Play Game Boy cartridges on your computer with this $50 accessory

Shawn Knight

Posts: 15,294   +192
Staff member
In brief: Devices like the Analogue Nt and the Duo have led to a recent resurgence in retro gaming, a trend we’re seeing trickle down to smaller manufacturers. One such example is Epilogue, who recently started accepting pre-orders for its GB Operator.

Epilogue likens the GB Operator to a cartridge slot for your computer. With it, users can play Game Boy, Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance cartridges on their computer just as they would on original hardware. It’s even compatible with the Game Boy Camera accessory, should you still happen to have one of those lying around.

The device’s creator says its cross-platform desktop application (Windows, Mac and Linux) is based on mGBA, an open-source Game Boy Advance emulator that’s been around for years, but adds that users are free to utilize their favorite emulator as well.

GB Operator is even reportedly able to detect counterfeit cartridges, an added perk for those looking to amass a collection of original carts.

Non-Nintendo hardware used to play Game Boy carts isn’t new, mind you, but they’re also somewhat hard to come by. Analogue announced its Pocket handheld in 2019 but we’re still waiting for it to hit the market. Hyperkin was also working on a Game Boy remake years ago, but I’m not certain if it ever launched.

The GB Operator is available to pre-order now priced at $49.99 plus shipping, and is expected to go out sometime in August.

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Nintendo is on board with this? Hmm...

I don't believe they'll have any kind of legal grounds to stop them: It literally plays original cartridges. What are they going to do, void the games warranty? They're 20 to 30 year old cartridges.

And FYI you can already buy numerous consoles that use emulation to play actual cartridges, they're usually stand alone so have their own small dev board based computer to run a variety of classic cartridges like NES, SNES, Genesis, etc. All in one unit.

This one just sells you the reader without a dev board on it you use your PC to emulate: 100% protected under fair use.

Not to say Nintendo might not *try* to stop them but they usually know it's a lost battle to attempt to squash these efforts.
 
Oh look, yet another gadget aimed at milking nostalgia that will be used exactly once and then collect dust forever.
 
I don't believe they'll have any kind of legal grounds to stop them: It literally plays original cartridges. What are they going to do, void the games warranty? They're 20 to 30 year old cartridges.

And FYI you can already buy numerous consoles that use emulation to play actual cartridges, they're usually stand alone so have their own small dev board based computer to run a variety of classic cartridges like NES, SNES, Genesis, etc. All in one unit.

This one just sells you the reader without a dev board on it you use your PC to emulate: 100% protected under fair use.

Not to say Nintendo might not *try* to stop them but they usually know it's a lost battle to attempt to squash these efforts.

Nintendo are scum, don't put it past them to try and ruin this.
 
I have been playing Pokémon gold on my phone for years. I own the game so I don't feel bad about "pirating" it but the save battery died in the cartridge
Pokemon was one of the game of my childhood. I had a few of them as well. But leveling is just so fast on emulator 🤣
 
Pokemon was one of the game of my childhood. I had a few of them as well. But leveling is just so fast on emulator 🤣
I printed out a guide for Pokémon gold when I was a kid(We didn't have tablets and smartphones as an FYI to all the zoomers). I have fond memories of sitting by my friends pool playing Pokémon gold on my Gameboy color.
 
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