26 Years Ago, Nintendo Released a Game Boy Cartridge With a Camera. Today, Someone Has Managed to Turn It Into a Webcam

More than one Nintendo fan likely remembers the Game Boy Camera (also known as Pocket Camera in Japan), a cartridge that could turn the Nintendo console into a camera. However, its resolution was quite low. Today, it’s mostly considered a collector’s item. Or a unique webcam, to say the least.

Retro is back. If you’re into modding and retro gaming, you’ve probably heard of the GB Operator. In short, it’s a cartridge reader for Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance games on the computer. With the mGBA emulator, you can use this device to play old cartridges, like The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap. Now, thanks to the GB Operator, developers have managed to unleash new photographic possibilities on the legendary console.

16 kilopixels The Game Boy Camera had a resolution of 16 kilopixels, which is equivalent to 128 x 112 pixels. It could store 30 monochrome photos and even create a stop-motion clip. The question is: What if you could make this old camera work in real-time and turn it into a webcam? Since the GB Operator can already retrieve photos from the Game Boy Camera, getting a real-time video feed might also be possible.

Said and done. Epilogue, the company behind GB Operator, has developed a way to do exactly that. “We now have a live feed from the Game Boy Camera, but still need to fine-tune some things and allow for configuration options. We wanted to share this update because it was exciting to see it finally work, and [we] can’t wait to see everyone having fun with it,” an Epilogue representative told Time Extension.

“It’s the worst and the best webcam you’ll ever have.”

Better than before. As The Verge reports, turning the Game Boy Camera into a webcam was already possible, but the process was complex. To complete it, you needed a Super Nintendo, a Super Game Boy cartridge, a composite to HDMI converter, and a video capture device for your computer. Epilogue’s approach is much simpler. However, using the Pocket Camera and its “glorious 16 kilopixels” to Zoom your bosses still doesn’t seem the greatest idea. You should use it just for the laughs.

Image | Unsplash| Epilogue

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