The $199 Chromatic Could Be the Ultimate Nintendo Game Boy

Before bringing VR headsets out of the Dark Ages with Oculus, before founding defense contractor Anduril, Palmer Luckey was a Nintendo Game Boy modder.

It’s true. There’s photographic evidence – and today he’s revealing his own version of the ultimate cartridge-based Nintendo Game Boy, one that you can actually buy for $199.

Shipping this holiday, the ModRetro Chromatic sounds incredible: magnesium alloy body, sapphire glass cover, PBT buttons, a pixel-perfect IPS screen the same size, resolution and pixel structure as the Game Boy and Game Boy Original color, color-matched to the Game Boy Color display – and with “well over a thousand” nits of brightness so you can play in the sun.

Not only does it contain an FPGA (like the famous Analogue Pocket) to play the real Game Boy and Game Boy Color carts as if you were playing them on the Nintendo original, but Luckey also says it will come with an authentic copy of Tetris as the original Game Boy often did. This is a new, fully licensed Tetris game developed in-house by the Luckey team, which features “reimagined versions of the iconic Tetris theme song” and a true Link Cable multiplayer mode.

Because yes, the Chromatic has a Link Cable port as well as a 3.5mm headphone jack and USB-C for “lag-free” video output. It lasts 24 hours on three standard AA batteries, Luckey tells me. While it will likely come with alkalines, there will also be an optional lithium-ion pack – and he tells me you can even charge your NiMH AA batteries via USB-C!

The audio is mono, like the original Game Boys, with a “custom ultra-powerful speaker module.”

Speaking of customization, Luckey tells me that the entire design is in-house, including the custom screen, which is so bright because it’s based on screens used in aviation. He says ModRetro isn’t doing anything as exotic as making its own chips, but in general the team has gone all out instead of making sound business decisions. “None of this makes business sense.”

Compared to the Analogue Pocket, says Luckey, “we’re actually authentic”:

The color temperatures are actually correct, the clock rate isn’t slightly off, the pixel structure isn’t totally wrong to the point of ruining sub-pixel sensitive sprites, etc.

He sent me this image to illustrate:

The handheld isn’t the only thing the ModRetro team will be selling: you can also buy original “Chromatic” cartridges with new games. Luckey promises a lot of things there: “fully physical re-releases and remasters of classic Game Boy titles, entirely new IPs from incredible independent developers, early releases of Game Boy games that were canceled before release, and even some titles which were cancelled. before the public discovers them. »

By the way, the Chromatic handheld doesn’t use ROM, not even in a roundabout way like the Analogue Pocket. It’s one cartridge only, Luckey says, unless you supply your own flashcart.

Luckey says he doesn’t know how long he’ll fund hardware manufacturing, hinting that quantities will be limited — although GameStop will also offer an unknown number. “I’ll make as many as I need to fulfill the pre-orders,” he tells me. “But this thing is too crazy to do forever.”

“I don’t see this as a way to make money, I see it as the way to pay the world’s best tribute to the Game Boy, something I will be proud of for a very long time.”

You know me: I’m making one.