Tag Archives: gameboy

Custom-built inside out, ModRetro Chromatic is the ultimate tribute to the Gameboy

Posted on by

Gameboy was a cultural icon in the 1990s when I was growing up. Almost every video game enthusiast in my close circle had his handheld from Nintendo, which meant that before being discontinued from production in 2003, it was arguably the best-selling console ever made. Since, then there have been many iterations of the popular handheld console trying to revive the lost era of portable gaming, but none has been as identical as what Palmer Luckey’s ModRetro may have achieved with the Chromatic.

Combining nostalgic charm with modern tech, the ModRetro Chromatic inherits the Gameboy DNA to give enthusiasts the most realistic experience of the classic handheld console in the blood and body of the new-age device. It’s a result of seventeen years of endeavor to make the ultimate device to play Gameboy games as they were played on the original console.

Designer: ModRetro

According to Luckey, the Chromatic is his best tribute to the Gameboy. Designed and constructed to be the most “authentic, highest quality” device to mimic Gameboy, Chromatic is an heirloom quality piece of retro-futuristic art “that would last for generations.” To that accord, this cartridge-playing Nintendo Gameboy will retail for $199 and can be pre-ordered now at ModRetro.

Compatible with Gameboy and Gameboy library, the Chromatic is 100 percent custom-made. It has a one-to-one LCD with an identical pixel structure to the original Gameboy. To maintain authenticity and closeness to the real, the device alongside its Gameboy-like 160×144 pixel backlit display features a similar layout, resolution, and size. Its sapphire screen is scratch-resistant and it is housed within a magnesium-aluminum alloy molded shell topped with durable PBT buttons and D-pad.

ModRetro Chromatic measures 5.2x3x1.2 inches, and weighs feather light at 6.2 oz. For connectivity, the device has been provided with a USB port and 3.5mm headphone output, and to celebrate its launch, it will come preinstalled with good old Tetris, free of charge. The custom-designed lithium-ion battery, rechargeable through console, provides the Chromatic 24-hour battery life, which can be enhanced on the move with 3x AA batteries.

The post Custom-built inside out, ModRetro Chromatic is the ultimate tribute to the Gameboy first appeared on Yanko Design.

Man Constructs Functional Cardboard GameBoy Advance SP

Posted on by

Because dream it, and you can achieve it (even if that dream takes way too much time that could probably be better spent doing something else entirely), YouTuber Peter Knetter deconstructed a GameBoy Advance SP to remove the hardware, then built a custom case INCLUDING CONTROLS entirely out of cardboard, then put the hardware inside to create a functional cardboard GameBoy Advance SP. Personally, I would have called it the GameBoy Unadvanced SP, but that’s just me and I’m incredible at naming things.

Peter actually seems pretty surprised when it works, as was I. He’s even able to play some Tony Hawk Underground on it to put it through its paces. Sure you probably aren’t going to be able to play your very best on the system, but that’s a small price to pay for a GameBoy that gets soggy in the rain.

The next logical project will be constructing a duct tape GameBoy Unadvanced SP. Honestly, it’s only a matter of time, and not very much time if Peter is as proficient with duct tape as I imagine he is. I’m already looking forward to the video!

[via TechEBlog]

This tiny gaming console lets you relive all your nostalgic GameBoy titles in a modern compact design

Posted on by

With a name as mysterious as OBJKT-2, this little gizmo from the mind of designer Sushant Kumar lets you relive all your golden GameBoy memories. Styled to be even smaller than the Analogue Pocket, OBJKT-2 makes classic gaming even more portable, letting you load all your popular GameBoy titles via an SD card, and even add modules that enhance your gaming experience. The little device is roughly the size of a GameBoy Color cartridge but sports a vivid color display that measures roughly 2.2-inch diagonally, and two thumbsticks on the bottom that can independently be used as a D-pad and XYAB keys, as well as two shoulder keys on the upper left and right corner. For good measure, the OBJKT-2 even has a USB-C and 3.5mm port crammed into its base, making it the most feature-dense console for its incredibly compact size.

The compact little gaming console can be used independently, as shown above, but also supports a nifty set of modules that enhance the gaming experience. The first two modules fit right into the two tiny joysticks, giving them much more surface area and making them a lot more comfortable to rest your thumbs on for long gameplays. As an added bonus, the USB-C port on the bottom lets you plug in an extra battery pack so you can go for hours without worrying about losing progress to a low battery. The battery pack even supports pass-through charging in case you plan on stretching your gameplay to the maximum limits. (that Super Mario speed run record isn’t going to beat itself)

The name OBJKT-2 begs the question – where’s OBJKT-1? Well, the console is a part of Sushant’s experimental TINY OBJECTS series (OBJKT-1 is a retromodern speaker about the size of a keycap, with a gear-shaped volume ring on the side). For now, the TINY OBJECTS series is just a 3D modeling and rendering exercise within Blender (Sushant is also selling NFTs on the side), although who said we can’t be optimistic about a prototype in the near future? You can follow Sushant aka SooshiPasta on Instagram for more.

Designer: Sushant Kumar

The post This tiny gaming console lets you relive all your nostalgic GameBoy titles in a modern compact design first appeared on Yanko Design.

