I’ve been following /r/Gameboy for a while and I wasn’t even sure why. For someone who has been heavily modding for nearly ten years, most of the posts would be pretty basic and most up-voted posts would be ‘look what I found in my attic’ with a beat up classic ‘grey boy’ with leaking ink screens and gunk around the dpad. I stopped subscribing.
But, this started to change over time. It feels like there’s never been a better time to pimp up handheld consoles. My first steps into modding gameboys started nearly ten years ago with looking up online and finding mostly only Thretris’ body of work, which wholly consisted of spray painted shells, backlights, custom buttons where necessary and chiptune mods.
Today it’s mostly possible to build your own colour screen from the ground up, with primary colours, translucent shells, glow in the dark plastic and pastel shades. So the subreddit for Game Boy really started to shine. Incredible, eye-popping GB’s started making an appearance in my timeline once I subscribed again. A huge output of products from China is making it possible to get replacement shells, buttons and screens in abundance.
A couple of mods recently caught my eye: A voltage output display on a Gameboy Advance that was polished down to a crystal clear glass looking shell. ‘Gibe Shrugs’ is a machinist who is polishing, sand and soda blasting shells, but also working Aluminium SP buttons.
I recently purchased a set of aluminium buttons and the quality is fantastic. They’re tiny but the level of work that’s been put into them is incredible. Now, despite the fact they do not use the silicone rubber, they almost defy what you’d expect by snapping perfectly back into place. These are incredibly tactile feeling buttons. I paid $15.00 (£11.46) for these and the only sting was in the ridiculous costs to ship internationally from the US to the UK these days.
Secondly, I saw the work of Retro game EVO, who also mods, but their particular forte is casting custom resin buttons. I ordered a pair for my current Game Boy that I’m working on. I wanted a nuclear theme to go with a sort of toxic colour scheme.
The quality of these buttons is incredible. I ordered a set of two, as that’s the default price, but I am using one of these in my current Game Boy. The other will go with my spares for a backup. I toyed with the idea of one of them being an Acid smiley, but for now, keep it simple.
This set were £12.00 ($15.70) including postage and packaging but you may pay a little more if you’re buying from outside of the UK. Retro Game EVO do plenty of different types of buttons. Check them on Insta for a better idea of their range and devices. Better still, DM them for pricing. They will surprise you.
I can’t leave this article without an honourable mention. While I was on a button buying tip, I spotted these golden button sets from jellybelly customs. Until next time!
