A modder named GouldFish on Games has crafted something Nintendo never dared to—a screenless Game Boy Advance console. It’s a project that transforms the handheld GBA into a classic game console that some could only dream about, and most certainly wouldn’t look out of place next to an NES.
A 3D-printed shell captures the Game Boy Advance’s curves and that unmistakable translucent purple hue, a nod to the early 2000s. This isn’t just a GBA stretched to console size, as there’s a cartridge bay door, styled like the NES, that flips open to accept original GBA carts, and a SNES controller port siting up front.
LEGO Super Mario World: Mario & Yoshi Building Set for Adults, Ages 18+ - Gift for Men & Women - Home...
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Why the guts of a Nintendo DS Lite and not a GBA motherboard? A busted DS Lite is cheaper to source than an aging GBA board, and it brings unexpected versatility. With a $20 composite-out board, the DS Lite can pipe video to a CRT, delivering pixel-perfect GBA games on a big screen. GouldFish leaned on community know-how to make this work—specifically, techniques to boot the DS Lite without its screens or battery.
Plug in an SNES controller, pop in a GBA cartridge, and you’re playing classics like Pokémon Emerald or Metroid Fusion on a 14-inch CRT, just as they might’ve looked in an alternate universe where Nintendo went all-in on home consoles. The SNES controller’s familiar layout maps perfectly to GBA inputs, while composite output ensures the low-res pixel looks somewhat time period accurate.
One big caveat: the console’s reliance on a CRT also limits its appeal in an era of high definition OLEDs and HDMI everything. That said, the GBA, with its 32-bit power and vast library, remains the go-to device for modders and developers alike.
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