Disecting the Virtual Boy

The first thing you want to do is flip the Virtual Boy over and locate the 12 screws.


   The next thing you want to do is remove the visor.


   Then you have to remove the screws, which can be done by having the right screwdriver or making one.  (I made one)

        To make one, take a flat head screwdriver and use a dremel tool to notch out a piece of the screwdriver so it grabs the notches in the screw.


   Here's a closeup of the head.


   The first thing to remove is the bottom plate that attaches to the stand.


   Then remove the bottom half.


   Then spin it around and remove the eye pieces.


   Then remove the side speakers and unscrew the boards attached.


   Then lift the insides out of the red plastic top.


    Then you have the center module of the Virtual Boy which has nothing that can be really taken apart.


        Now that you have ripped your Virtual Boy apart, there is not much you can do with it.  You will need to pull it apart to hook up the Rumble Pack, other that that, there is not much that can be done.  I have a few ideas, like hook up an audio input so you can listen to an audio CD through the integrated speakers (which I love) while playing the game, or put a different color lens on so it is a different color (even though the VB actually gives off a red light), or some cool LEDs that show it is in use :).  If you have any other ideas that can be done to it, email me at virtual.boy@home.com .

        After you put it back together, you might want to put in standard phillips screws to make it easier to put together and so you can open it again if you want, and make sure you check the alignment by inserting a game and pressing Left, B, Down, A, Up on the right D-Pad.

Virtual Boy Rumble Pack

         Here is how to hook up a Game Boy Color Rumble  Pack by Nyko to the Virtual Boy.  You can get one from Baysoft Games.

    You will need: Rumble Pack, Virtual Boy, Soldering Iron, Solder, Drill/Drill Bits, Phillips Screw Driver, About 20 ft. of wire, 1/8" 3-Conductor headphone jack, 1/8" 3-Conductor headphone plug.

    I recommend you have: Super Glue, Needle Nose Pliers, Sticky foam tape, Multimeter, Electrical Tape, 6"x2"x1" Project Box.

    (Most of these can be found at Radio Shack)

   Setting up the Electronics:

    First you pull the circuit board from the plastic case that it comes in (You will probably have to drill the screws out because they used a trianglular shaped screw head.

    Then you want to desolder the wires for the speakers (unless you want to use them)

    Note: You should either be very careful with all the wires (theirs are very cheap and break easily), or desolder all of them and resolder better wires (what I did)

    Depending on how you plan to mount this, you may have to put longer wires on for the battery.  You will have to put longer wires for the motor and the audio cable.  I put about 3ft. of cable for the motor, and you should put about 2ft. for the audio cable.

    Mark which wire is Positive and Negative and desolder the wires for the motor and solder 3ft. wires to the motor and circuit board.


    Desolder the wires for the power out and audio in (odd shaped plug)

    Solder the three wires for the audio in to a 1/8"  headphone plug, and to the circuit board where you desoldered the audio wires in the previous step.  (Put the plastic cover for the plug on the wire before soldering.)

    Find a suitable place in the controller to mount the motor and drill a hole to run the wire through.  (I put mine in the AC Adaptor) (Mount the motor in the foam tape and make sure it is tight in the controller so it doesn't rattle).


    If you plan to use the project box then do the following steps:

    Cut out the screw holes from two opposite corners so the board and battery pack will fit in.

    Drill holes in the sides of the box that line up with the jacks, switches, and adjustment wheel on the board.

    Drill a hole in the top lined up with the light so you can tell when it is on.

    Take the foam tape and put it on the bottom of the board and battery pack and stick them into the plastic box lining up with the holes.

    Cut out a notch for the two sets of wires (motor and audio in wires) in the box.

    Put the lid on and put the two screws in the corners.

    If you made it the same as mine, it should look like this completed


    Setting up the Virtual Boy

    You must first pull the Virtual Boy apart enough so you can get to the speakers (see instructions on other page).

    (Basically what you will be doing is adding another headphone jack, but this one won't turn off the speakers).

    Then drill a hole in the bottom of the VB for the 1/8" headphone jack to screw into and put it in (make sure it won't interfere with the insides of the VB).


    Solder a wire to the positive and negative of each speaker (4 wires total) (make sure they are long enough to reach the jack) (negative is the striped cable - I think)


    Connect the 2 negative wires together and solder them both to the negative terminal of the headphone jack

    Solder one of the other wires to one of the positive terminals on the headphone jack, and the other to the other positive.

    Screw the VB back together and plug the box into the new jack.

    Plug in the box and turn it on, make sure the switches are set where you want them and try it out.

    If you don't get vibration, try headphones in the headphone jack on the box.  If you don't have sound, you may have to hook up the negative of the battery to the negative of the audio in plug. (not sure why, but that's what I had to do, must have lost connection somewhere).  If you do get sound but no vibration, check your connection to your motor from the board.

    If you have any questions or comments about how to do this or on this how-to, please E-Mail me at virtual.boy@home.com .