Gameboys with internal LEDs

This'll be my way of presenting myself, by showing off three classic GB's that I've modded two transparent ones and added LEDs inside of them for lighting. The third one has a backlight and an inverted screen. (Can you believe that?)

Red:


Green:


Yellow:


There are some more pictures on my flickr
I'm planning to make a blue one as well. (But I have to find good blue LEDs and another transparent GB, so that projet is on hold atm)
Why I'm doing this? I'm a GB musician, and these things look cool on stage when I perform live.

Btw, I posted this in this forum because it falls under the category obscure IMHO, but if it belongs somewhere else, please move it.

 

Wow, that's some awesome stuff there! Please show us the insides of the GameBoys. :nod:

And welcome to the forums!

 

Right now it's a it tight inside them, so I'd rather not open them up unless really necessary. (Besides, my camera is replaced because it was broken, and it takes weeks for the shop to do since it was an old model)
But when I do the blue one, I'll do an illustrated tutorial.

 

I generally don't like LED mods as they are usually the same, but it's nice to see something really old (relatively) that has been modified.

Can you elaborate on "GB musician"? you have piqued my interest!

 

I can just as well just do a link dump. Hope that's ok, I'm new so I don't know the rules around here. (Except for what I saw in the rule thread) All this is my music, of course, so there's no copyright problems involved.

http://localhosted.net/~nitro2k01/mp3/nitro2k01_-_And_What_Now.mp3
http://localhosted.net/~nitro2k01/mp3/nitro2k01-Gameboy_guitar.mp3 (Gameboy sent through two homebuilt guitar pedals)
http://localhosted.net/~nitro2k01/mp3/nitro2k01-recall.mp3
http://localhosted.net/~nitro2k01/mp3/deadline_seppukku.mp3
http://project168.co.uk/artists3/nitro2k01/index.php Three songs made for Project 168, a project which was about finishing an album in one week. (168 hours)
http://gainlad.com/ The 12th relase counting from the top (GBLIVE05)
http://www.mp3.com.au/artist.asp?id=13647 My older stuff
And on top of that an album that I made available in a limited edition to CD swappers (I sent someone a CD and got one of theirs back from them)

Myspace: http://myspace.com/nitro2k01

 

I must say I was surprised with your music. I've only listened to the first track, but this is pretty cool.

The Gameboys are nice, too .

 

Nanoloop?

 

I've heard about this.

There was an article in MAKE magazine about how to do it and what programs that are out there.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_Boy_music
http://www.nanoloop.com/

 

I use the Nanoloop 1.3 and it's great.

 

nice. but why the not-so-nice big switches?

edit: is it for some circuit-bending or something?

 

Wow, I am impressed, never heard of this sort of thing before, and the results are really good, they are going on my iPod!

 

yea, the switches make it look bad. u should have opted for sliding ones;D

 

i like the swithces makes it look more DIY style. i've been wanting a nanoloop cartridge for a while to use in a noise project i'm planning but alas. i hate being poor

 

I'm using LSDj.
Also, I think it's interesting that no matter where I post these things, nobody seems to be able to guess that the switches are for turning the light on and off.
Why I chose those switches was for practical reasons:
I hade some lying around.
Big and sturdy (Although they suffer some wear and tear, I've realized now.)
They are attachable using bolts. (Hmm, was that the correct word?)
And they had decent connectors for wires, without requiring a piece of circuit board.
But Azraelscross has a point as well.

 

Speaking of which...
http://www.makezine.com/blog/archive/2007/01/iboy_gameboy_ip.html?CMP=OTC-0D6B48984890

(This is not my mod, though)

 

Awesome Gameboy IPOD! Did he/she say if you could use the gameboy controls to work the IPOD?!

Still an awesome even if it is just a case. :icon_bigg

 

Interesting mods! I'm not so sure about the forum choice.... this is precisely why we need a mods forum! hehe.

Yeah, it is surprising what you can do with a Gameboy, isn't it?

I agree with the switch thing. I would probably have gone with either a slide switch (OK, it doesn't attach with a nut (bolt is the screw-like thing a nut goes on btw ;-)) but you can use small screws or just superglue), or an internal mod to use some of the buttons. Lawrence over at GamesX had some info on how to do this for a Nomad or some such handheld, IIRC.

 

You can.
Check the flickr link about it: http://www.flickr.com/photos/52722292@N00/sets/72157594488080995/

retro: I took what I had at hand, simple as that. This things was an act of impulse, so there was really no plannning or preparation.

 

Those are some pretty impressive tracks. I remember when the GameBoy Camera first came I often spent hours playing with the DJ feature. It sounds like what you're using is a much more powerful version of that. It is indeed very addicting.

 

sorry, but very hard to believe!