Millenials and kids of this generation have all the fun. I feel a little salty about it. I may may even be hating a little bit. I’m kidding, but truthfully speaking, this generation has the best of both worlds when it comes to gaming nowadays. They get to enjoy the games of current console and retro games via emulators, remakes or remasters that come out. It’s not just games though, more and more I’m seeing consoles that I grew up make a return in some fashion.
Consider the success of the Classic Nintendo and SNES last year. Sega’s Genesis and Atari consoles had been given a refresh by ATGames and from pictures that I’ve seen from CES there’s a Dreamcast retro console possibly coming soon. Why am I mentioning all of this? Recently I came across a game boy refresh that I’m super excited about from Hyperkin. If you’ve never heard of them then I’ll fill you in. They remake the early consoles and make it better. The Retron is the retro console all-in-one that they make and it’s seriously impressive. That’s the best way to describe what Hyperkin does. Personally, I’ve known of Hyperkin for quite a while and I’ve loved their stuff. I don’t own any of their hardware personally but now they have something that I MUST have.
As a kid, I can remember vividly when the Game Boy came out. It was incredible. You mean I play Nintendo like games on handheld device? I want one. Alas, it wasn’t meant to be. Back then if my memory serves me correctly, the Game Boy was about $100 which seems like nothing today but back then that was a lot of money to ask for a handheld gaming system especially when you consider that the NES itself cost about that much. So I was relegated to playing it in stores or whichever one of my friends had one. I was heartbroken. I’m a big boy now and finally I can afford to buy a Game Boy and if not for anything else other than nostalgia, I intend to get what Hyperkin has called the “Ultra” Game Boy although that name is not at all confirmed.
Cosmetically it’s not that much different. It appears to have relatively the same dimensions as the original Game Boy but this time it’s all aluminum and doesn’t require disposable batteries. It now has a 6-hour rechargeable battery via USB Type-C port, a backlit LCD screen, a pair of stereo speakers and a possible price point of $100 or less. If there’s a drawback it’s that you’ll have to go out and hunt for original cartridges to play. This is where it may get hard but it’s worth it if you want to experience what the Game Boy was like if you never have before. If you’re lucky enough to still have original games, even better. It’s definitely a must have and you’d want to get in on it before Nintendo decides that they want to bring back their own version of the Game Boy.
I had heard rumblings of the “Ultra” Game Boy a while back but had never seen it but the good people over a Gizmodo.com had some great pics and a brief breakdown of the Ultra Game Boy. Of course this not the first dive into a Game Boy style handheld. The Retro Bit had one that could play emulator ROMS and cartridges and various Raspberry Pi versions but the Hyperkin Ultra Game boy embodies the true retro feel of the original Game Boy.
