Pi in a Burger King Gameboy Color Build - WIP

[moosepr]

@obsidianspider nawww it was worth a shot!!! you forget how tiny these things are when you are looking at datasheets and web listings. Its not until you see them next to real world items that it dawns on you :P

[obsidianspider]

@moosepr Yeah, working on these handhelds has really made me appreciate the luxury of how large consoles really are. If I ever build another non-portable Pi, I don't think space will be an issue for me.

[obsidianspider]

Testing that screen made me realize I have most of the parts for this build. I'm not sure what I've been waiting for. I still need to figure out the speaker situation as I have no idea which one ivanretrobit used in his (the model train store he referenced doesnt' seem to have ones on their website that match the size of the toy), but I can work on the rest of it.

After a quick mockup with the tact switches has me wondering if I even needed the repro full-sized GBC buttons at all. I guess I'll find out when I crack open the red one as it's the one I intend to use "for real". The "water" toys already have the D-pad area cut out, so things are lined up slightly differently than on the pachinko variant, which is what the blue one was.

I think I know what I'll be doing later today…

[obsidianspider]

I managed to get the red shell apart last night and while not 100% perfect, it's better than the blue one went. There's a slight ding at the top middle of the cartridge slot area that was created when I was trying to use an xacto knife to get the case apart and the knurl on the knife rubbed the plastic. The Start, Select, B, A "button" piece of plastic was glued to the case (you can see the remnants in the photo) and when I was trying to get it separated the front red plastic discolored a little bit near the Start and Select buttons when I started to pry at it from the inside. It's not terrible, and you don't really see it in photos, but I know it's there and it bugs me.

The Start and Select "buttons" are different than on the blue toy. On that one they were almost flush with the case, these are about 1mm taller, which doesn't sound like much, but it lets them stick out a bit, so you should be able to actually press them in, and hopefully it'll allow the button presses to register. They were all one piece of plastic, but I cut them in half when trying to separate them from the red shell. It'll have to be divided into individual buttons eventually anyway, so that's fine. A quick mockup of holding the perf board inside the case is showing that the A and B buttons align pretty well with the tact switches, so I am going to see if I can just reuse the ones from the tiny Gameboy instead of using the "real" ones I got from China. The D-Pad from the toy is actually the same size as a real GBC D-Pad, but the one in the toy doesn't have a round disc, and from what I've seen in repro controllers, having just the cross pattern doesn't work for some controls that requires angles and such. I may give it a try anyway, but that also means I wasted the money on the repro GBC buttons if I don't use any of them on this build. Oh well.

The real GBC D-Pad fits perfectly.

Taking the shell apart from the inside went way better than trying to get in from the edge on the outside. I cut out the middle of the back that will be covered by the old flip cover, then I used an x-acto knife to slice along the edge, and some snips to cut the thick posts. That worked for the bottom 2/3 of the case, but at the top two corners there were posts on either side that I couldn't get to. To access those I carefully pried apart the bottom of the case to give myself enough room to get the "screen" out (I had to chop the screen so it could get out of the case) and then I was able to go in through the screen hole with some snips and cut those posts and the case came apart. It still fits together well, and it has an overlapping edge that will seal it nicely.

[backstander]

@obsidianspider
I think you did a good job getting it apart! I was thinking that I might not have the patience to this and would probably crack it. The Start and Select buttons do look a little different. How odd. Seams like the factory that assembled these would've saved time and money if they made them all the same.

[obsidianspider]

@backstander As I was looking over the case just now I also noticed a small blob of clear glue near the top corner that must have always been there as I had glue nowhere near this thing. In looking over the green toy that I still have untouched, and will keep as a reference, that one also has some scratches and dings and imperfections, but I really think that's the nature of what these things were, cheap throwaway toys to be included with a kids meal.

If anyone is going to do this too, I highly recommend getting the "water" toy if you can. It seems best suited for it. Other ones you're at least going to have to cut out the D-Pad, which wouldn't be awful, but some have a sliding D-Pad and there is a huge slot in the front to accommodate that. There are also some silver and gold ones out there, but are usually really expensive.

Here's a screen shot from an eBay Auction that shows what I mean about the slot.

[obsidianspider]

@backstander said in Pi in a Burger King Gameboy Color Build - WIP:

Seams like the factory that assembled these would've saved time and money if they made them all the same.

