Pop Culture | Video Games | 90s

The SmartBoy Turns Your Phone Into A Fully-Working Game Boy And We Need It

Nintendo / Hyperkin

If you loved video games during the 90s, you almost definitely had some version of the Game Boy. Released in 1989, the little grey brick took the world by storm by being the first portable game console that didn't just come with one game built in!

Nintendo

Now you could take all of your favorite games with you wherever you went (so long as you had the AA batteries to keep it running of course)! We didn't even care that the graphics were black and white against a neon green screen.

Nintendo

It soon got a redesign into the smaller and sleeker Game Boy Pocket, which then got turned into the Game Boy Color, which let you play all sorts of new games in full color!

Nintendo

Of course, the Game Boy wasn't without its problems. The screen was absolutely tiny, and feels even moreso when you go back and play it today. Most of all though, none of these systems had a backlit screen, meaning you either had to play in a really bright room or buy an attachable light that only kinda worked.

Vic Tokai

Wouldn't it be awesome if you could, I dunno, play your Game Boy cartridges on something that already has a built in back-light and an HD screen, but also have the same buttons and feel like the system you used to love?

Tumblr

Well, turns out Hyperkin thought the same thing, because they've just introduced something that lets you do just that; the SmartBoy.

But what is the SmartBoy you might ask? Click to the next page to find out!

The SmartBoy is an attachment for your phone that attaches to your smartphone, lets you load your Game Boy cartridges via its own unique app, and then lets you play them with a combination of real buttons and your phone's bright HD screen!

Hyperkin

From the looks of it, the SmartBoy is pretty simple to use. You install the app, open up the locking sides, connect the bottom of the device to your phone's USB-C connector, lock it in place, and you're good to go! You just insert a Game Boy or Game Boy Color cartridge and the app takes care of the rest!

Hyperkin

While the SmartBoy was built with Samsung devices in mind, Hyperkin has provided a list of nearly 30 Android phones guaranteed to work with it on their website.

Hyperkin

The SmartBoy will retail for $50 US and is set to release on August 21, 2017.

Are you interested in the SmartBoy? Let us know in the Facebook comments!

More Throwbacks

Video Games

Universal Studios Has Apparently Started Building The Nintendo Park And We're Screaming

While it's been known since 2015 that Nintendo was teaming up with Universal to create a park that would give all of us a chance to explore our dream worlds, it's been a long time before we got any news. But now, three years later, Universal has finally started building. I know, I'm screaming too. The best thing about this park is that while the first one is getting built in Japan, they aren't stopping at one. The Nintendo theme park will be coming to both Orlando AND Hollywood. That means we don't have to take these huge international trips

Video Games

Rumors Claim N64 Classic Console To Be Announced Soon, Here's What We Know So Far

Apparently the announcement of whether or not the N64 Classic will exist isn't what we need to be worried about, it's more of a when will it be coming out. Nintendo's just had a big showcase called Nintendo Direct that highlights all of their upcoming projects, and many sources claimed that it would be the day that the official details of the N64 classic would be released.Nintendo Direct is a big deal every year for gamers, and with this year's release of the new Super Smash Bros. game, fans have good reason to celebrate. But right now, people are

90s

Your Favorite 'Mario Kart 64' Character Reveals The Truth About Your Personality

Playing Mario Kart was one of the most important things that you could do as a child. It was how you were going to develop that mental acuity needed in your day-to-day life. Sure, you could learn some things at school, but Mario Kart taught us problem solving in ways that were actually fun. You learned how to wait until someone was going over the big jump in Wario's Stadium before you used your lightning power, you learned where the glitches and cheats were, and most importantly, you developed a bond with one of the characters.Anyone who has played

Video Games

Sony Is Bringing Back The Original PlayStation Just In Time For Christmas

It can't be easy to try and create a video game platform, especially one that people will continue coming back to for years. While we know people have gone completely bonkers over the Nintendo and Super Nintendo rereleases, apparently other old gaming systems have been keen to follow up. After a few years of watching their competition dominate the market, Sony has now decided to step into the ring and bring back their very first PlayStation console. PlayStation was first released in 1994, making it 23 years old this year. Thanks to games like Driver, Spyro the Dragon, and Twisted

Video Games

Duck Hunt "Secret" Is Going Viral Thanks To Seth Rogen

Duck Hunt is one of those games that managed to become an all-time favorite even though the premise was so simple. All you needed to do was shoot the ducks using that big ol' controller, but it was still super tricky. We all played it a lot though, whether it was because the game was actually fun or if it was because it was our only option, we can't ever be sure. The game may have come out in America in 1987, and was so popular it was actually added to more modern systems as a downloadable game. But there's

Pop Culture

The History of Roulette

Roulette is well-known as a classic casino game in both land-based and online casinos. It is based on the fundamentals of placing a bet to see where a ball will land once the wheel is spun. Offering a thrilling and elegant kind of entertainment, it has been popular for many years. But what are its origins, and how has it developed? Beginning of the Roulette WheelThere are various tales of where the Roulette wheel has its origins. The name itself points to where it was born; ‘roulette’ means ‘small wheel’ in French. Some sources date the formation of the game