Pokémon GO is taking over the world, and Nintendo has announced a mini version of its classic NES console… as our friend Freddy would say, 'is this the real life, or is this just fantasy?' While we try to find the answer, we've come across this spectacular Game Boy mod that packs a Raspberry Pi Zero, a new LCD screen, custom PCBs, and the ability to play almost anything, courtesy of RetroPie.
If you feel that Nintendo has been shaking the ground these past few weeks, you're not alone. First there was the spectacular success of Pokémon GO, which despite some privacy and data collection concerns, keeps gaining users around the world. Then came the announcement of the Nintendo Classic Mini console, with thirty games, HDMI output, a classic gamepad, and a reasonable price of $60. Basically, it's "two dollars per game and the hardware comes free", and although Nintendo said those thirty games are all the console will get, it's only a matter of time before someone starts hacking its hardware. And speaking of hacking, modding, and transplanting hardware, take a look at what Reddit user "elliptic_hyperboloid" did with a Game Boy (I'm assuming it was "damaged and beyond repair") and a Raspberry Pi Zero:
Those of us who follow the DIY world closely know that this mod is not the first of its kind. Reddit user "bentika" did a very similar modification three or four months ago, and "elliptic_hyperboloid" admits he used that project as inspiration for his mod. Besides the Raspberry Pi Zero, this requires a 3.5-inch LCD screen available on eBay, which theoretically works at 12 volts (it's usually installed in car dashboards), but can drop to 7.5-8 volts without issues, or to 5 volts by bridging its controller. Multiple alterations to the shell, a special PCB that installs just below the Game Boy's buttons, four additional buttons, and a lot of glue finish shaping this wonder.
The "weak point" of the mod is probably using two mobile phone batteries connected in parallel. While it's not exactly "very" dangerous, I imagine it could be upgraded with a more integrated and complete solution. Once the Raspberry Pi Zero is active, the rest of the work is left to RetroPie, so the Game Boy platform becomes just another entry in a long list of emulations. Pokémon GO will have to excuse me, and I'd be lying if I said I don't want an NES Classic Mini, but this Game Boy mod is awesome.
