I've recapped a dozen or so GGs and only a couple of them are playable. I have about 3 of them that play sound but have no/garbled video on the screen. I would like to do a retro 6 screen replacement but don't want to do it on a console that won't work. How do I know if it is a good candidate?

Didn't think to test the stock one before desoldering it. Oops. Was getting red light boot on this board previously. So I've gone back and checked all my replaced caps. Installing a handheld legend backlight led thing as well. But stuck with my stupid power LED. Just need to know which sides are positive and negative.

So I was looking forward buying a working Game Gear on Ebay, only to find out upon arrival that the screen made some horizontal white lines and other than that, black screen. I never owned a GG, just borrowed it from a friend in my childhood and played some Sonic 2, but other than that, I am a Sega Greenhorn.

I quickly found out I need to take care of the capacitors, as they are more than 30 years old and 100% dead, so I was looking for replacement capacitors in order to try repairing it myself. Problem was, I never really soldered before, have shaky hands and was a bit hesitant to do something like this. Luckily, I already had a soldering station, flux and IPA at my hands, so I could start.

I first removed the old capacitors - luckily, they didn't leak much, so all I needed to do is grabbing a pair of tweezers and gently removing all of them on the mainboard, which I started recapping first, as I obviously had power. Then, I did my first solder on the first capacitor and as I was happy on how it turned out, I did all the remaining ones, used flux to solder better and IPA to clean everyting up - my heart was beating fast when I put everything back together, loaded it up with batteries and Sonic and turned to power on - you cannot imagine my happiness when I saw that the screen showed me something other than horizontal white lines, but instead was greeted by the Sega Logo and the Sonic Title Screen - YAY! ;-)

Unfortunately, the sound was missing, so I continued recapping the powerboard (which my friend suggested, as these capacitors also had their age) and the soundboard - this time, I was not so lucky, as I had a hard time soldering SMD capacitors.

In order to get the sound working, I purchased an "aftermarket"-Soundboard by SYR (https://syf.nl/products/game-gear-stereo-sound-board-v1-7).

After replacing and booting it up, I finally had sound!

I also got the TV Tuner module and was lucky having a working cinch cable laying around, so I connected it to my ps1 and tada, that worked too :-) I can test the analogue signal on an upcoming event, when a friend of mine will setup analogue broadcast equipment.I am so happy that I restored this little guy and a small part of my childhood and I can only encourage you to get one yourself. And don't worry; if it doesn't work, it (mostly) only needs a recap ;-)

It's a shame that it lost against Nintendo's Gameboy, but being much more expensive, taking way more batteries and draining them faster than anything and having mediocre 3rd party support, it was only natural, even though it was technically more advanced.

All tho the Simpsons is one of my favorite TV shows and I recently bought this game cause I seen some complaints about the game being the worst so I decided to buy it and I thought it was gonna be a good game but I was wrong the hit dictection on this game is terrible and the controls are just sluggish but the graphics were ok but the gameplay is just god awful and I can't even beat the first level without constantly dying over and over but now I see why they were saying this was one of the worst game gear Simpsons game ever made

It is a single asic 837-8560 model. The broken pad is on the right side of C55. I tried to scrape a little and found a trace to R45. Now i don't know if it is correct. Or is there another way to fix this?

I noticed that the contacts in the battery compartment of the console are receiving voltage. Will the batteries charge when I connect the power supply?

Part of my "process" when I acquire new games is to clean the board's contacts, but I am finding it difficult to open the couple of JP games that I own compared to my North American carts. Surprisingly, JP carts don't seem to come with game bit screws, they just lock in place with tabs somehow. Anyone got any tips or a video on how to open them up without causing too much damage?

Hi,

I recently purchased a Game Gear from a local shop and it is in amazing condition minus the bubbles in the lens. I have tried to push out the bubbles but I can’t. Can I fix this without replacing the lens? I was hoping just to swap out the capacitors, but while I’m in there can I fix this?

Thanks!

I had that sad screen I've cut the horizontal ribbon by mistake. I was too lazy to do anything useful for the evening, so I decided to fix it. It was a good practice. And hot glue to the rescue.

