Oh man, where do I even start with this one? So, there’s this handheld console modder, goes by @natalie_thenerd. Ever hear of her? She actually whipped up a Game Boy Color motherboard, but get this—it’s completely clear. Like you can see all those copper traces just hanging out there. Why? No idea. But it’s kinda cool, in a "look at all the guts" way. She mentioned this on X (yeah, remember when it was Twitter?) saying she ditched the ground zone to make it fully clear. Some tech stuff that I totally nod along to, pretending I get it.
Anyway, reverse-engineering a Game Boy Color—props to her. But she didn’t magic the clear PCB out of thin air, ya know? A third party made it. It’s this acrylic-ish thing, melts at like 200 degrees C if you look at it funny, so she had to be all delicate with the soldering. The stuff you don’t think about, right?
Oh, and everything else on this retro beast? Chips, copper, screen—yep, see-through. The cartridge reader even, which apparently is from some knock-off Chinese Game Boy, goes semi-transparent too. And then she wraps it up in this clear shell with these ghostly keys. So, it all just screams: “I’m here to be seen!”
Now before you get too excited, let me crush your dreams. This clear Game Boy Color—just a lone showpiece. Not for sale. Plus, that PCB’s apparently as tough as a soggy cornflake. Really, not ideal for the ‘rage quitters’ among us (uh, guilty).
Some folks threw ideas her way—like swapping copper for silver to jazz it up or adding backlights for flair. Who knows, maybe someone will pick up the gauntlet. Natalie’s the brains behind the Modded Gameboy Club, so I’m betting someone’s tinkering this very second.
And hey, this see-through gadget vibe isn’t just a one-off fansy thing. Other gadgets are going clear too. I mean, have you seen those transparent power banks or SSD boxes? Yeah, it’s a thing. But until these see-through PCBs toughen up and drop in price, guess we’re stuck dreaming.
Honestly, hats off to Natalie. It’s stuff like this that keeps the modding world spinning and my jaw dropping. So, here’s to the wild creations from this art-meets-tech community.
