Hyperkin is apparently in the business of manufacturing dreams. Only yesterday we heard word of the Wii U compatible ProCube controllers — controllers that are effectively GameCube controllers that wirelessly act like Wii U Pro Controllers. Today, they have confirmed what many thought to be an April Fools prank, the SmartBoy. The product first appeared in a tweet on March 31st… a day before the jokester’s holiday:
SmartBoy, an upcoming Game Boy-compatible device concept for the iPhone 6 Plus. #gameboy #retrogaming #gaming pic.twitter.com/QWResQq5W7
— Hyperkin (@Hyperkin) March 31, 2015
The concept of the Hyperkin add on would allow your iPhone or Android devices to plug in your Game Boy cartridges and play them. The SmartBoy seems to run off an emulator, much like other systems like the RetroN. While there is no announcement about when this add on will be market-ready, the Alpha build made an appearance at E3 2015. Hopefully we will see it soon.
Here's the Alpha Build of the #Smartboy that we'll be bringing to #E3! pic.twitter.com/Zh6tnBIM2q
— Hyperkin (@Hyperkin) June 15, 2015
Nintendo is going to rip that company to shreds.
I actually don’t think so — in order to play, you need the actual software, so there is no piracy. And Nintendo most likely doesn’t have valid exclusivity to the hardware — RetroN and other emulators that work with original software are considered completely legal. Hyperkin should be fine!
At least it isn’t Pirated
I think I’m about to pu-*pukes*…
Why this sounds awesome!
Awesome if you’re a casual who hasn’t played Gameboy and is amazed by shiny things.
Also na na na na na na na na BATMAN!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoDQWBfbR10
>>>And also further roof that the Microsoft Realm are the evil vermin that must be terminated>>>
http://www.techtimes.com/articles/44178/20150404/microsoft-wants-to-track-you-again-do-not-track-no-longer-default-in-future-web-browsers.htm
atleast its better than playing on a touchscreen
should have been smartboy advance.
I don’t need this. I already have my GameBoy Color, and I still have my retro Pokémon games, as I’m sure many of us still do.
Looks super cheap and generic. Not that I care anyway. I haven’t played a mobile game in, like… 3 years. Plus, emulators are pretty lame from my experience,
And you need illegal roms to play it. Congratz.
Open your eyes and look at the picture, you need the actual cartridge. They mention it in the article too so…
There’s really no point to it. You can download the emulator and ROMS for free and even play them at double the speed for many emulators.
This is awesome, now if I could find any GB games….. I started with GB advance with backwards compatibility but it’s not backlit ….
Reblogged this on trafalgarlaw1986.
The super gameboy renders this obsolete… Or you know, the Gameboy color, or the Gamboy Advance that also plays Gameboy games…
It was a neat idea that never should have made it out of the concept design.
That’s NEAT! I’ll have to get one and play my collection of dusty Game Boy games!
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Okay this is stupid. Why would I not just play on a regular game boy? Almost as stupid that say how they love games in their phone becauae they always have it. Except that the controlls suck and you need another controller with you.
Some people don’t have a working GameBoy anymore. I only have ONE store nearby that sells old games and systems, I imagine that’s probably true for a lot of people. Being able to use a phone, which has a really nice back light that almost all models of the GameBoy lacked, is a lot better than using an old system that runs on AA batteries and is incredibly difficult to see in low light settings. Bringing the extra peripheral to play games is no different than carrying the GameBoy.
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Only bummer here for me is I only have an iPhone 5s. I imagine if it’s successful, which it definitely has the potential to be if Nintendo doesn’t try and put a stop to it, they’ll develop it for more popular phone models (probably other iPhones and Samsung Galaxy phones). This is not the first system to play old cartridges, you can buy an FC Twin that plays both NES and SNES games. So I don’t know that Nintendo is going to try to stop its release, especially where it plays the original cartridges vs illegally downloaded roms. Nintendo doesn’t actively sell them anymore, but at least it’s not illegally downloading something.