GoKawiil
Tech News
FunnyPlaying has released the FPGB Mini, a handheld barely bigger than a Game Boy cartridge that uses FPGA hardware to emulate Game Boy games with near-perfect accuracy. It supports both physical cartridges and ROMs via microSD, features a 2.98-inch 800x720 IPS screen, and runs on an 1800 mAh battery for four to six hours of play. The standard price is $89, though early units sold for $69.
HIDIZS launched a Kickstarter for the AP30 Music Boy, a hi-res audio player styled after the classic Game Boy, seeking just $5,100. The campaign closed having raised roughly $504,311, nearly 99 times its original target, with shipping expected this October and late backers still able to join.
FunnyPlaying has released the FPGB Mini, a compact FPGA-based handheld that plays original Game Boy and Game Boy Color cartridges as well as ROMs from a microSD card. Priced at $69.99 for its first limited batch of 20 units, it undercuts the $239.99 Analogue Pocket significantly, though it lacks support for GBA or Game Gear cartridges.
Epilogue makes USB-C cartridge readers, the $50 GB Operator for Game Boy, Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance carts, and the $60 SN Operator for Super Nintendo and Super Famicom titles, with an N64 version in development. The devices connect real cartridges to Windows, Mac, Steam Deck, Xbox Ally or even phones, letting users back up save data and play games through companion Playback software that pulls the ROM and runs it in an emulator.
A retrospective analysis argues that Nintendo's worst-performing console wasn't the GameCube or Wii U, but the Virtual Boy, a mid-1990s system that was discontinued in less than a year and sold far fewer units than either of those later machines. Despite its poor reception at launch, the piece notes a recent resurgence has made the Virtual Boy more accessible to try today than it has been in decades.
A tech commentator reflects on childhood gaming and personal computer upgrades to argue that technological change, including today's AI boom, tends to follow a sigmoidal curve that levels off rather than an endless exponential rise toward a 'singularity.' The essay uses nostalgic anecdotes about Game Boys, RAM upgrades, and Call of Duty to frame a broader skepticism about hype-driven predictions of runaway AI advancement.