The world’s tiniest functioning Game Boy Advance SP is the size of a stack of Post-Its, and it’s transparent too!

Posted on by




In its closed format, the FunKey S is about as small as a Tile tracker, or better still a Game Boy cartridge. Designed to emulate the Game Boy experience, the FunKey S comes pre-loaded with a whole bunch of favorite titles for endless hours of retro-entertainment. It’s tiny enough to fit on your keychain, lightweight enough to be carried everywhere, and satisfyingly just like the real deal, except smaller. Oh, and it comes in a transparent color-way too, taking you back to those good-old-days!

Click Here to Buy Now

Built right into the FunKey S are emulators of dozens of your favorite retro consoles, including the NES, SNES, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, Sega Master System, Sega Genesis (Megadrive), Sega Game Gear, Playstation 1, Atari Lynx, WonderSwan, and the Neo Geo Pocket. It’s just a testament to how far we’ve come, considering everything fits within a device that’s no larger than a Graham Cracker. The mini-console comes with an ARM chip, has an SD card slot that doesn’t just run but saves games too, and a MicroUSB for side-loading your own games to play.

The tiny device looks and functions just like a Game Boy Advance SP would. Flip to open it and you’ve got a miniaturized console that’s true to the GBA experience. It comes outfitted with all the buttons (including L1 and R1 shoulder buttons), a 1.54-inch 240×240 IPS LCD screen (with a 50Hz refresh rate too), and even built-in 0.5W speakers! The console boots up as soon as you flip open the lid, and will even save your progress before powering down when you close the lid!

The FunKey S is entirely open-source, which means it even invites developers to tinker with it, modding games, building games, and maximizing the FunKey’s experience. Especially for its size, the FunKey S is a highly entertaining little gadget. I’ll refrain from calling it a toy although it almost certainly is one (especially with those candy colors), because I see it as a marvel of technology too. The gadget supports up to 128Gb of storage, which means you could potentially put tens of thousands of games into your console and carry it around with you. It comes with a lanyard hole and can easily be strung to your keychain, and at €65 ($77.5), it’s honestly an absolute bargain! Although would it be too much if I asked for an HDMI output so I could connect this to a larger screen?!

Designer: Funkey Project

Click Here to Buy Now

Researchers created a Game Boy that doesn’t need batteries

Posted on by
The original Game Boy was no slouch when it came to battery life. With four simple AA batteries, you could play games like Tetris and Super Mario Land for about 10 to 15 hours. That was something that made the Game Boy so much more appealing than its...

The Clippad mobile accessory turns your smartphone into a renegade GameBoy Advance!

Posted on by

Emulators can only go so far, right?

Giacomo Zangani’s Clippad lets you get a much more authentic Nintendo GBA experience by strapping a set of GameBoy controllers to the side of your smartphone. The controllers attach themselves using a clip at the back (similar to the Microsoft xCloud controller concepts we featured earlier), working with practically any phone to turn them into a GameBoy Advance-inspired gaming console. The controllers connect to your phone wirelessly, and let you play a whole bunch of games with authentic-feeling buttons and controls rather than tapping on screen-based buttons. My personal go-to game? Pokémon Yellow.

Designer: Giacomo Zangani

GB Studio lets anyone create a Game Boy game

Posted on by
Yesterday marked the 30th anniversary of the Game Boy's release in Japan. If you're like our editors, that brings back all kinds of nostalgic memories. We've certainly come a long way since then -- so far, in fact, that you can now create your own Ga...

Nintendo Game Boy at 30: As fun as it ever was

Posted on by
Today marks the 30th anniversary of the Game Boy's release in Japan. Three decades ago, the portable gaming landscape would change forever. Whether you owned a Game Boy or not, it's likely something you're familiar with. The legacy reaches far beyond...

The GameBoy lost some weight and got curvy (displays)

Posted on by

In the interest of nostalgia and Nintendo’s obsession with it, here’s the Nintendo Flex, a fan-made GameBoy update that gives the age old classic handheld gaming device a time-appropriate revamp. The Nintendo Flex is to the Gameboy what Daniel Craig is to Sean Connery. Same James Bond, but modern. (Sames Bond?)

The Flex comes with a few very welcome updates. Bigger screen on a device that’s the same handy size (albeit thinner). The screen’s also mildly curved, giving you a slightly panoramic experience and adding just a tiny couple of more display inches into the same framework. The Flex retains the same keys and controls, but gives them a makeover too, opting for flushed surfaces rather than the original GameBoy’s chunky keys that stood out from the surface. There’s even a contrast slider on the side of the Flex.

The Flex’s biggest overhaul, however, is the change in Nintendo’s cartridge system. Flex ditches the large squarish cartridges for something much sleeker and thinner, looking almost like a stylus. The stylus-sized cartridge slides conveniently into a slot in the Flex’s base, locking in place and becoming impossible to remove while in the middle of gameplay. You’ll be happy to know that the Flex also packs a Type-C charging slot and a (hallelujah!) 3.5mm audio jack, just like old times. And it also comes in the same classic old-world white color! (P.S. Brownie points to the designer for also designing a curved packaging box for the curved device!)

Designer: YJ Yoon