I’ve been curious about LSDJ again and thought I’d write a different kind of post about it. If you’re not familiar with LSDJ, it’s a chiptune tracker (music sequencer) written to be played on a Gameboy. The project has been around for over 25 years and I think it’s super cool. There’s a lot of information out there about how to use it but I thought I’d write about hardware.
First and foremost, the cheapest way to tinker with lsdj is to simply use hardware you already have. You can fire up an emulator on your smart phone or whatever computer you have at hand and get started for absolutely zero dollars. The biggest downside to this approach is the complete lack of tactile feedback. I think doing gameboy shaped things on a touch screen is a bummer of a experience. It is super cool that you can and I accept that I’m super privileged to look down my nose at using my pixel pro as a gameboy. Whatever, I love me some buttons to mash. Let’s go shopping!
Shopping is a slippery slope
Once you decide to spend money on your LSDJ experience, it gets complicated quickly. If you want nice buttons for you phone, you can get something like a GameSir G8, but that’s like $80 unless you can catch a sale. For around $50 you can pick from half a dozen Anbernic devices that are a whole fake gameboy (retro emulation devices) to play on. Counterintuitively, that’s the second most affordable way to go (first cheapest being to not spend any money at all). I have my eye on the RG35XX Pro because it has video out which seems fun for this. However, my older RG351V is still more than adequate so I’ll stick to that. I bought mine for $112 three years ago but you can get them for half that price now.
But I want a real (game)boy
If you want a more authentic nostalgia hit and you don’t still have your old gameboy around it’s probably the single most costly way to go. I’ve seen gameboy advances go for about $60 - $70 at the flea market or half price books. Looking on craigslist in my area, people have lost their minds and are asking twice that. While $70 doesn’t sound that steep, you can’t play LSDJ on original hardware without a cartridge. Those can run another $50 or more depending on the quality/vendor/ gameboy model. So if you were to buy a new to you used gameboy and an Everdrive, you’re looking at $120 - $200 to get up and running. I have a GBA SP and an OG NDS but if I was starting over and mostly interested in LSDJ, I’d look at the Funny Playing gameboy color clone. It looks like a modded GBC but all the electronics are new and you can pick up a complete for $100 or a kit for around $80. To my sensibilities, $80 for a gbc with that upgraded screen is the way to go if you want something that feels like a GBC and aren’t super hung up on it actually being vintage hardware.
What about DIY!?
In 2025, that doesn’t make much sense unless you’re just either really interested in the experience of making one (which is great and you should do that) or want to rig up something custom. A Raspberry Pi 3 (older model that’s less power hungry, runs cooler and is a touch cheaper) is $35. Already, you can buy a whole complete ready to rock BATLEXP G350 (aliExpress). You don’t have a screen ($40), battery, buttons, case … etc. If you really want to go DIY, a piGrrl kit is reasonable to look at to stay grounded in all the bits you’ll need to source. The PiGrrl Zero kit is really cool and $45 (not including a pi that’s another $15) but I think the screen is a little dinky at 2.2” (320x240). But for $60 you can build a complete retro portable game console which is super cool to do.
Price Breakdown of options discussed
When considering the following, do not forget that if you happen to have a Raspbery Pi sitting around or 8BitDo controller the math shifts. The most affordable option is make use of what you have. Without that context, here’s an overview of where we’re at with options as I see it.
| Hardware Option | Cost |
|---|---|
| Just use your phone or computer | $0 |
| User your phone and a nice controller | $30-$80 |
| Buy an emulation device | $35 and up |
| DIY an emulation device | $60 and up ( ಠ_ಠ ) |
| Buy a new to you old gameboy | $120 and beyond! |
TLDR
GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome) is a real thing and if you want to make chiptune music you don’t need to spend one red cent. Start by looking around at what you have. Hopefully some of the above rambling reminded you of something you have laying around and you can get some use out of it. Otherwise, the most affordable way to go is with a retro emulation console like one by anbernic. If you’re going vintage don’t forget to factor accessories into your budget.
It’s dangerous to go alone, take this
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Published by Ryan Parsley