game boy
Latest
Pokemon charity marathon aims to catch them all at the same time
If you haven't spent all your money on charity gaming marathons yet, another opportunity for you to throw money at human suffering is coming up -- and this time, it's a test of both endurance and gluttony. Starting on July 15, Pro3Studios will embark on a 72-hour marathon, in which it will attempt to catch all the Pokémon species in Pokémon FireRed, Emerald, Diamond, Pearl, HeartGold, SoulSilver, Black, and White -- simultaneously. The gameplay will be streamed on a 3x3 grid, allowing you to watch it all happen in real time. As this is going on, the group will accept donations through PayPal for the Children's Miracle Network. Those donations will allow viewers the privilege of naming some Pokémon and specifying a song for one of the players to sing on air -- and also, you know, help children.
Iwata Asks how Miyamoto learned English
Beyond founding Q-Games and helping to father the PixelJunk series, Dylan Cuthbert has done some other extraordinary things in his years working in the game industry. He recounts some of those adventures in a recent Iwata Asks column, woefully exclusive to Japanese readers for now, but thankfully summarized by Andriasang. But why is Cuthbert appearing in an Iwata Asks ... you ask? Because he helped create several of Nintendo's major Star Fox titles, of course (including the original), and he's heading up development of Star Fox 64 3D as director. Cuthbert actually didn't work on the Nintendo 64 title, as he had left Nintendo and was busy working on Blasto for Sony's PlayStation at the time. Also detailed in the piece is an interesting fact about how Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto learned how to speak English. When Cuthbert began working at Nintendo, he had only a rudimentary grasp on the Japanese language -- after initially impressing staff during a visit when he was 18 to show off a 3D Game Boy engine, he was hired on, regardless of language skills. Miyamoto had an equally unimpressive grasp on English at the time, and it seems that the two worked together to help each other out. Miyamoto is said to have had a particularly hard time in by of with prepositions. We feel your pain.
Here's how the 3DS does Game Boy emulation
We didn't know quite what to expect from the Game Boy Virtual Console games now available through the 3DS eShop, but it turns out the presentation is pretty charming. See for yourself after the break.
Bonhams' Space History Sale includes spacesuits, memorabilia, and a Game Boy flown in space
Bonhams' upcoming Space History Sale -- happening May 5th in New York -- is filled with items that will make any space geek reconsider their current spending priorities, but we couldn't help but notice one particular item that hits a little closer to home. Mixed in with spacesuits expected to fetch upwards of $100,000 and other various memorabilia from both the US and Soviet space programs in this, a wholly ordinary Nintendo Game Boy (complete with Tetris, of course) that accompanied cosmonaut Aleksandr A. Serebrov on Soyuz mission TM-17 in 1993. Interested? The estimate is pegged at a somewhat reasonable $1,500 to $2,000, but we have a sneaking suspicion Bonhams might be underestimating the will of a considerable number of folks who are both space and video game nerds (we're speaking as one ourselves, of course). Hit up the source link below to check out everything up for auction.
Game Boy makes music of a different sort (video)
Don't get us wrong, we know that Nintendo's original 8-bit portable can create some killer sounds -- we'd never sell chiptunes short. That said, you haven't truly heard Game Boy music until you watch the video above.
'Game Boy Music' video is exactly what it sounds like
Following in the footsteps of groups like Anamanaguchi and Starscream, YouTube user MrSeberi has discovered a brave, radical new musical application for a piece of video game hardware with which you're likely very familiar. Check out his take on "Game Boy Music" in the video posted below!
Super Smash Land demake trailer and demo show off Game Boy charm
Dan Fornace recently published a new trailer and demo for his long-time pet project: A Game Boy-style "demake" of the Smash Bros. franchise titled Super Smash Land. Check out the infinitely charming trailer here.
Game Boy games get hacked onto an oscilloscope
Real champions don't ask "Why?" when shown a completely awesome, albeit totally impractical piece of technological wizardry. Take, for instance, Flashing LEDs' latest creation: An oscilloscope that displays Game Boy games. Useful? Absolutely not. Radical? We like to think so.
WP7 Game Boy emulator demoed, soon you can show your Pokemans in Silverlight (video)
Classic gaming on the go is more or less old-hat for many smartphone platforms, but Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 is still playing catch-up. Latest addition is this Game Boy emulator, running in Silverlight courtesy of Samuel Blanchard, who created the video below and then triple-letterboxed it for your squinting pleasure. Right now it is still a work in progress, unable to save your in-game progress and needing some further polish, but it certainly looks like it runs well enough -- though hopefully he gets that aspect ratio fixed before offering this up for download.
