All About Ultimates

This page is intended to be a resource and general guide for all things relating and pertaining to Ultimates. We will provide more links and information as things change in the modding world to keep you up to date. There is much to discuss when it comes to Gameboy console modding. Links for other resources are provided at the bottom of the page.

Our Ultimate Products

We offer a few different ways to purchase consoles & Ultimate's. There are Pre-Built Consoles which are in stock and ready to ship immediately, it is also a well known working build that we have standardized to guarantee the same quality build each time. This is the fastest way to get an Ultimate. We also offer Made-to-Order Ultimate's that are themed designs and have been standardized for a consistent build as well. These have a build time of 1-3 weeks and ship on a first in first out basis. Finally for full customization over your build we offer Build-to-Order. These are our full custom builders with conditional logic built in. The user can't make any build mistakes or use parts that are incompatible. These also have a build time of 1-3 weeks and ship on a first in first out basis. If using an iPhone it is recommended to request desktop mode so hover descriptions will be visible. We have multiple builders for laminated style and non-laminated builds, this includes SP, GBA, GBC, GBP, and our very own ProGCC. We have recently added console builders as well for NGC and N64!

Laminated Vs Non-Laminated IPS/ITA kits 

The newer style laminated IPS and ITA kits come with the lens adhered to the display. This means you can no longer change out your lens without changing the whole IPS kit so choose a kit with this in mind. This also limits the number of options in general when compared to all other lens options for non-laminated kits. Look on the bright side though, the kits are dust free, and will remain dust free since they are sealed much like that of a modern cell phone display. Older non-laminated kits are very hard to produce dust free and even when achieved can accumulate dust over time. The newer kits have more display features and effects, they are a great choice when it comes to displays. More on this in the "3rd Party Modding" section below.

3rd Party Modding

All mods, new shells, buttons, membranes, etc that have been developed for Gameboys have been from some 3rd party company. All of the modern displays, audio amplifiers, filters, LED kits, accelerators, usb-c, and battery modules are all developed by different companies with different intent behind the design. Furthermore, we see that all mods aren't necessarily designed to work with other 3rd Party mods. This is what we refer to as "Mod Stacking" More on this in the section below. When stacking too many mods or the wrong combination we get incompatibilities. We also see brands going more exclusive with the design intent of their plastics and displays. Keep this in mind when shopping as using the same brand as much as possible is typically more harmonious. This is especially true when it comes to plastics, displays, and even mods.  

Mod Stacking 

When we start to add too many mods from too many different companies, issues can arise. This can happen for a number of reasons such as the time when it was developed, what it was developed for specifically, the amount of power it consumes, the amount of noise or hum added by any given mod or combination of mods, unintended consequence, and brand exclusivity. We build logic into our builders to prevent this from happening. We make compatibility charts and update listings to combat this when kits or mods are affected. 

LED Flex Kits

LED flex kits are a great way to light up the buttons on your console. There are various companies and modders with their own versions. Some are single color, and some can do much more like our HHL RetroGlow RGB Flex. Was that a flex? Generally speaking, LED flex kits will add a small amount of depth to the PCB making the depth required of a button press to change ever so slightly. In some cases, this can require a harder press to achieve contact. This can be exacerbated by minor incompatibilities from button to shell to membrane. It is essential to use only boards with good contacts and that are cleaned properly without use of any abrasive materials or tools. Choosing a good membrane and or reverting to an OEM refurbished Nintendo membrane are usually most people's choice, though personally I think with an LED kit the membrane should always be clear. In this case I would choose one from Funnyplaying, Retrosix, or eXtremeRate as their button sets come with clear membranes included and a hard press Start/Select that helps combat that issue.        

OEM

The term OEM means Original Equipment Manufacturing, as I'm sure many of you reading this may already be familiar with the term from some other industry. That is an organization that makes devices from component parts bought from other organizations. The reason the term is used in modding is because we need a way to distinguish the original companies that made a product from the reproductions made by 3rd Party companies. 

Incompatibilities  

Due to the exclusivity of modding companies some things just don't work together as I'm sure many of you modders out there already know this. A display kit will be made specifically for their shell. A display may only work with an original regulator, an original screen will not work with a modern regulator. An awkward fitting button set, there are many product lines that reflect this. Examples would include Laminated 3.0 by Funnyplaying, Laminated V5 by Hispeedido, IPS V2 (3.0) by Funnyplaying and Hispeedido, and the CleanScreen by RetroSix. If you want to avoid an incompatibility, try to stay with the same brand as much as possible for your unique console design and weigh the options. 

Refurbishment

In order to modify anything, we first start with making sure it is in a place to do so, this means restoring the console to the best of our capability. We only use good boards and reject corrosion damaged circuitry immediately. We go through various processes depending on what we are refurbishing, for a more complete list see Our Refurbishment Process page in the Resources tab.  

You can also check out our YouTube channel for reference videos.

Read the Ultimate/Console/Controller Policy or the Product Description for return/repair policy information.