The innards were very different, but yeah, the non d-pad buttons being different was weird.. The pachinko one had a little spring mechanism to flip balls into small cups. This water one had a little plunger thing that I guess would squirt water around? I don't know. It didn't work and I didn't see a way to refill it. My green toy is also a water one, and that doesn't have any fluid in it either.

[obsidianspider]

Today on my lunch hour I started to mess with placing components in the case, and after dealing with the depth issues on the Gameboy Advance, having that huge bulge on the back of this case will help tremendously.

I got the button perboard fitted. I had to rotate the tact switches from my initial mockup as they are 3x4 holes wide, and were off a bit when I put everything in the case, but I think things line up pretty well. I'm not sure how to go about either attaching the buttons to the tact switches, or keeping the buttons in place inside the case so they don't go flopping around all over the place. I'll have to read up on that.

I left extra space on the board because I'm not sure if I'll use some of the other points to join connectors, or just use the board area as a mounting point.

I'm also going to need to find a source for small screws to keep the case together. Ideally I'd like some small machine screws and nuts where I can glue the nut to the case and then have the screw thread into it.

[obsidianspider]

Tonight I got the controls wired up. Things got a little messier than I would have liked on the back, but it all works.

I then used Retrogame to get the Pi to see the controls as controller inputs, and I was able to test.

The default for Retrogame is to have Select act as the keyboard Space key, and unfortunately Gambatte sees that as Fast Forward. Mapping it to a different key solved the problem.

I tried putting things in the case and holding them together with my hands to test playability, and I kept shorting button presses, so I temporarily backed everything with electrical tape. My dodgy alignment and pressure on the board had some errant buttons being pressed, but I think it's going to work pretty nicely.

[obsidianspider]

I'm going to try experimenting with ABS cement to join the back of the case to the hinged piece. I bought some jars of baby food as they were the least expensive small glass jars that I could find at 63¢ each. The question now is, do I try the baby food?

[moosepr]

@obsidianspider babies seem to enjoy it, the biggest problem, what happens if you love it?

[obsidianspider]

@moosepr said in Pi in a Burger King Gameboy Color Build - WIP:

what happens if you love it?

More money for Pi projects!

[A Former User]

YAAAY!

[moosepr]

[backstander]

@obsidianspider

The question now is, do I try the baby food?

I haven't tried it but from my understanding, they don't use any seasonings and probably tasted pretty bland. I suppose if someone had a lot of food allergies, they would probably like baby food. Well I think they add a little bit of sugar to it for "taste" lol. If you like it you could save a lot of money on meals!

One time when I was very sick and was extremely dehydrated, my doctor told me to drink Gatorade and/or Pedialyte so, since I'd never tried Pedialyte and I thought it would have less sugar than Gatorade, why not give it a try! Well I can't remember which flavor I got (grape maybe?) but it literally tasted like vomit to me. It was one of the worst things I'd ever tried but I've seen small kids and babies drink that stuff like it was Coke/Pepsi or Dr. Pepper. I even saw an interview with Kid Rock saying he drinks it after a night of heavy drinking!

[obsidianspider]

Curiosity got to me and I tried them.

"apple, pear & banana" - just tasted like apple sauce, but was really runny
"apple & blueberry" - more runny apple sauce, but purple, and a bit tart
"banana & strawberry" - the consistency of yogurt, but a weird aftertaste

Important information for anyone building a RetroPie project. Haha.

[moosepr]

@obsidianspider gotta try them all!!!

[A Former User]

Man, I have never heard of this Burger King Game Boy Color until now. Sounds pretty interesting, although I might not have been alive at that time (don't trust my profile).
So can anyone give me some background info on this thing?

[obsidianspider]

@itsnitro

[obsidianspider]

My chemistry experiment leads me to believe these little Burger King toys are not made from ABS. Or at least a polymer that doesn't dissolve in acetone.

In the jar on the left you'll see the red plastic melted in a solid hunk at the bottom of the jar with the acetone floating above it. In the jar on the right you'll see the whitish substance which is acetone and plastic dissolved in it from the Gameboy Advance case I'm working on.

Given that, I'm not sure what adhesive I'll be using to join the back of the red Burger King toy together. I could just use hot glue for now, but I'd like something more permanent. I've read Loctite 401 is really good, but it's also quite expensive.