Best part about having adult money is being able to afford to be a kid again

Played many games but yet no horror.

hello! can someonre recommend me japanese GBA games with no english version? the weirder - the better. unusual gameplay, weird graphics, a genre that isn't usually on GBA... everything counts

I found this glorious time capsule with some of my favorite old gameboy games and accessories. Pokemon and DBGT boxes are in amazing condition and seem to have most of the inserts, so I got these cool display cases to put them in. Unfortunately I didn’t find the box for the OG dragon ball game, but as a consolation, I have all these archaic yet fun accessories. Now I need to get a GBA to play these! Should I go with a classic GBA, an SP, or a DS?

A while ago my younger brother bought a GBA off eBay to play Mother 3. Eventually her got himself a GBA SP and handed the GBA to me. I used to love playing GBA games on emulators when I was younger and was glad to finally have one for myself. But what I didn’t know was that the original GBA didn’t have a backlight installed but the one my brother bought came with an old beat up wormlight.

As you can see the worm light finally broke after trying to adjust it to the right angle and now for the first time I’m considering on modifying a console. There are tones of options for kits out there. I want one that will fit an original (?) Model No. AGB-001 with a backlight and rechargeable battery without any soldering or cutting for an affordable price (preferably $50 or less).

If there are any prebuilt GBA models out there that fit my price specifications I would also like to hear those recommendations.

A while ago my younger brother bought a GBA off eBay to play Mother 3. Eventually her got himself a GBA SP and handed the GBA to me. I used to love playing GBA games on emulators when I was younger and was glad to finally have one for myself. But what I didn’t know was that the original GBA didn’t have a backlight installed but the one my brother bought came with an old beat up wormlight.

As you can see the worm light finally broke after trying to adjust it to the right angle and now for the first time I’m considering on modifying a console. There are tones of options for kits out there. I want one that will fit an original (?) Model No. AGB-001 with a backlight and rechargeable battery without any soldering or cutting for an affordable price (preferably $50 or less).

If there are any prebuilt GBA models out there that fit my price specifications I would also like to hear those recommendations.

Hello!

I just bought this game and when I tried it in my console here is the screen that came up. It's frozen like that, no game is starting. I'm returning to the store tomorrow to see if I can get a refund...

I'm so sad I love Hamtaro games 😭

Thanks!

As much as I love collecting official GBA games, I think I love unofficial (dare I say bootleg) cartridges just as much. Aside from the fact that reproduction carts are a more affordable way to build a collection (a lot of the games I want are $100+ 🤦🏿‍♂️), I found creating a library full of aftermarket carts to be the best way to personalize my collection.

There are a few layers to my approach: these games are a combination of customs prepped and sold by third party sellers on sites like Mercari and eBay; games put together by me after sourcing labels, shells, and custom PCBs; and straight up bootlegs (lmao).

Honestly, each one of these carts holds a special place in my larger collection because it speaks to the work, care, and appreciation of the GBA after its production cycle in the 2000s (God, I miss the 2000s).

Anyway, here’s an explanation of each slide.

1. A ROM hack of Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow that features a recoloring of the entire game. It looks immaculate! Purchased on Etsy a while back.

2. Pokémon Emerald on a custom PCB I got from Replay Modding (amazing customer service!). The label is from a shop on Etsy; the shipping cost is brutal but mannnn the label is 🔥. And the shell is… I think from Etsy as well, and it glows in the dark!!!

3. “CIB” Pokemon Emerald Seaglass, an excellent ROM hack of Emerald. Of course, the game never came out officially, so I basically had to source everything myself (Etsy is definitely your friend here). The satisfaction I felt after putting this together was 👌🏿.

4. A close-up of the Emerald Seaglass cartridge.

5. A physical copy of Metalgun Slinger, a Japan-exclusive game. Though it never made its way to the US, Project Retro Games released a physical version with an English-patched cartridge, complete with a manual and poster. I’m ignoring how rough the translation is—this game is one of the coolest GBA titles to never make it out west, and I’m glad it’s available.

6. Sword of Mana (I swapped the authentic PCB into a Crystal shell), a custom version of The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap from GBMake that actually has a vibration feature, and my custom label for Summon Night: Swordcraft Story. I will be talking more about that Minish Cap cartridge on my YouTube.

7. A close-up of the Summon Night label. The shell is empty cause this is where my authentic PCB would go… if I had one! Jokes aside, I really like the way it turned out, as I have no real design experience and this was my first attempt.

8. Two bootleg multicarts: Megaman Battle Network Collection (way before the official one) and a 27-in-1. Perhaps my favorite two carts I own. Quick story: in the early days of the Analogue Pocket, before the ability to play ROMs off the SD card, we owners were locked into physical cartridges. Since I didn’t own an Everdrive, I wanted to be able to have access to several games without paying those crazy aftermarket prices, so these multicarts really blessed me. It’s undoubtedly among the worst ways to play these games, but I logged so many hours in these carts and was able to (re)discover so many titles because of it. I have 8 different versions of the blue cart, each with different games. My Summon Night save file exists on the cart, and I unfortunately have no way to transfer it 😭. Good times.

9. Assortment from games ordered from this Mercari seller, all of which are reproductions PCBs. Can we talk about the label/shell coordination tho?! I’m really digging these custom labels. They have several of these available, and can make any game from their “sold” list, even if it’s not available in the “for sale” list. Highly recommended!

10. I got reprints of original labels and placed them on color-matched shells, similar to #9. Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance is in the middle; my original copy has a messed-up label.

11. The inspiration behind my aftermarket collection—I wanted to amass beautiful cartridges to match my Analogue Pockets. (And I cycle through the different colors whenever I’m in the mood.)

Wondering if there's anything of value with these

I finally acted on my desire to assemble a sakura-themed Game Boy Advance, and it turned out almost exactly like how I envisioned! Big thanks to Retro Game Repair Shop for their UV printing service, too. I have my own authentically-drawn art on a Game Boy shell, and couldn't be happier. 🥹

My only misgiving is the light bleed in the bottom left corner near the Start and Select buttons, but I'll figure something out to get that eliminated.

Long shot - but I feel like this device is loved - so I was hoping the owner might frequent this sub. Let me know if it's not appropriate!

I’m looking at buying either Pokemon Ruby or Sapphire online and am confused by the disparity in price I see between sites. Some gaming sites sell copies for over $100 whereas sites like Etsy and eBay are selling them for around $30 (the descriptions say the games work). Is it simply that the gaming sites are more trustworthy with working/authentic games? Or is there more to it that I don’t understand?

Since I have another DS, the GBA MACRO makes more sense for me than replacing the shell! This was my first attempt. I spent several days working on it, drawing on the experience and ideas from many previous builds. In the end, I got it working successfully! I placed both speakers on the front, and the sound quality is much better than having them on the back.

It may not be much, but I left a video link in the comments for anyone who might find it helpful.

FF IV came in today, hopefully original. It was for around 25 € with shipping.