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 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!