Thickness must be 1.0mm! If you do not plan to use tactile buttons, you must order ENIG finish! Please review information in the GitHub repo!!

This is the main board for my design for a Game Boy Pocket Color - a Game Boy Pocket sized PCB that utilizes a Game Boy Color CPU, along with a handful of improved features! This is an original creation - newly designed PCBs, with only some necessary components harvested from an original Game Boy Color (no hardware emulation – this project uses the original CPU).

This board is the solid color version. The half-silkscreen boards can be found at this link: https://www.pcbway.com/project/shareproject/Game_Boy_Pocket_Color_MGBC_MBL_01_Half_silkscreen_version_7490e384.html

This board does not include a power supply PCB - this must be purchased and assembled separately. This is the small board on the bottom left of the console. You can use my Pocket Mouse Power Board (found at this link: https://www.pcbway.com/project/shareproject/Pocket_Mouse_Power_Board_3c1c3bc6.html), or use designs by other creators. Check the GitHub repo for compatibility information.

Here are the project goals:

• A Game Boy Pocket aesthetic, using the original Game Boy Pocket shell and interfaces (link port, volume wheel, power switch, etc.), but with the capability of playing both Game Boy and Game Boy Color games.
• A nice, large IPS screen – the GBC Q5 XL IPS Backlight with OSD kit – with brightness and color palette control via the "navigation switch" housed where the contrast wheel used to be. (I will refer to the PCB attached to the Q5 screen as the “Q5 board”)
• A modernized, efficient switch mode power supply that can run off 2x AAA batteries or input from the DC jack, just like the original MGB. Testing shows that playing with NiMH AAA batteries can yield about 3.5 hours of gameplay at normal settings.
• Louder, cleaner sound through a modern audio amplifier.
• The option for tactile switches for the face buttons - like the GBA SP.
• No major externally viewable case modifications, to keep the OEM look and feel, outside of the screen, as much as possible.

The code name for this project is MGBC-MBL-01 (MGBC = Mini Game Boy Color, MBL = MouseBiteLabs). You can find highly detailed information on assembly and technical details on my GitHub repo, including source files for schematics and board layouts (designed using Eagle), exported Gerber files, and some other relevant files. You must read the repo in its entirety to be successful building this project!

https://github.com/MouseBiteLabs/Game-Boy-Pocket-Color