Why am I still buying Game Boy cartridges? They discontinued the console twenty years ago, but even this week I bought another game from Ebay.
I can emulate retro games on computers, 🌐retro hand-held devices and even my phone – 🌐WebRCade.
In some cases, emulation is a better experience than running on original hardware; I can overclock the CPU, see better frame rates, translate Japanese games into English, and play colour ROM hacks of monochrome games.
I decided recently that I wanted to repurchase and collect the Game Boy games that I used to own along with top-rated titles to create the ideal Game Boy Collection. Emulation has its place, but I wanted a physical collection as well.
A lot of the attraction is the form factor of the Game Boy cartridge itself. They are small, about 6cm square, and they usually advertise the game with a large colourful sticker. This might be nostalgia, but I really like the look of a stack of Game Boy carts.
When I was in college, I had an original DMG, and I collected a few games to go with it. I had some real classics, and enjoyed owning the physical objects as much as playing the software stored on them.
🌐The DMG was very well designed, built from tough ABS plastic with a set of what looked like glamour lines around the top. These turned out to have purpose – they were designed to allow accessories to slide onto the lines as if they were rails, and the accessories locked into place securely. I remember being impressed with the planning that must have gone into this when I first noticed third party accessories that supported the lines.
The DMG was a low spec device on purpose, designed to be reliable, robust and run for a decent amount of time on 4 AA batteries. It was perfect for carrying in a coat pocket and playing The Legend Of Zelda in between classes or on the train. When newer consoles came out, I gave my original DMG away.
Up until recently, my handheld console collection covered Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS, Game Boy Advance SP and Game Boy Micro. I had one or two Game Boy games in my collection and I would use the SP to run those – the Game Boy Micro isn’t compatible with OG Game Boy carts.
My SP is a dim front lit AGS 001 instead of the superior back lit AGS 101. If I wanted to collect and play Game Boy games in an age of retina displays, I would need to buy a Game Boy, but I didn’t want to suffer a badly lit or unlit screen. I also wanted to play the full range of games, and not be limited to DMG only.
I chose a Game Boy Colour from eBay that the seller had modified. It has been re-shelled in a new white case with white buttons – a colourway that was not originally available. It has a larger IPS screen with touch controls to adjust brightness and pixel effects along with a light up logo that can change colour.
The internal power circuitry was upgraded to enable the Game Boy to support the new screen. The white case and buttons make it feel very clean in design, almost pared back to basics. I find it to be a very satisfying device.
This Game Boy will play all of the grey DMG games as well as the black hybrid DMG/Color games and the clear GBC games. Where the DMG needed four AA cells, this one uses two. The screen is the real bonus to this device; it’s very bright, clear and colourful. Games look really good, as the photo shows.
The replacement shell feels like OG Nintendo plastics; it’s thick, tough and nicely textured. It doesn’t feel third-party and it doesn’t feel cheap. The audio isn’t perfect; there’s a whine that one can hear when the volume is low. I have seen that there are modifications that I can make to one of the capacitors to clean the noise out, but I’d like to see more evidence of that working before I take it apart and attempt it.
I have a saved search on eBay, and in idle times, I like to look to see what Game Boy cartridges are being offered for sale. My search is filtered to Game Boy / Game Boy Color titles, and sorted to show the auctions that end soonest. I don’t bid on anything that is more than a few hours away from ending unless it’s something really special.
I’m buying only the top-tier titles, a mixture of AAA, first-party and highly rated rarities if I can find them. I usually buy unboxed games – I’ll leave the complete in box versions for a different class of collector; mine will just sit in its clamshell case on the shelf, and I don’t want to have to store the box.
I don’t mind if the save game battery has failed, I have a stock of tabbed cell batteries and I’m happy to clean the contacts and solder in a replacement. Some of the titles don’t reliably boot until I have taken them out of their shell and cleaned the contacts with a glass fibre pen and some isopropyl alcohol.
I look for clean decent versions of the game I’m buying, but if a label is damaged and the game is cheaper because of it, I don’t mind replacing the label with a replica.
I’ll never sell the games on, and I don’t care if a restoration loses their value, I just want a clean copy in good condition. My copy of Pokemon Red was a lot cheaper than they are currently selling for because the label was badly damaged. After cleaning the shell and replacing the damaged label, it looks very nice.
Let The Games Begin
There are a lot of games for the Game Boy – 1046 – and discovering the gems is easy. The web is full of well written reviews and best of lists, and they are an enjoyable read.
🌐The 30 greatest Game Boy games – Polygon