Hyperkin announces the Ultra GameBoy

IMG_6299.JPG

Hyperkin, a company reknown for making reproduction consoles like the Retron, have revealed their latest project; the Ultra GameBoy. Announced officially at CES 2018, the Ultra GameBoy sports an aluminum body, as opposed to the original GameBoy's plastic chassis, and most importantly, it has a backlit display.

Both original GameBoy and GameBoy Color cartridges will work with the system, and the handheld will include a lithium ion battery which can last up to six hours. That means no more having to deal with AA batteries! There will be a USB-C port as well, to charge the unit. Lastly, it'll feature stereo speakers on the unit, compared to the original GameBoy's mono speaker. Hyperkin claims that this is to allow chiptune musicians to use the system to create music.

The Ultra GameBoy is scheduled to release "later this summer", for a price of $100.

IMG_6300.JPG IMG_6301.JPG
:arrow: Hyperkin official site
 

godreborn

Welcome to the Machine
Member
Joined
Oct 10, 2009
Messages
38,471
Trophies
3
XP
29,105
Country
United States
I liked the retron 3, but the retron 5 just seems poorly made. the software in mine is really screwed up. I updated the software hoping that would fix it, but it brought on even more problems. I tried contacting hyperkin only to get no response. I did a little research, and someone said that when they contacted hyperkin, it took nearly a year to receive a response. I think I'll pass on this one.
 

cearp

瓜老外
Developer
Joined
May 26, 2008
Messages
8,721
Trophies
2
XP
8,470
Country
Tuvalu
GB Boy Colour(by kong feng) is a fraction of the price and does the same thing? There are various versions of it, some with built in battery, link cable support, built in games, great build quality etc
Gb boy has the wrong aspect ratio.
This new product has metal housing.
 

RedBlueGreen

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Aug 10, 2015
Messages
2,026
Trophies
1
XP
2,538
Country
Canada
In 1989, the original gameboy cost $89 at launch. Factoring in inflation and discounting the need for original r&d/platform dev/library/etc.. , this repro with an aluminium chassis at $100 today sounds fair.
It's far from fair. You can get a GB Boy Colour for like $30-40 which also has link cable support. I wouldn't pay an extra $60 just for aluminum casing.
 
  • Like
Reactions: cvskid

souler92

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Jan 5, 2017
Messages
394
Trophies
0
Age
32
XP
661
Country
Netherlands
todd howard would say: release another gameboy micro 2.0 xl

this is cool and all that stuff, but its cool for only 1/2 weeks. then itt'l just be dust catcher in the cabinet sigh...
 

Haymose

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Mar 24, 2014
Messages
426
Trophies
1
Age
33
XP
1,597
Country
United States
This could be an interesting device for chiptune makers. Will need to know more about the hardware because if it’s just a basic emulator then it’s pretty much useless for music.
 

pedro702

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Mar 3, 2014
Messages
12,713
Trophies
2
Age
33
XP
8,668
Country
Portugal
why not just buy an sp with backlight? plays gb,gbc an gba and its batery lasts 6 hours too, i see no point in this becuase it has no extras, if it readed micro sd so you could dump cartriges/saves and such then maybe but just a gbc with backlight that reads official cartriges? no point at all imo, just get an gba SP and you can even play gba games too...
 

Haymose

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Mar 24, 2014
Messages
426
Trophies
1
Age
33
XP
1,597
Country
United States
why not just buy an sp with backlight? plays gb,gbc an gba and its batery lasts 6 hours too, i see no point in this becuase it has no extras, if it readed micro sd so you could dump cartriges/saves and such then maybe but just a gbc with backlight that reads official cartriges? no point at all imo, just get an gba SP and you can even play gba games too...
I do agree to a certain extent. SP has no headphone jack making it useless for music, even with the adapter sound quality is less than ideal. Also the aspect ratio of gb/gbc games is different than advance games. You sacrifice quite a bit of screen size when playing gb/gbc games on an SP. I see a market for it, just not at its current price point.
 
  • Like
Reactions: cvskid

pedro702

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Mar 3, 2014
Messages
12,713
Trophies
2
Age
33
XP
8,668
Country
Portugal
I do agree to a certain extent. SP has no headphone jack making it useless for music, even with the adapter sound quality is less than ideal. Also the aspect ratio of gb/gbc games is different than advance games. You sacrifice quite a bit of screen size when playing gb/gbc games on an SP. I see a market for it, just not at its current price point.
yeah you can get a very cheap used gba sp and you can play all gba games its an huge plus.
 

wiewiec

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Dec 24, 2015
Messages
774
Trophies
0
Age
39
Location
Somewhere
XP
1,373
Country
Poland

Hyperkin, a company reknown for making reproduction consoles like the Retron, have revealed their latest project; the Ultra GameBoy. Announced officially at CES 2018, the Ultra GameBoy sports an aluminum body, as opposed to the original GameBoy's plastic chassis, and most importantly, it has a backlit display.

Both original GameBoy and GameBoy Color cartridges will work with the system, and the handheld will include a lithium ion battery which can last up to six hours. That means no more having to deal with AA batteries! There will be a USB-C port as well, to charge the unit. Lastly, it'll feature stereo speakers on the unit, compared to the original GameBoy's mono speaker. Hyperkin claims that this is to allow chiptune musicians to use the system to create music.

