Gameboy Advance: Afterburner mod

[kelly]

Does anyone have one of these?

(It's a DIY internal lighting kit for GBA. Not audio but definitely in line with some of the game playing gadget freaks here.)

 

[dokebi]

My understanding was that it cut battery time too much for it to be worthwhile. I tried to have it done on mine at a professional game store. The guy working there persuaded me not to do it..

 

[grinch]

i've heard many positive reviews of this from irc people who are big into games. it seems like the way to go. i can't stand looking at a gba for more than ten seconds with how dark the screen normally is, even if it is a wide aspect ratio.

 

[Duncan]

Isn't there supposed to be a new GBA coming out in the first quarter of 2003??

If I heard rightly, it'll have a bigger screen, two more buttons at the top, and back-lighting as standard...

I don't know if it'll be the same in the states, but when this happens, in the UK supposedly you can hand your current GBA in, and get the new, modified version for a very modest £10 ($15!) which is about the same as a standard light anyway...

Both my brothers got GBAs for Xmas, and i have to say that i'm genuinly impressed with how far the handheld game 'console' has advanced since the original gameboy... I'm quite tempted to pick up one myself in the not too distant future

 

[andrzejpw]

kelly: a friend got it done. The light quite simply is fantastic, and makes games look great. It is sort of expensive though, even moreso if you don't install it yourself.

Oh, and castlevania is still dark.

 

[elipsis]

Can't you get external magnifier/light assemblies that use their own batteries?

 

[gloco]

Quote:

Originally posted by elipsis Can't you get external magnifier/light assemblies that use their own batteries?

I have the external light that doesn't use its own batteries....it sucks. I honestly stopped playing with my gba because of the lighting issue. If Nintendo does re-release a model thats backlit i'll definitely be in line to turn in my original gba.

The reason why the light sucks is because of the glaring against the screen, it just makes it difficult to enjoy playing any games for me.

Where oh where are you turbo express?

 

[RVD]

Quote:

I honestly stopped playing with my gba because of the lighting issue.

I agree Gloco. My sister just got a GBA and I am thinking about getting one, but probably will not as the screen is just too dark to see even if I am in great lighting. If Nintendo does come out with a backlit model I will definitely get a GBA.

 

[grinch]

i think kelly should get a gba with the mod, if only so we can get a review on how cool the sound from the game boy is with the hp-1's!

 

[x_fiddle]

As a owner of a GBA for the past few months I can deffinantly say some sort of lighting system is a must. As far as the afterburner goes, its probably the best out there but it is very touchy to install... one wrong move and your GBA can be messed up permanently. Another side effect is that battery life is reduced from 15 hours on a set of alkalines to about 6 or less

Heres probably the next best thing that is being made by the same people who came up with the afterburner (doesn't void warranty either)

Here it is the Halo
Backlighting but without desctructive mods. Cost: $40

The option I opted for was the best out of the cheap solutions.

Heres theFlood Light
Its light method is just about as good as backlighting and since it runs on its own batteries your GBA battery life doesnt suffer. Only issue with this thing is that its kind of heavy and bulky compared to the GBA itself. Still works great for me though. Cost $15

Heres a review Afterburner on the just for funAfterburner
Cost $40

 

[NotoriousBIG_PJ]

I decided to hold off on buying a gba when I looked at the screen when it first came out and went, damn this would look sweet with a backlight, too bad it sucks with no light.. I'm still waiting for nintendo to hook me up hehe.

Biggie.

 

[kelly]

Because of the way the screen works, you can't really backlight the GBA. Sidelighting it near the surface the way the Afterburner works is really the best you can hope for. I am wondering if Nintendo will ever get around to making their own version of this.

Trivia: I have a Gameboy Light, which was released in Japan between the time the Gameboy Pocket came out and the Gameboy Color. It IS genuinely backlit via a switch. It looks a bit like one of those Indiglo watches when the light is on. This was incredibly useful for me when I was on vacation and if Nintendo hadn't pushed forward with Gameboy Color and Gameboy Advance games, this is what I'd still be using.

Most folks who do the mods are backordered on the Afterburner right now due to both Christmas and the popularity of the mod. I'll post an update if and when I get one in hand and let you know what I think. A friend of mine's girlfriend just did hers herself (she seems pretty handy with a Dremel) so maybe I'll get to check that one out too. I'd not risk doing one myself due to my inability to find a clean enough environment to work in. Dust is the real enemy with these mods.

 

[Pym]

Hi kelly,

To answer your question the kit is A must have! I own two GBA's with the Afterburner kit installed. The install is a tad tricky but not too bad . For a dustless room A steamed bathroom works.( Dont laugh )

If you have someone to do the work Go for it . I have been using them since the Kit Was released and no problems yet.....

C ya
Pym

 

[davidcotton]

Bought a GBA at launch, and cursed the dark dark screen. Castlevania was almost impossible to play!

Got the Afterburner mod installed but haven't really touched the gba since...

 

[kelly]

I ordered an Afterburner after this thread ran. It was scheduled to ship tomorrow. I cancelled it this morning and preordered this Japanese import:

http://gamespot.com/gamespot/stories...00.html?page=6

EDIT: Replaced inline image with url -- GameSpot is blocking.