Homemade capture card lets you record and stream directly from Nintendo's original Game Boy

In a nutshell: After showing off a custom cartridge that added Wi-Fi to the Game Boy earlier this year, Sebastian Staacks is back with another innovative idea for Nintendo's iconic handheld. The GB Interceptor is an adapter for the Game Boy that enables gameplay to be streamed to a computer over USB, much like a standard USB webcam. Staacks came up with the idea after being contacted by a Tetris enthusiast that needed a way to stream their gameplay for an online tournament.

The adapter is more or less a modified Raspberry Pi Pico. It sits in-line between the Game Boy and the game cartridge, kind of like a Game Genie. Unlike a Game Genie, the Interceptor does not influence gameplay at all. Your game still behaves as if the adapter was not there at all. It's a truly plug-and-play solution that requires no modification to the Game Boy.

Staacks even baked in a mode button to switch between grayscale and retro greenscale, and to enable or disable frame blending. You can even pair it with the Game Boy Camera and use it for Zoom meetings.

The GB Interceptor does have its limitations. For example, the video stream is capped at 29 frames per second and the adapter does not stream audio. The latter isn't a huge deal as you can just use a 3.5mm cable to deliver sound from the Game Boy's headphone jack to the line in jack on your computer.

Furthermore, the Interceptor is only compatible with classic Game Boy games. It does work with the Game Boy Color and the Game Boy Advance, but not with games made specifically for those handhelds.

The adapter could be used to play Game Boy games on a larger screen but it does introduce some lag (about 2-3 FPS), which is just enough to be annoying. As such, it's probably best left for streaming and recording purposes.

Additional limitations, as well as a deeper dive on how everything works, are available over on Staacks' website. Those interested in building their own version are encouraged to check out Staacks' build video and GitHub.

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