Game Gear Mods

Over the last couple of weeks I've been geeking out over my old Sega Game Gear.  I think it all started when I decided to drag out an old Nintendo Virtual Boy to show to Kylie's boyfriend Owen.

There in the same plastic storage bin, was the old Sega portable from 1991.  I rounded up six double A batteries and fired it up, expecting to play a few rounds of Sonic.  Well I couldn't get a picture on the screen, and no amount of nudging the cartridge around and powering on and off would produce signs of life from the little system.

This got me curious to know if anyone out on the "cyber", was doing any hacks/mods for the Game Gear.  So a few minutes later I found mention of the "McWill" LCD mod.  There were also new glass screens available, and cap kits.  I eventually settled on ordering parts from console5.com.

When I cracked open the case, I noticed several screws were missing.  It was also clear that someone had already done a capacitor swap on this console.  I recall buying this one at a yard sale many years ago, and it worked when I first brought it home. 

Swapping out the caps was pretty simple.  Besides the main board there are two other boards in the system, a tiny audio board and another very small power supply board. The kit I ordered had thru hole capacitors for everything except the sound board.  Hardest part was just getting the new capacitors mounted in such a way as to not interfere with the bottom half of the case when reassembled. 

I also swapped out the scratched up plastic bezel for a clear reproduction glass version. 

Happily this got the whole system working reasonably well again. 

Still I couldn't help thinking about doing that McWill Mod.  The screen on this old system is horrible by today's standards.  It's washed out, and hard to see.  On top of that, mine just wasn't working as well as it should, it would often jump in and out of brightness levels, making it impossible to enjoy. 

I took the plunge and decided to go with the new LCD screen. If it was as good as the reviewers were saying, it would be worth it.  Plus I was looking forward to the challenge.

Needless to say, it was quite a challenge.  The install took me the better part of Sunday, although I took my time, and tried to make a tidy job of it. I also installed the optional VGA out port.   McWill did an amazing job with the hardware and documentation.   If you have the patience, and are good with a soldering iron, have a go at it, at your own risk of course.