[Zekfoo] decided to honor the game boy Advance’s 20th birthday by redesigning it at the circuit level to give it a more modern twist. To quote the project readme:
I really want to like the game boy Advance. growing up with a GBA SP, I was spoiled by its clicky buttons, rechargeable battery, and illuminated screen. When I finally got my hands on an original GBA, I couldn’t be more disappointed by the stark difference in feel and function. While today’s retro modding scene has produced many enhancements for the GBA (referred to from now on as its codename AGB), the console still has many quirks that simple modding hasn’t been able to fix, but that can be dealt with in a circuit redesign.
The four-layer board looks great and there a number of modernized features.
For example, this new version is rechargeable. The unit has proper switches, which most people will prefer over the mushy membrane switches. There’s also a screen light and an improved power supply that helps produce cleaner audio, among other things.
We were disappointed that the repository only has images and audio files — if you want to duplicate the build you are on your own. He’s also done a clone of the game boy Color, but — alas — no design files there either. Still, a couple of good-looking projects.
We always enjoy seeing old products given a facelift. If you think you just need an emulator, they sometimes don’t exactly mimic real hardware.