Companies have been using nostalgia to sell their products. The trend continues this year with Hyperkin. It's releasing a new Game Boy for those who love the 1989 gaming device. It still features the same 8-bit technology as the official release, with some 2018 upgrades that make the device more attractive than the original.
Ultra Game Boy
It's inevitable that Nintendo will re-release its original Game Boy at some point, but Hyperkin has taken it upon itself to remake the seminal handheld. At CES 2018, Hyperkin unveiled its remake of the original Game Boy, the Ultra Game Boy. It refers to the fact that it improves upon the original, updating certain aspects to fit 2018 instead of 1989. One of the features of the new device is that its body is made of aluminum.
A welcome change is the addition of a backlight, which can be controlled through a third dial. The other two can be found in the original, controlling volume and contrast on the device. The backlight on the Ultra Game Boy can also be turned off if you want to go back to caveman times.
People will not need to worry about batteries in the new Game Boy. It has a built-in six-hour battery with a USB-C port to charge. Sound quality is also improved in the Ultra Game Boy. Unlike the original, it will have two stereo speakers.
Creating chiptune music is incredibly popular in the Ultra Game Boy. Hyperkin will be supporting burgeoning musicians by adding dual audio outputs.
Unlike Nintendo's offerings such as the NES and SNES, the Ultra Game Boy will not have built-in games. It will play old cartridges, but they haven't confirmed which games will or will not work on the device.
The Ultra Game Boy is still not ready, with Hyperkin finalizing the hardware. It will be released in late summer 2018 and will cost under $100.
Game Boy Modding
The modding community for Game Boy constantly tinkers with the capabilities of the original devices. Backlights have been added to the screens of classic Game Boy to be able to play without a light. There was even a mod that involved putting classic NES, SNES, and Game Boy titles through an emulator on the original device.
There are also other uses for the original brick-sized device. Someone modded it to become an 80 GB hard drive. Newer models of the Game Boy have also been transformed. An old Game Boy Advance SP was turned into a dock for the Nintendo Switch.
