An enterprising nerd has taken LEGO’s new Game Boy creation, performed some suitably geeky magic, and turned it into a real Game Boy.
LEGO has a bit of history when it comes to Nintendo hardware. The now-retired Nintendo Entertainment System set is a particular favorite of this writer, and yes, I popped a Raspberry Pi into the console and an LCD into the television for a bit of ’80s nostalgia and because it was a rainy weekend.
However, an enthusiast with the X handle @natalie_thenerd has gone a step further and crammed Game Boy hardware into the LEGO shell, including cartridge functionality.
It helps that LEGO’s interpretation is relatively faithful to Nintendo’s original, hence the screen and cartridge slot are both in the correct place and of roughly the correct dimensions.
The build process is documented on Natalie’s blog, and it’s an impressive example of creativity in a confined space – this isn’t a simple case of ripping the guts out of a sacrificial Game Boy or shoehorning in a Pi and a suitable screen.
In this instance, Natalie came up with a custom design and a suitably sized screen to fit into the limited space available (barely more than that needed for a game cartridge). Power comes from a USB-C connector in a custom 3D-printed brick, and the power switch is a soft-latching power button.
No, there’s no bank of AA batteries to die at the worst possible moment, but such concessions to modernity are easily forgiven. When the screen lights up and Tetris appears in a video on Natalie’s blog, it instantly transports this writer back twenty-five years.
The project is not quite finished. There’s no sound, and not all the controls are there yet. Natalie wrote: “I didn’t really know what the buttons on the Lego would be like, but the fact that they could be pressed was enough for me to know I could implement them. At the moment I have them wired up to custom 3D-printed *toy brick* parts.”
Sure, £50 should be enough to pick up a working secondhand original Game Boy, and LEGO’s set costs a little more than that. But an enthusiast has to factor in the cost of the components to make the set “real,” alongside the effort involved.
My set is due to arrive next week, and I know what I’ll be doing once Natalie’s project is complete. Why turn a LEGO Game Boy into a fully functional device? Because it’s there.
And I wouldn’t want it any other way. ®
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