KDJ-One is a gigantic Game Boy with an audio workstation inside
Cyberstep's KDJ-One, a portable digital audio workstation currently in prototype mode, is a noisy little wrinkle in time. While we're fairly certain it will never see the light of day in your local Guitar Center, we really do want to wish it the best. It combines the aesthetics of a few of our very favorite things: the D-pad, button layout, and chunkiness instantly reminded us of the original DMG Game Boy. The keypad on bottom looks a lot like a tweaked version of a Roland TB-303. And the software inside -- pure MeeGo -- reminds us of a Tungsten-era Palm device crossed with a laptop from 1999. (But in a really good way!) A five-inch resistive touchscreen -- complete with stylus -- sits on top of an Atom E640 CPU, 512MB of RAM, a 4GB SSD drive, and a pair of 2000mAh batteries. Oh, and it's got a rumble pack on the backside: Cyberstep assures us the QW Vibration System adds "a whole new element of force feedback to your music production experience." The sampler / looper / sequencer production software itself seems super-basic and pretty fun, although we could probably squeeze a lot more production flexibility out of a $300 netbook. But just look at that dude and tell us you don't want to squeeze its little white cheeks. Yeah, exactly. Video after the jump. %Gallery-114424%
Incipio shows off Game Boy-themed iPhone case and no, you can't have it
Do you want this Game Boy-themed iPhone 4 case? Well, how does it feel to want? Not all that hot from where we're sitting, that's for damn sure. Spotted at Incipio's CES booth, the company put the case together to demo the company's production capabilities. Sadly, for us, the thing won't be coming to market at any time in the near future (unless someone in Shenzhen decides to take on the cause, that is). We must say, this is a big improvement over the company's iPod nano watch bands -- and an immense improvement over the guy who shoved an HTC Aria inside his old Game Boy (throwing in a fake iPhone 4 for good measure). Get another look after the break.
Game Boy, HTC Aria and fake iPhone 4 combined for your amusement, is also possibly art
We're not sure what happened to Japanese tech mashup artist Goteking that inspired him to stuff an Android phone and a KIRF iPhone 4 into the back of a Game Boy Pocket, but stuff them he did, along with a bank of battery-powered LEDs that -- if we're not mistaken -- spell out a Tokyo train schedule. Perhaps it's designed to be a mind trip through and through, or perhaps it's a homage to the joint forces of nostalgia and geekdom that spark daily flame wars all around the world.
Game Boy emulator being developed in JavaScript by a very smart person
Sure, it's one thing to build a Game Boy emulator out of what is typically viewed as a limited-purpose language for enhancing website interactivity for the usual emulator-building reasons: you like video games, you're trying to impress the ladies. But just to prove a point? Imran Nazar is building a Game Boy emulator out of JavaScript to show how far the language has come, particularly with the fancy new stuff HTML5's <canvas> tag allows for, and to see if it would be possible to fully emulate a Game Boy from the CPU up. Sure, HTML5 has already proven useful for straight games, but an entire architecture? Turns out, it's pretty possible, and Imran has an excellent multi-part tutorial for how he's doing it. Right now there's a nearly playable version of Tetris, and pretty soon we'll all be playing Zelda in our web browsers and that time when we tried to build an HTML table from scratch to show a few of our favorite animated GIFs on our GeoCities page will only be a distant memory...
3DS has a Game Boy/ Game Boy Color Virtual Console [update]
One of the 3DS's killer apps may be ... old games. As has been requested for the original DS and DSi since time immemorial (2004), Nintendo will offer downloadable Game Boy and Game Boy Color games on the 3DS, through a VIrtual Console-style store. In addition, as shown at E3, Nintendo will offer 3D-ified versions of classics like Xevious. Update: The transcript from Nintendo's conference last night show that Iwata specified games from the Game Boy and Game Boy Color -- not Advance. At least, not yet. We apologize for the confusion.
Game Boy condom concept helps you level up
Just like the iCade, this is one of those "just for fun" ideas that actually seems to make a great deal of commercial sense. Think about it, Nintendo has sold bajillions of handheld consoles in its time, and it keeps churning out sequels that mean even newer followers are familiar with such classics as Donkey Shlong. And Mario's mushroom-related growth spurts? Marketing gold! So why not capitalize on all that brand awareness with this selection of cheerfully colored condom cases? Designed by Ben Marsh and Julia Roach, they aim to "create a desire to purchase the product for aesthetic reasons," and quite frankly, they do succeed. This certainly puts a whole new spin on the idea of power-ups, though.
