RPi-powered Gameboy Zero puts a twist on emulation

If you're any sort of gaming enthusiast, you'll probably already be familiar with the dozens upon dozens of DIY projects that try to recreate or at least emulate beloved classic consoles and handhelds. Most of these of their existence to the popular and powerful yet affordable Raspberry Pi. The Gameboy Zero from "wermy" however, is a cut above the rest. Yes, it practically crams a Raspberry Pi inside the chassis of an original Gameboy. But that's really the least interesting thing about it.

The custom cartridge is probably the most interesting part of the project. Here, a real classic Gameboy cartridge was reused. With some rewiring, coaxing, and Dremel, wermy was able to utilize an SD to microSD card adapter to actually provide the game to be read by the Raspberry Pi inside the console itself. So plug a microSD card containing a game into the cartridge and then slot the cartridge inside the Gameboy like the old days. Voila! Your choice of game in a Gameboy shell.

Yes, the entire setup runs Emulation Station, so any game from the NES generation all the way up to the Gameboy Advanced can be enjoyed here. However, that did present some problems in terms of controls, as the original Gameboy case only had two and only two buttons. Not only did two holes on the front needed to be added, but two holes at the back were also drilled to make way for buttons to emulate shoulder triggers.

The Gameboy Zero hack also boasts other amenities for modern gamers. Instead of the old monochrome of the original Gameboy, the screen supported a higher resolution and full colors to also better support the likes of the Gameboy Advanced. There's also a USB port for charging, a rechargeable lithium ion battery, and even HDMI out.

The Gameboy Zero is what you would probably call a modern classic, giving a nod to gaming's iconic handhelds while also looking towards the future. And fortunately for like-minded tinkerers, wermy extensively documented the journey so that you may, perhaps, also go down that road yourself.

VIA: Gizmodo