When Adam Curtis bought Nintendo’s latest system, the Game Boy Advance, after it was first released back in June, he began playing immediately. It only took another couple hours before he found a major flaw in the Game Boy Advance’s design.

His decision to shed some light on the situation has put him in a technology spotlight.

“Everything about the system was perfect – with the exception of its screen,” said Curtis, senior in engineering operations. “It is dark and murky without the best possible lighting conditions.”

So he decided to fix the glitch.

The Game Boy Advance was designed to rely only on an external light source. According to an e-mailed statement from Nintendo of America, the company felt the reflective light technology in the system worked well without requiring the excessive battery consumption a backlit system would need.

But Curtis knew a lit system was exactly what he wanted. So instead of accepting what he felt was an inferior product, he set out to do what he could to change it. He created PortableMonopoly.com, a simple Web site he could use to voice his opinion and start a petition.

“At the very least, I wanted to expose Nintendo’s poor product design,” he said.

As feedback flooded in about his site, so did new inspiration as to what else Curtis might be able to do to change the Game Boy Advance. The site quickly turned from petition to full-fledged project.

“After doing some research on various Web sites, I was certain that a simple modification could vastly improve the quality of the product,” he said. “I had a vision of what the Game Boy Advance could be and set out to fulfill that vision. I wanted to make the system playable in any lighting condition – including total darkness.”

So Curtis set out to modify his Game Boy system by inserting an internal light source. He had never dealt with something like this before, so he drew on any resource he could find.

“Some of the [electrical engineering] courses I have taken within my major have helped with circuit-design issues,” he said. “Other than that, I have been working from scratch. So, I spent a day surfing the Internet, learning everything there was to know about LCD lighting technology. I absorbed any information that was related to the project. I even got a lot of tips from people I met through my site, pointing me to various technologies I might use.”

After much research, some new company contacts and a little perseverance, Curtis created a working prototype of a Game Boy Advance with an internal light. The light consists of an emerging technology – an optical guide that refracts light from the side, making front lighting possible. The same technology is used in the iPaq, a handheld personal digital assistant, he said.

Although Curtis was able to find the technology he needs, the road to the prototype has not been without its bumps.

“The frontlight I used for the initial design created some reflection patterns that were a major visual annoyance,” he said. “There was a internal power supply issue as well, but that was solved with a simple addition to the circuit.”

The success of the prototype has also brought more exposure and popularity than he thought possible.

“I released some pictures of the latest prototype and in one day received 80,000 visitors to the site and over 600 e-mails from interested individuals,” Curtis said. “Needless to say, the response has been beyond even my wildest imagination.”

Curtis has been featured on popular sites such as News.com, ZDnet.com, Bloomberg.com and Slashdot.org. Recently, two gaming magazines, Gamepro and Edge UK, expressed interest in doing feature articles about his project.

What started out as a simple outlet to voice his opinion on the Internet has turned into something much larger. On his Web site, Curtis mentioned the possibility of selling a simple modification kit or, at least, writing a tutorial explaining how he did the modification.

Nintendo of America personnel said the company does not support anything that voids the user’s warranty, such as a light modification would. They had no further comment on the project.

Curtis said he is unsure exactly where to go next.

“I have been contacted by a few companies that wish to either distribute a modification kit or hire me to develop a retail product geared towards less tech-savvy people,” he said. “If nothing else, it has been a very fun learning experience.”