Got my soldering setup up and running and been spending the past week off and on practicing a bunch of battery swaps to get the basic process down pat before moving on to some simple console level mods. My solder joints aren't always the prettiest and I don't see myself getting super deep into this beyond mostly cartridge and arcade PCB maintenance stuff, but it's still fun in a meditative way!
My favorite random discovery I've made thus far is how when Sakura Taisen GB initializes for the very first time, before you get to the title screen, shopkeeper Tsubaki pops up and thanks you for purchasing the game. It's cute! I had no idea it was even a thing since when I last tested it, the saves were evidently still present because it never happened. And as soon as you save your progress, you can't see it again without resoldering the battery. (Apologies for the lack of clarity; an IPS upgrade is definitely on the to-do list at some point.)
Anyway, it's nice getting the basics down pat. Misguided crackdowns on modding here in Japan in recent years mean that there aren't too many people openly doing that sort of stuff as a paid service, so it's comforting to know that I'm slowly learning how to be self-sufficient so I don't have to rely on overseas help to get things done. π
