It's the original Game Boy Advance fused with an SP. How does this gaming concoction work?
For all its revisions to the Game Boy Advance hardware, Nintendo never really managed to get the system quite right. The original model was a joy to hold — essentially a pared-back SNES controller with a built-in screen — but that screen was unlit, washed out, and impossible to see without an external light source. The GBA SP added a front-lit (and later, back-lit) screen, rechargeable battery, and a new clamshell design so players could toss the system in a bag without worrying about damaging the delicate bits, but the narrowness of the new design combined with a pair of dinky shoulder buttons left older players’ hands cramping after the shortest of play sessions. And then there was the Game Boy Micro. A minuscule device with a tiny, vibrant screen marketed to young trendsetters who’d traded Game Boys for iPods, the Micro was as close to perfection as any Nintendo handheld has ever been… except that it dropped support entirely for Game Boy and Game Boy Color games. The original DS and DS Lite played GBA games, too, but that doesn't count.
To this day, the debate rages on over which Game Boy Advance is the best, but for players looking to combine the form factor of the original model with the backlit screen of the SP2, a solution has actually been available for a couple of years now. That’s because in 2012, a YouTube user named Zerey Zhang began selling a flex ribbon cable that can connect the SP2’s screen to the original GBA’s motherboard. And while this kit certainly isn’t without issues — the backlit screen was never meant to work with the original system and so the combination of hardware can result in image retention problems in certain slow-moving games — it’s far and away the best way to experience the vast library of games released for Game Boy hardware between 1989 and 2008.
But what if you don’t want to buy a kit and install the mod yourself? Perhaps you’re squeamish about small electronics, or maybe you’ve just burnt yourself on a soldering iron too many times? Well, you’ve got a couple options. You could try eBay, where’s you’ll pay somewhere around $150 for a pre-modded system that may or may not be in good condition, most likely hasn’t been professionally built, and probably isn’t even using genuine Nintendo parts… or you could check out Rose Colored Gaming instead. Founded in 2013 by retro gaming enthusiast and console modder extraordinaire Matthew “Wiggy” Wiggins, RCG started as a tiny operation run out of gaming forums like Digital Press, The Cover Project, and Cheap-Ass Gamer, and has since evolved into a full time operation for Wiggins and his small staff. And it’s easy to see why: rather than simply offering pre-modded portables for sale, Wiggins taps into his background as a graphic designer to transform battered and beaten old systems into unique expressions of retro enthusiasm. I’ve drooled over RCG custom GBAs for over a year now — lusting in turns after the Dingy DMG (designed to look like an original Game Boy that’d been sitting out in the sun too long) and Space Cadet (a dead ringer for the silver and teal prototype system that debuted at Spaceworld 2000) designs. But when Wiggy showed off a couple early designs for a GBA line he was calling “Super Family Entertainment,” I knew I’d made the right call in waiting.
The Super Nintendo has always been my favorite game console, and with such a fantastic library of SNES ports and SNES-style action games and RPGs on the GBA, I’ve always dreamed of a version of the system that pays homage to Nintendo’s great 16-bit console like the NES-themed GBA SP and the Famicom-themed Game Boy Micro. Today, I’ve finally got the GBA of my dreams, thanks to Rose Colored Gaming… though it wasn’t exactly easy to acquire. Only about 20 have been sold so far, with hundreds of ravenous fans clicking furiously each time they went up for sale and failing to get one. Also, because of a slight mixup, I actually ended up receiving the wrong model initially. But it all worked out in the end, because now I’ve got snazzy pictures to share of both the purple and lavender (American) and rainbow-colored (Japanese/European) models. Everybody wins!
The first thing I noticed when I received RCG’s modded systems was that they looked like something that could have come straight out of Nintendo. And I’m not just referring to the design itself, but to the sheer attention to detail put into every aspect of the systems I received. from brand new glass lenses with custom-etched logos (a huge improvement over the scratch-prone plastic lens on the stock GBA), custom-mixed body paint that’s pretty much a perfect match for the Super Nintendo and Super Famicom systems, newly molded buttons and even fancy new rear labels, RCG’s GBAs exude class. For those wondering: no, they don’t come with a rechargeable battery pack like the GBA SP, but rechargeable AA batteries are a more viable long-term solution anyway. And obviously the GBA still doesn’t fold in on itself, so you’ll still need to find a soft and sturdy carrying case to protect your investment. I recommend Nintendo’s 2DS pouch.
Now, as gorgeous as Rose Colored Gaming’s modded systems are, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention some issues with their products that could potentially result in a less than optimal gaming experience for some players. First: because many of the company’s designs are created by painting original shells rather than molding new ones, the newly molded face buttons have a tendency to catch on the paint and will likely need to be broken in a bit to achieve a level of resistance players are comfortable with — the system I’m playing with now doesn’t have any problems where buttons are concerned, but the first one had issues when pressing up on the d-pad. Also, because some GBA motherboards differ in the way they react to backlit screens, you might get a different visual experience from your custom system than someone else who buys the exact same design. The first system I received had a much darker screen than I’d seen before on a modded GBA, but there were no pesky image retention problems, which was a huge plus for me. On the other hand, the system I kept has the brightest screen I’ve seen on a modded GBA, but it demonstrates a small but noticeable amount of image retention, only really noticeable on two of my favorite games — Mother 3 and The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap. Game Boy and Game Boy Color games did look fantastic on both systems.
As a tinkerer myself, I’ve seen plenty of modded game consoles over the years, but nothing as thoughtfully crafted as the two I received from Rose Colored Gaming. I wasn’t exaggerating when I said these could have been built in-house at Nintendo. Having said that, these systems don’t come cheap — with Game Boy Advance systems going for anywhere between $189 and $249 currently, you’ll definitely feel some sticker shock while perusing RCG’s wares. But as far as I’m concerned, the price is absolutely justified. All of this work is done painstakingly by hand, with top-of-the-line materials and an attention for detail you’re just not going to find on some random eBay listing. The end result is something you’ll want to treasure just as much as any of Nintendo's official limited edition systems you might pick up over the years. I know I will.
