FAME Boy Plays Cartridges or ROMs

Back in the early '90s when the Game Boy and other handheld systems were in their infancy, popping a cartridge in a slot to play a new game…

Jeremy Cook
7 years agoGaming

Back in the early '90s when the Game Boy and other handheld systems were in their infancy, popping a cartridge in a slot to play a new game was incredible — like you could carry an entire arcade in your backpack. Fast forward 25 years or so and you can now put thousands of games in a memory card much smaller than a single cartridge. While undeniably better, if you want the experience of inserting a cartridge and playing the game, then the FAME Boy build by Dave Ploeger (aka davedarko) gives you the best of both worlds.

The Fame Boy resembles a Nintendo Switch, with a directional pad one one side of the 4.3” TFT screen and control buttons on the other. It’s powered by a Raspberry Pi Zero W, and importantly includes a socket for users to plug cartridges in to be played, along with games stored on the micro SD card inside. A LiPo battery makes things portable, and a tiny speaker provides sound, though Ploeger notes that this could be improved.

It looks like a lot of fun to play, and check out the video below to see the build process. A bill of materials for the project is available in his element14 Hack Like Heck contest entry, though sadly voting is over!

Jeremy Cook
Engineer, maker of random contraptions, love learning about tech. Write for various publications, including Hackster!
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