G16, my first portable: Game Boy + Radica + Intec = Awesome.

dankicksass · Post by **dankicksass** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 2:07 am

Hi everybody. Long time listener, first time caller.

I've been thinking about this for a while, so I measured up and I'm taking the plunge. I'll be taking an original Game Boy, one of my Radicas (I have the blue one and the red one), an Intec PS2 screen pad (awaiting arrival), and the cartridge port of a Sonic and Knuckles game in an effort to create a portable Genesis. I've done some concept art, and I should be starting construction within the next week. Of course, finals are coming up, so nothing is guaranteed here, but it all should come together rather nicely. I'll also be keeping the six-in-one on the unit and using ancient Chinese secrets will automatically bypass the ROM when a cartridge is inserted.

<img src=http://img239.imageshack.us/img239/2568/pgen3hk.jpg>

EDIT: Settled on a name for it (G16) and have begun rummaging around for my Radica 1. I know its in here somewhere...

ransoman · Post by **ransoman** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 6:11 am

It won't be that small, thats for sure but i hope mine looks as good as that when i am done.

I don't know how big the intec screen is but i would doubt it will fit in that place.

NO!!! not sonic and knuckles!!! i would rather hack open my 360 than my sonic and knuckles cartidge.

Good luck.

Post by **Sparkfist** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 7:08 am

Well if when he said Intec, he ment the Hip Gear Sreen, then yeah it could be about that size. I would have to say if you can get the case to look that good you'd take Ben's Exodus for one hell of a run for it's money.

Good luck.

dankicksass · Post by **dankicksass** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 7:42 am

ransoman wrote:It won't be that small, thats for sure but i hope mine looks as good as that when i am done.

NO!!! not sonic and knuckles!!! i would rather hack open my 360 than my sonic and knuckles cartidge.

Good luck.

I hope yours and mine both look that good when they're done.

All I'm doing with the Sonic and Knuckles carts (yes carts, I intend to make at least two of these

) is harvest the connector. I do love Sonic and Knuckles, but it will keep working without Lock-On after I hack the connector off, and I have a few copies. I'm sure I could grab a connector off my dead Genesis Mk1, but the Sonic and Knuckles connectors are at least five years newer and are cheaper to get.

Sparkfist wrote:Well if when he said Intec, he ment the Hip Gear Sreen, then yeah it could be about that size. I would have to say if you can get the case to look that good you'd take Ben's Exodus for one hell of a run for it's money.

Good luck.

Yes, I did mean the 2.5in Hip Gear type screen pad. It's supposed to be easy to work with, and it keeps overall project costs lower than if I had chosen to use a Casio pocket TV, my second choice screen. As an added bonus, the screen pad provides quality buttons for A B C, since I want them to match in size to each other and don't have extra Gameboy players laying around just to harvest one button off. I'm not putting the X Y Z buttons on because I've never had a six-button Genesis pad and not that many games support six buttons. My Radica units only have three-button pads anyway.

Thanks to both of you guys for the wishes of good luck. I hope to have this done within four weeks. I'll take pictures at all the major points, and I'll share the ancient Chinese secrets used to bypass the ROM when a cart is in. I can almost smell the Bondo.

Post by **Sparkfist** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 9:56 am

If you're interested Ben got is cart slot off Digi-key. So if you like using Knuckles in Sonic 3 you can keep doing that. Ben mentions the product code in one of the threads he made when making the Exodus. Don't get too worried there are only 3 threads and I don't think they exceed 6 pages. Just thought you'd like to know that so you don't have to mess with your Sonic & Knuckles cart.

Also if you're not too off laying out the controller yourself you can do what Ben does and just hack the controller (from the Radica) inot parts and wire them together so you'll have a uniform layout.

Just some info I thought you'd like.

P.S. A mere technicality, but the screen is actually 2.6".

wallydawg · Post by **wallydawg** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 12:35 pm

Looks neat, but I still say a sega portable in a game boy is blasphemous.

dankicksass · Post by **dankicksass** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 3:28 pm

Thanks for the info, Sparkfist. And wallydawg, I'm saving the Game Gear for a NES portable. Irony, I know.

On the cardslot thing, when there are innumerable Sonic and Knuckles carts around for $7, why would I even think about spending $26 on one from Digi-Key?

daguuy · Post by **daguuy** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 4:18 pm

that's gonna be an awsome portable when it's done. but MK3 needs 6 buttons, NOOOOOOO!!!
BTW, nice concept pic!

dankicksass · Post by **dankicksass** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 6:54 pm

Well, I took apart the Game Boy I brought home today. I took it apart with my trusty Dremel universal screw removal tool, since I couldn't find a tri-wing. But, I did find out a few things. There is an awful lot of space inide a Game Boy! And, I didn't like the D-pad of the Game Boy, it moved around too much. Convienently, I had a spare original NES controller sitting in my desk, longing to donate its slightly larger, much nicer and more accurate D-pad to the project. It has also (maybe temporarily) donated its A and B buttons for asthetics. So now I have an original NES pad with nice round SNES-style A and B buttons from the Game Boy, and a completely functionless Game Boy case. Joy abounds here.

The empty GBo:
<img src="http://img174.imageshack.us/img174/4508/gb8qp.jpg" border="0" width="640">

The GBo compared to Joe Montana Football cart:
<img src="http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/526/gencart8rw.jpg" border="0" width="640">

And for fun, the NES controller with GBo buttons (will be painting A and B):
<img src="http://img277.imageshack.us/img277/4776/nesmod3gl.jpg" border="0" width="640">

Post by **CronoTriggerfan** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 10:52 pm

Looks sweet! Can't wait to see the finished product. I may have to do some sort of case mod like this for my possible Genesis portable.

CTFan

Post by **Skyone** » Tue Apr 25, 2006 12:50 am

Nice job, good luck on the bondo work. Wont it feel wierd with the genesis cart being a bit large than the actual case?

Unidentified Assilant · Tue Apr 25, 2006 12:24 pm

dankicksass wrote:The empty GBo:
<img src="http://img174.imageshack.us/img174/4508/gb8qp.jpg" border="0" width="640">

You could still use the other GBO buttons in that Altoids case, new Red Limited Edition Plastic Flavour...

or maybe not

Good luck on the mod

atkafighter · Post by **atkafighter** » Tue Apr 25, 2006 4:44 pm

Great minds think alike.
Geniboy idea

dankicksass · Post by **dankicksass** » Tue Apr 25, 2006 8:16 pm

Yeah, I know I stole the Genesis in the Game Boy idea, but I'm sticking to it. That said, look at this beautiful aquisition!
<img src="http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/6622/ggvsgb9jp.jpg" border="0" width="640">

I always wanted a non-functional blue sports-edition Game Gear. I think it will make a nice portable, probably an NES. Its huge!

And that Altoids case in the pic above is holding critical Game Boy components, like the On-Off switch and the headphone jack.

Oh, and regarding the cart being wider than the Game Boy, I'm probably going to tackle that issue by putting the cart sideways on the back of the Game Boy. Check its fittment:
<img src="http://img133.imageshack.us/img133/8783/cart1sm.jpg" border="0" width="640">

Weebl · Post by **Weebl** » Tue Apr 25, 2006 8:49 pm

Sounds like a pretty sweet idea. Hope it goes well for you!