Modding the 18-year-old Nintendo Game Boy Advance SP with upgrades like a better screen and bigger battery is relatively painless. But modding the GBA SP so that it functions as a dedicated 16-bit Switch with Joy-Con and TV-out support? That’s a monumental challenge that Macho Nacho Productions somehow made look easy.
Among dedicated GBA SP fans who’ve stuck with the console for almost two decades now, Macho Nacho Productions is probably best known for its promised upgrade kit that adds modern amenities to the console like a larger battery, wireless charging, a headphone jack, and Bluetooth support for wireless audio streaming. The idea is to take a classic console and bring it up to speed with more modern handhelds, but what if someone did the reverse and took a modern handheld and swapped out 3D high-def gaming for retro 16-bit graphics? Is the world ready for the GBA Switch?
Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat – we’ll post the link there.
