Retro-focused company Hyperkin, who is behind the Retron clone consoles, retro controllers and accessories for old game systems, announced at the 2018 Consumer Electronics Show that they will be bringing a new Game Boy system to market later this year. What exactly does their Game Boy Ultra do?
What’s old is new again
Clone consoles have been popular for many years now, with lots of companies putting together their own systems that play old game cartridges for multiple systems. In fact, Hyperkin’s own Retron 5 plays Game Boy carts.
Their upcoming Ultra Game Boy is a system that has the shape and form factor of the smaller Game Boy Pocket systems. The case is all aluminum, giving it a higher-end look and feel.
The screen is a backlit LCD that these games desperately need, otherwise you end up looking for just the right angle to get enough light to see the screen and avoid glare. Additionally, it gives you the option of many different shades of colors to suit your personal preference.
Rather than rely on external AA or AAA batteries, the Ultra Game Boy will use a rechargeable internal battery that lasts up to 6 hours before needing a recharge. The sound capabilities have been improved as well, boosting sound output to stereo compared to the old mono sound of the original machines. Additionally, there is an SD card slot meant for exporting chiptunes, which should be a welcome feature for any 8-bit music enthusiasts.
The price point has not been announced, though Hyperkin says it will come in at under $100 when it releases later this year.
Is this system needed?
While the Ultra Game Boy looks really cool and boasts some nice features, I’m not sure what problem this product is trying to solve. The truth is, most of the features boasted by the Ultra Game Boy are built into the Game Boy Advance SP — backlit screen, built-in rechargeable battery, support for Game Boy Advance games (we’re not sure if the Ultra even plays Game Boy Color carts) and not only are they widely available now, they only run about $40 or so.
While the Game Boy Ultra is a cool project, without more bells and whistles it seems like a product that’s trying to fill a void that’s already being filled. We’ll see, perhaps the price point will be right or there are more features we don’t know about yet. But at this point, I really don’t see the need to pick up this clone system.
What did you think? Do you think this is a cool new product or something that’s simply not needed? Let's discuss!
