Categories
DIY Junk

Always Green, Always Green

AliExpress seller “Gamers Zone Store” has Joy-Con shells that seem to be coming off the same line as the real ones — same finish, same regulatory markings, same casting marks — and they just got right-green. So I just got right-green. Now it is always green.

Not too bad of a job — maybe 50 minutes for both, with a few fiddly ribbon cables, so it’s definitely a tweezers job — and then you pair them to your computer and use Joy-Con Toolkit to change their color in software so that they show up green on the Switch.

 

Categories
DIY Junk

Lights, Bananadrome

This was a fun little project. Not that hard, since I’ve already done it on a GBP and the GBA gives easier power. Still fun, though. The purple isn’t very dark; I’ve also got clear blue, clear orange, and clear green to try.

Categories
Dumb Stuff

Folpardie Deuxismeltarianisme

Mine is a house of tradition.

Categories
DIY Junk

Pork Boy Color

R. Monkeys requested a pink Game Boy Color with cats. Okay!

Categories
DIY Junk

The Cromp

I wanted to do this for a while — Game Boy shelf. It’s just an Ikea Nornas with a little middle-thing I made out of scrap wood, but it’s nice to have all that stuff in one place. Top row, we’s gots R. Monkeys’ first Game Boy, R. Monkeys’ Color, the Color I modified with an Advance speaker and frontlight, my first Game Boy. Middle row, my modified Advance (AGS101 backlit screen), the Advance SP I put together for R. Monkeys to match her 3DS, and my Anniversary Micro. Bottom row, 3DS XLs. I’ll probably paint the Nornas white to match the rest of our shelves when I have more time.

I did have time to set up the important stuff, though:

Categories
Dumb Stuff

Folpardie

Hoof, what an excellent weekend. Two sodas, two sandwiches, and Mario Kart. The Wii U is a ton of fun.

I finally got a chance to try Virgil’s Special Edition Bavarian Nutmeg root beer. I still think plain ol’ Henry Weinhard’s is slightly better for drinking (unless you’re an HFCS snob), but this stuff is awesome. Maybe it’s tied with Henry. The best one for root beer floats is River City.

So yeah, I’m productive and whatever.

Categories
DIY Junk

Optakery

Fun little weekend project. We picked up a Game Boy Advance SP, since it’s the best way to play Game Boy Color games (you can put the Advance SP AGS-101’s backlit screen in a regular advance, but I dig the folding. Beats a frontlit GBC, too.). R. Monkeys’ 3DS XL is a pink over white model, so I decided to make the Advance SP match her XL.

Pretty simple stuff; I picked up a new shell (direct from whatever Hangzhou factory is still cranking them out), and just swapped the bottom case, lid, and hinge covers/rubber bits. I probably should have gotten new pink shell parts, since the Chinese stuff didn’t match up very well with the original Nintendo bits, but apart from that it’s not complex.

Incidentally, a great five-minute mod for a Game Boy Color is to drop in the speaker from an Advance SP. You just nibble away a bit of the GBC’s speaker surround to make room for the new speaker’s contacts tab, then just solder the wires right on and drop it in. Good stuff. Here’s what I mean by “nibble”, and a comparison of the new and old speakers.

 

Categories
Stories

Tacticruel

Yo, gentle sirs, this mah Every-Day Carry.

Observe this fine configuration, fellow douchebags! Bask in your gel as I review, from Left to Right, the carried-every-day accoutrements of my magnificence.
– One should never be without a NERF sidearm, for when SHTFAYPYALDAC, a few well-placed darts offer a handy escape from any situation. I prefer this modified Maverick, with custom-made “Australian’s Nightmare” hypersonic darts.
– Keys can be used to open things. As I drive primarily A4s and 328is, my keychain is mainly used to hold keys to the safety deposit boxes in which I keep my car remotes.
– This is Fijian money, which is like US American money but imported. You can taste the difference, friends. This one also says Y2K on it, which I like in an ironic fashion, and also I secretly suspect it protects my computers.
– This is my cell-phone telephone, Gerald. Gerald is an iPhone 4, not a 4 S, because I am old-money.
– I keep these mice getting married in my pocket to remind myself that women are the same species as me.
– This is a watch I glued to a wallet. In Europe it’s called “Scrillazeit”.
– This is a monkey. Most people don’t carry one, but I do because YOU NEVER KNOW.
– This is my Mountainfast® Kabarbeque knife. It’s made in Vietnam by ironic Vietnamese people. It’s good for stuff like opening cans, or puncturing cologne bottles to douse myself in.
– Here’s my ice cream scoop.
– I keep some tea on me at all times, coffee is bad for you.
– This is a leprechaun; the one time I didn’t take him with me my portfolio went down 4%, so now I do.
– This is my other knife. I use it to help get the Mountainfast® out of its holder when it gets stuck.
– Some Velcro, for the ladies.
– A Game Boy Color, just in case.
– My ‘san.
With this arrangement, I am ensured of complete dominance over any situation, like if the mailman comes, or if I feel ennui.
Categories
DIY Junk

Digimalb

R. Monkeys and I both realized we liked Pokémon a lot c. 1998, so we decided that it’s on over the holidays. And because my response to challenges is to dump a lot of energy into areas that are tangenitally-related at best, I had to craft a Game Boy of untold power to wield, and it will slowly corrupt me like the Soul Edge. So It has the buttons and de-labeled back of a Pokémon Edition, the front of a yellow regular one, replacement little rubber button pads from a DS Lite, and the frontlight from an Advance SP. So I guess it’s going to shoot a stream of energy into the sky and start using me as its host.

At least it didn’t cost money that wasn’t spent years ago. I used to collect handheld game thingies, and while the good stuff was sold in, like, 2003, stock Game Boy Colors and a Pokémon Edition in rough shape are among the things still around. Those and a Game Gear. Hm, there was rarer stuff, like the Turbo Express, but I think the funnest were the Nomad and Neo Geo Pocket Color. The former was just a Genesis, and the latter had a bunch of weird Japanese RPGs and Match of the Millennium. There aren’t enough submarine RPGs.

Too bad I can’t find my old Red cartridge. My crack team of killers probably died long ago. I’ll have to do a “getting the gang back together” montage.