NES RetroVision: play Game Boy games on your NES
We can't imagine why anyone would want to play a Game Boy game via their NES -- aside from the cool factor, that is. You can still find a Game Boy player relatively cheap, hook it up to your GameCube and get your handheld-on-TV fix that. But we digress. Nintendo Age forum user bunnyboy is responsible for the Frankensteinian concoction of cool you see above: the NES RetroVision. It follows the same principles of the Super Game Boy, except in that it functions with the NES. By cramming the guts of a Game Boy into an NES cart, bunnyboy uses a custom board to translate the Game Boy graphics into a format understood by the NES. Utilizing a second controller, you can then change the border and colors displayed on-screen. There isn't a page or any way to order one of these kits just yet, though bunnyboy promises that he'll eventually have some for sale. If you want one, you're going to have to fork over $130 plus shipping. [Via never know tech]
Visual Boy Zune brings Game Boy emulation to Zune HD (video)
Once hacked, the Zune HD's rabid fanbase wasted no time in ensuring the device could play Doom. Now, the ZuneBoards want to give it Zelda, too. User BackAtIt has taken the wrappings off the first working emulator for Zune, which is currently capable of playing Game Boy and Game Boy Color ROMs, but little else -- though this "Visual Boy Zune" app is ported from the same VisualBoyAdvance code that's enabled handheld emulation since 2004, it's in early alpha with quite a bit of work left to do. A recent update enabled state save emulation and a ROM selector, but there's no audio output, let alone Game Boy Advance support; BackAtIt says he'll need to rewrite much of the codebase to take advantage of the Zune HD's Tegra architecture. Still, it's never too early for a proof of concept video, and you'll find two blurry ones after the break -- unless you'd rather try it out for yourself at the source link. [Thanks, MK1000]
The perfect companion for those long Light Cycle trips: the 'Tron Boy' mod
Yard sales are great for two things: laughing at the ridiculous stuff some people find and bargain-priced electronics from yesteryear. In this day and age, if you come upon a yard sale that isn't trying to unload at least one Game Boy, then those people probably weren't really into portable gaming. No, really -- those people exist! We tell you this because we have a great idea should you ever come across a Game Boy at one of these slices of Americana: the Tron Boy. The pictured mod by Thretris was created to celebrate the release of 8 Bit Weapon's Tron chiptune album (ZIP file link) and does a good job of plucking our heartstrings on two distinct fronts. It makes us pine for those days of playing Tetris on the bus to school and the first time we saw Jeff Bridges kicking some ass with a disc. Those were the days. ... great, now we have a hankerin' to play some Tetris. Thanks, Thretris! [Via GoNintendo; Tiny Cartridge]
Interview: Q-Games and Nintendo on X-Scape
Click to N-Ter the galleryDylan Cuthbert's Q-Games has returned to the world of X, a Game Boy game designed by Nintendo and Cuthbert's Argonaut Software. Q-Games and Nintendo have created X-Scape, a DSiWare sequel to the 3D space tank game (coincidentally, "3D Space Tank" is the Australian title for X-Scape). Shortly before the announcement of the DSiWare title's May 31 release date, we spoke to Cuthbert, along with Assistant Director Kazushi Maeta and Kazuyuki Gofuku, in charge of Development Coordination for the title at Nintendo, about resurrecting the old franchise, the freedom of downloadable software, and, yes, the secret "Totaka's Song" first heard in X. %Gallery-86442%
Game Boy modded to play GBA, GBC games
Do you find yourself pining for the portable Nintendo gaming of days past, but not pining for its pea green hues? If so, then this modded Game Boy -- as in the large, boxy "released in 1989" Game Boy -- should really fit the bill. Flickr user CRTdrone has modded an original Game Boy to play every flavor of Game Boy title, including Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance and, of course, original Game Boy. According to the description, the mod relies on the guts of a Game Boy Advance SP and all the buttons, the rechargeable battery and even the headphone jack are in working order. The shoulder buttons, if you're wondering, have been relegated to tiny buttons on either side of unit. The creator will be making "a couple more" and possibly documenting the process. So stay tuned if you want to make one of these bad boys for yourself. [Via Tiny Cartridge]
