/vr/ - Retro Games

So I bought an aftermarket replacement Gameboy Color shell, but I wasn't really that impressed with the quality. Visually it looked great when it was put together, although there were some major annoyances I had.

First of all, the "infrared port" it comes with is made out of opaque plastic, which makes it literally useless since it disables all IR features. Secondly, and more importantly, the plastic feels a lot cheaper than the original from Nintendo, and it's actually ever so slightly smaller, something you don't notice until you screw it together. The replacement lens it came with also looked like knockoff crap so I just used my original even with its scratches.

It definitely makes the system feel more like a cheap chinese knockoff when you hold it in your hands even though the plastic is pristine looking and feeling. The size difference is most immediately apparent if you try to put an authentic battery cover on it, because it won't fit, and the case flexes together in such a way that if you flick the plastic with your finger, it sounds like a spring. The difference in shape / size also screws with the D-pad and buttons during gameplay, seemingly adding a tiny dead zone between the click and actual activation.

I'd say it's an okay way to spend $10 if all you want is a brand-new looking display piece, but I wouldn't recommend it overall. If you have a really beat up GBC that no amount of cleaning will save (which was the case for mine), you're better off going on eBay and buying a used shell salvaged from a broken GBC, because I'm pretty sure the third party replacement shell makes the system itself less valuable due to the lower quality.

It was ultimately a waste of a few bucks but it was a good learning experience, and it pointed me in the right direction (buying a used authentic shell). The whole point of this endeavor was to put new life in my childhood GBC that "someone" half destroyed, and you can't really put a price tag on that.