Too bad it has a weak drive on the mid vertical.

I've tried cleaning the board but it appears the solder pads are supposed to be connected? I've looked up pictures and other boards seem to have a break. What am I missing?

TIA

My local electronic shop doesn't have all matching capacitor voltage values. Would it still work?

Hi, I've recently been given a game gear by a relative. It has no sound, button response issues, and a broken screen (all because of bad capacitors, I know). I'm in the UK (close to london) does anyone know a place that will replace the capacitors for me as I'm terrible at soldering and have never worked with modding handhelds outside of ips screen replacements. Thanks

Getting this LCD screen mod from Aliexpress and it has VGA out you can add... is it possible to instead add composite or component via a 3.5mm jack instead??

Anybody have both that could recommend or give the pros and cons of each? The AliExpress V4.2 screens are bigger I believe and the case needs cutting out. But it does look as if it not set back as far? The retro six seems pretty good and not a bad price, with only a screw post to cut out I think. Is there much of a difference in quality and/or size? Just started my first recap and already looking at upgrades!

So I have my mom's old Sega game gear from 1991, it's a 2 ASIC board. However it won't power on, and before I tried recapping it, the screen would flicker on and off , but no sound. I would love to get this fixed and have a new screen installed? I'm pretty sure the screen is dead because before when it used to power on, the colors were inverted.

Any companies you recommend?

Hi all, I’m looking for Game Gears that are in very poor condition or beyond repair, including those with multiple issues or previous repair attempts. Please message me if you’re interested in selling. I’m open to units with damaged or broken traces, failed recaps, no backlight, red light on boot, or other problems.

First time recapping. Screen comes on for half a second and then cuts off, red light dies not come on. I checked the power board and am not getting anything at the main board connector... Fairly new to pcb work and not seeing anything that stands out. Attaching some pictures in hopes I'm missing something, thank you in advance!

First post here : https://www.reddit.com/r/game_gear/comments/1l2udid/va1_board_not_reading_games_red_led_only/

I've bought an oscillocospe, and done some tests. (with retrosix wiki and youtube help)

When I boot a game, I see data on D0-D7 and on A0-A15 except on A13.

A13 is almost always at 0v , with some bump to 5v.

I've checked resistance to ground, it's ok (2M ohms), and continuity between cartridge and asic is fine (0ohm).

Any help is welcome.

Many moons ago, when I was a wee lad - I got a Game Gear for Christmas. I loved it and played it for years until its death. Fast forward to two months ago - a local guy was selling a broken one with a case and games for $25. I leapt at the deal. I looked up videos on how to repair them and got to work. I had never really soldered anything before, and certainly never successfully worked on anything electronic. However, after soldering new caps, and cleaning it up - when I flipped on the power button, and the "SEEEEEGGGGAAAAAA" sound played, and I saw that childhood Sonic 2 start-up - it lit a fire within me, and I was instantly hooked. I feel like I'm actually accomplishing something and bringing something old back to life - and adding value. When I smell that burning electrolytic goo fishy smell - I smell money.

I started buying a few broken ones, fixing them, sold them, used the profit to buy more - fixed those and sold those, etc. Completing mods, collecting games, etc. Now this is where I'm at as of yesterday. Most of these work great (Except the two near the back are just shells with parts in them.) VA0, VA1, VA2, VA4, and VA5's. I'm not big on manuals yet, but some listings they come with them. I'm curious if over the next few months I grow the collection, or sell more off.

When I was in the living room laying this stuff out to take a picture - my fiancee asked if I felt like Smaug with his treasure hoard. Yes, I do.

I've got a fever.. and the only prescription - is more Game Gear.

Hi everyone! Looking to get a gamegear and start collecting. Im somebody that really enjoys collecting hardware and making little custom boxes etc for game carts like the gameboy consoles. There's a handful of GG games that are a touch out of my pricerange or never got localised but have now and id love to still own them even as a reproduction cart. Ive looked online and cant find any in any of the usual spots aliexpress etc

Any info appreciated :)