This Game Boy Emulator Will Let You Play Cartridges on Your TV or Back Them Up
If you own Game Boy cartridges, PixelCircuits’ DIY GameBoy Console will give you the ability to play them on your TV and preserve save data.
An emulator is the easiest way to play classic video games, and emulators exist for just about every computer and console until a few generations ago — including handheld consoles. To play a game in an emulator you need a copy of the original cartridge or disc image. Those are usually referred to as “ROMs” after the read-only memory chips that were commonly used in game cartridges in the past. You can find those ROMs online, but it’s technically pirating if you don’t own a physical copy of the game. If you do own Game Boy cartridges, PixelCircuits’ DIY GameBoy Console will give you the ability to play them on your TV and back them up.
The GameBoy Console works with original Nintendo Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance cartridges. It has emulators for those systems, and runs on any Raspberry Pi single-board computer (SBC). That includes the very affordable Raspberry Pi Zero and Zero W models. Instead of downloading ROMs, you simply insert your cartridge. Then the ROM image is copied to the Raspberry Pi’s storage so you can play it at any time without needing to insert the cartridge again.
The Raspberry Pi is paired with a custom PCB which contains additional components like the chips needed to read the cartridges. Those are housed within a compact 3D-printed enclosure that fits the cartridges nicely. If you use a Raspberry Pi Zero W, you can take advantage of the Bluetooth connection to use Bluetooth gamepads. It also supports InsideGadgets’ Wireless Gameboy Controller adapter which gives you the ability to use your actual Game Boy as a wireless controller! If you want a more ethical way to play emulated games than downloading ROMs for cartridges you don’t own, this looks like a fantastic solution.
