Game Boy is respawning thanks to Hyperkin

Despite the success of the Switch, Nintendo’s older consoles have seen a resurgence in interest recently. With the NES and the SNES Classic Mini proving immensely popular, it’s unsurprising that fans are wondering which classic console will be re-released next.

It turns out it’ll be the Game Boy. It just won’t be Nintendo that releases it. Peripherals manufacturer Hyperkin has revealed its own revamped Game Boy at CES 2018 and says it plans to have it on sale later this year.

The device is still in development, so for now Hyperkin has dubbed it the Ultra Game Boy, which actually seems to be a very fair description. Though it’s certainly recognisable as a Game Boy (actually it reminds us more of the compact Game Boy Color design than the original Game Boy), it improves on it in a few different ways. 

Game on

Instead of a bright plastic casing, for example, Hyperkin’s model has a slick aluminium case. The volume and contrast dials that appeared on the original will also feature here, but they’ll be joined by a third dial that’ll be used to adjust the new backlit LCD display. Not a fan of the modern backlight? Don’t worry, you’ll be able to turn it off. 

Other improvements include a six-hour battery that can be charged via USB-C, two stereo speakers, and audio-out connections on the left and right.

Unlike Nintendo’s remakes, this console won’t come with pre-installed games so you’ll need to dig out your old Game Boy and Game Boy Color cartridges if you want to play. If you’re thinking about getting some new ones, we’d get on it now – we have a funny feeling re-sell prices are about to start soaring. 

This isn’t the first time Hyperkin has shown some love for the Game Boy. Before now, the company released Smart Boy, a device that was able to effectively transform your phone into a Game Boy with cartridge support and all.

No official price or release date has been announced yet, but Hyperkin hopes to release the Ultra Game Boy by late summer 2018 for under $100. 

• Via Gizmodo

• New year, new tech – check out all our coverage of CES 2018 straight from Las Vegas, the greatest gadget show on Earth 

January 10, 2018 at 04:35PM
Emma Boyle