stupid thing 🙂

In a related story, Nintendo announced yesterday that they are going to release a Limited Edition Platinum GBA which will only be available in North America. I thought it was kinda interesting.
 
If I recall correctly, this is the same guy who goes/went to Iowa State University and did this for his Senior Design Project in Computer Engineering. The Iowa State Daily had an article about this a few months ago and I believe it is 100% legit. If not, I will just have to drive 15 minutes and find him =).
 
The put a video up about it and wow big difference between the 2 (although it sound'd like the sounds / music they where using where ripped from a emulator) 🙂
 
Well apparently so many people logged on at 1:00 to preorder, their server got taken down. This is the email they sent out around 5:30 eastern time:

Hello PM subscriber,

What once was a dedicated Web server at pair.com is now a pile of smoking
ashes. 🙂

Due to a terrible decision to offer a specific time for the preorder to
start, as well as our severe underestimation of the bandwidth/processing
demand this campaign would entail, you probably will not be able to access
Portable Monopoly until tonight or even tomorrow. We are working closely
with our Web host, Pair.com, to upgrade to a faster server immediately which
will hopefully alleviate the problem.

While I am happy with the amount of interest out there for the Afterburner, I
am very disappointed with myself in terms of not being prepared for this
onslaught... I can only hope that you will forgive this huge inconvenience..

There is good news (sort of): there is no reason to worry about not getting
your preorder in today - we only had one order go through before the server
spiked. As long as you get your order in this weekend you should have no
problem getting into the first batch of orders shipped.

At any rate this is a ridiculous inconvenience that we have caused all of you
and we sincerely apologize for the oversight. Your patience is appreciated
as we work out these "growing pains" of great magnitude.

-Adam Curtis
 


<<
I think this is too easy to install to fsck up bump 😀 >>




If you think that is too easy to f!ck up, you have probably never had a job doing PC tech support over the phone. 😀 Let me tell you, people can f!ck up ANYTHING!
 


<<

<<
I think this is too easy to install to fsck up bump 😀 >>




If you think that is too easy to f!ck up, you have probably never had a job doing PC tech support over the phone. 😀 Let me tell you, people can f!ck up ANYTHING! >>


LOL! Actually I had to do it for a year. I'll give you that point, I'd never thought that a person could kill their system when all I said was "restart the computer"
 
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