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How I finally replaced my GameBoy Advance shell

How I finally replaced my GameBoy Advance shell.

MY GBA SP DESERVES BETTER!

The GameBoy Advance SP was my favorite handheld growing up and I loved it so much that I brought it with me everywhere I could, especially to school! However, I wasn’t as caring as I am today with my consoles meaning that sometimes I would get a scratch on it or even drop it once in a while. Honestly, I don’t know how it survived so long in my hands!

A couple of months ago I decided that I would buy a brand new shell for my old pal and bring new life to it! So, I headed over to eBay to see what I could find and soon enough I found nice ki. It came with a housing shell, two screwdrivers, and even stickers to make things look as official as possible.



After a month it finally arrived and I was thrilled to get started on replacing the shell, however, I had a small setback. In case you don’t know you need a Y-shaped screwdriver in order to open the shell of the original GBA SP and I didn’t worry about getting one because since the kit came with two screwdrivers I figured one of them was Y-shaped… But no, they were both the exact same…

Again, I went to eBay and searched for a Y-shaped screwdriver. Then, ordered it and proceeded to wait another month for it to arrive. And that, my readers, brings us to today! Please feast your eyes on my revamped GameBoy Advance SP:

I’m really happy with the end result and I’m surprised at how authentic everything feels, especially the buttons! And even better, the power button works properly now! It was very loose before and it would fail to turn on the system sometimes. Replacing everything took me about an hour and I could’ve done it quicker but I had some trouble placing the hinges on the new shell.

Usually, when you buy a shell it doesn’t come with new hinges meaning you need to use the original ones. Taking them out wasn’t that difficult but placing them was so infuriating that I almost quit! Then I just figured out that all I had to do was place them with the case closed and when they are halfway through, open the case and push them in again. I then proceeded to jump in joy and scream hallelujah!



And that’s how I finally replaced my GameBoy Advance Shell after two months of waiting! If you want to do the same with yours and have any questions ask away! Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a playthrough of Klonoa: Empire of Dreams to finish!
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Gamer By Mistake

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About Me

I'm an Outsystems Developer from Portugal and Gamer By Mistake has been my little corner on the internet since 2017.

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