Why are you building a GBZ?

[zspyked]

After I told one of my friends today that I was building a Gameboy Zero he asked me why? He pointed out that it would be far easier to just hook up a USB controller to my laptop and play games on there with an emulator. I told him that I enjoy the build process and that the physical Gameboy holds a lot of good memories for me. It got me to thinking though, there has to be more to it. For me I think it's a combination of things. First off I love working on technical projects like this. The challenges intrigue me and it's a relaxing hobby. Secondly I like using things that I built. It gives me a sense of ownership that I just don't have with things that I simply purchase. Undeniably there is the nostalgia factor. Finally there are a lot of excellent games made for these old retro systems and I want to enjoy them on a portable system that I can take with me on my work trips.

Enough about me I want to hear your reasons. What drove you to build your own Gameboy Zero? Why didn't you just use emulators? What made the build process special for you?

[BadBert]

my wife asked me:
honey, why are you modding a gameboy, to play gameboy games on it?

i explaned her it can do so much more, and showed her,.... after that she took the gbz for an hour to play tetris (NES) LOL

I really enjoyed the building proces, and had fun figuring out how to configure and edit things (was a long time ago since i saw linux )
also it is awsome to keep the retro look and feel I am a pretty big nintento fan... so this is nice to have

i am now thinking about building a new one for my brother

[johweb]

I just enjoy the fun of building it, no more reason !

[CaptainDurden]

have you ever seen the not-very-good movie "the kid" with bruce willis where he encounters himself as a 12 year old and has to constantly defend his life choices against his younger self?

well, if "12 year old" me would ever come to visit "present day" me and found out that there is a gameboy that plays EVERY console he knows of PLUS all those nifty arcade games he only got to ogle during family vacations to weird run-down seaside tourist traps and that his older self does NOT own one of those wondiferous magical machines...... well, the poor pudgy little nerd would most likely just kill me.

tl dr: i'm building a gbz entirely out of self-defense.

[atamagaokashii]

have you ever seen the not-very-good movie "the kid" with bruce willis where he encounters himself as a 12 year old and has to constantly defend his life choices against his younger self?

well, if "12 year old" me would ever come to visit "present day" me and found out that there is a gameboy that plays EVERY console he knows of PLUS all those nifty arcade games he only got to ogle during family vacations to weird run-down seaside tourist traps and that his older self does NOT own one of those wondiferous magical machines...... well, the poor pudgy little nerd would most likely just kill me.

tl dr: i'm building a gbz entirely out of self-defense.

This is what interests me about a gbz. I could get a flash cart for my stepdaughters dsi but I would much rather build my own gbz and make it mine. I miss being able to play super metroid, super mario rpg/world/all stars, kirby superstar, and yoshi's island. Being able to make them mobile and play them anywhere on my own machine - that's why. I do have to admit I worry about emulating later generation snes games because I've heard emulators in this day and age still have trouble emulating the superfx chip - but I suppose I can live without smrpg and yoshi's island if I had to...

[nickz]

It is a portable device that can play all of the old retro games we grow up playing and love.

I also really like the aspect that (at least for my build) it is a sleeper. And by that, I mean if someone walking by saw me playing the GBZ, they would probably think it was the original. They may stop and say "wow havent seen one of those in a long time" and then find out it's more than that.

I also really like building things, so this is a fun project to scratch that itch.

[jellybelly]

i regretted selling my gameboy (some point in my teenage years at a carboot). since finding a boxed one in a second hand shop of a hefty £20 i bought it and haven't looked back. i cannot wait to get into the build and the challenges that it may bring

i need to confess that i have never played with a raspberry pi or anything like that or have i built anything electronic so I've stepped in at the deep end really

i love a good challenge

[wermy]

Why do people put puzzles together? Building stuff is just fun in and of itself! The fact that it plays games is just icing on the cake for me (and far more useful than a finished puzzle).

[Billy Blaze]

there are several reasons.
first of all I'm addicted to hacking and modding stuff. I remember building a "beamer" (home video projector) by only using a overhead projector plus an old disused TFT Monitor. but not just bigger projects and things keep me doing stuff like that. for me it's just a attitude towards life. In a world where everything is consumable I love the idea of personalizing things, rethink given stuff and finding gaps and leaks for some creative thinking...

concerning the GBZ project my main goal is to fire up a certain DOS classic sidescroler: Commander Keen.
For so many years I've dreamed about a handheld solution for this gaming series. I'm also looking forward to play some of those fine community Keen mods over here: http://www.shikadi.net/keenwiki/Galaxy_Mods

[bammeh]

I've always loved taking things apart and seeing how they tick, so the original guide really struck me. However, I was not good at soldering and messed up, so the AIO board became my friend! But, I just like to tinker. I wanted to know if I could actually do it.

I finished it tonight Works like a charm. Just wish I would have gotten a higher resolution screen. I have another Gameboy Shell I plan on using for another build down the road