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Hyperkin's Smart Boy Lets You Play Game Boy Games on Your Android Phone
posted on by Eric Stimson
If you've long since discarded your Game Boy but yearn to relive the classics of yesteryear, video game peripheral maker Hyperkin has a nifty solution for your Android smartphone. The Smart Boy Developer Kit lets you insert the phone into a casing that closely mimics the original Game Boy, complete with a cartridge slot for your old games.
This idea originated with an April Fool's Facebook post in 2015 that got a favorable enough response for Hyperkin to actually develop the device. A demo version appeared at Hyperkin's booth at this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). The catch is that you will have to write your own code to actually play the games, which is why the developer kit comes with an open source serial app and firmware. Hyperkin is offering a percentage of the royalties from sales to anyone who can improve their firmware.
The Smart Boy displayed alongside the SupaBoy S, which plays SNES games
The Smart Boy is expected to ship on December 1 for $59.99. Although the original Facebook post claimed the Smart Boy was being developed for the iPhone 6 Plus, it is now only compatible with Android. It can be preordered here.
Sources: Hyperkin Lab, PC Watch: Shinji Nakamura and The Daily Dot: Colette Bennett