The Ultra GameBoy is scheduled to release "later this summer", for a price of $100.

:arrow: Hyperkin official site

I prefer standard AA batteries since also have option for use AA akku. I do not like facts that all of technology now use batteries that is non removable by user.
 
D

Deleted User

Guest
I don't imagine I'll be getting this one, thanks to my GBA SP lying around.

That being said, the system looks sleek af. They did a really good job of replicating the look and feel of the Game Boy, especially the Pocket model.
 

DigitalDeviant

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Feb 14, 2010
Messages
2,082
Trophies
1
Location
Solar Federation
Website
Visit site
XP
704
Country
United States
Their other products generally used an "on-a-chip" design, where the hardware would directly emulate the target system's hardware with no other OS overhead to go through, a bit like how those plug and play consoles that have NES or SNES games work.

Assuming this is anything like their other products, it's likely the same thing, so no actual OS is running. It's kind of like a combination of hardware clone and software emulation, without technically being one or the other. This generally means compatibility is pretty good, but it's probably not 100%, more like 98% or so.

As to the news, it's a nice price for a backlit GB Pocket I suppose, but I dunno if I'd buy one.

hmm, I've seen modded gameboy pockets with a front light for around that price on eBay. Is this really backlit?
 

Tom Bombadildo

Dick, With Balls
Member
Joined
Jul 11, 2009
Messages
14,573
Trophies
2
Age
29
Location
I forgot
Website
POCKET.LIKEITS
XP
19,185
Country
United States
hmm, I've seen modded gameboy pockets with a front light for around that price on eBay. Is this really backlit?
That's what Hyperkin claims and I see no reason to doubt it, backlit screens are cheapo to produce these days.

You can get backlight mods for the GBC/Pocket as well, though they're a bit more expensive than your average frontlight mod kit.
 
  • Like
Reactions: DigitalDeviant

the_randomizer

The Temp's official fox whisperer
Member
Joined
Apr 29, 2011
Messages
31,284
Trophies
2
Age
38
Location
Dr. Wahwee's castle
XP
18,967
Country
United States
Aren't Retron devices not only severely overpriced but also usually fairly inaccurate as far as emulation goes ?

Yeah, they're not accurate, in fact, the Cyber Gadget Retro Freak uses stolen Snes9x 2010 code (despite the fact they conveniently don't "remember" how they ended up with it). You can see glaring emulation glitches in YT video, like Final Fantasy 6 has emulation issues with the menu colors, just like Snes9x 2010, due to speed hacks. RetroN5 uses the same stolen Snes9x 2010 code, and they got pretty pissy when developers called them out on it. Ah yes nothing quite like selling non-commercially licensed emulator code, eh?

A modded Snes Classic is simply better than a Retron5 in terms of emulation accuracy.
 

chartube12

Captain Chaz 86
Member
Joined
Mar 3, 2010
Messages
3,921
Trophies
1
XP
2,280
Country
United States
Yeah, they're not accurate, in fact, the Cyber Gadget Retro Freak uses stolen Snes9x 2010 code (despite the fact they conveniently don't "remember" how they ended up with it). You can see glaring emulation glitches in YT video, like Final Fantasy 6 has emulation issues with the menu colors, just like Snes9x 2010, due to speed hacks. RetroN5 uses the same stolen Snes9x 2010 code, and they got pretty pissy when developers called them out on it. Ah yes nothing quite like selling non-commercially licensed emulator code, eh?

A modded Snes Classic is simply better than a Retron5 in terms of emulation accuracy.

stolen ha! most countries' law say you cant copy write digital code. ontop of that, these systems are heavily used by pirates. so to use the word stolen is a joke.
 

the_randomizer

The Temp's official fox whisperer
Member
Joined
Apr 29, 2011
Messages
31,284
Trophies
2
Age
38
Location
Dr. Wahwee's castle
XP
18,967
Country
United States
stolen ha! most countries' law say you cant copy write digital code. ontop of that, these systems are heavily used by pirates. so to use the word stolen is a joke.

You clearly missed the memo, it seems.

https://www.libretro.com/index.php/update-on-the-retro-freak-situation/

https://www.libretro.com/index.php/...-the-new-retro-emulation-industry-in-general/

But that's none of my business, you can't profit off of something that has a non-commercial license in the US. Also, the SCOTUS has deemed emulators legal due to the lack of copyright violation and the fact the code is reverse-engineered and original works, but I digress. RetroN, RetroBit, etc have been profiting off code they had no right to sell legally. In the US, you can't copyright hardware, either, so.... yeah. Keep defending RetroBit, RetroN and every other money-grubbing douche company that profits off of others without doing any work. A contractor, located in Hong Kong, has been providing these companies and selling them code illegally, so yeah, it's funny to see people support these products :lol:
 
Last edited by the_randomizer,

Site & Scene News

Popular threads in this forum

General chit-chat
Help Users
  • S @ salazarcosplay:
    @BigOnYa I think another reason to want to update is if the hfw is at the level of the fw
  • S @ salazarcosplay:
    you can sync trophies
  • BigOnYa @ BigOnYa:
    Yea that's what I'm sitting on now- 4.9, and it seems fine, have had no issues at all
  • S @ salazarcosplay:
    I don't know if people play online or such
  • K3Nv2 @ K3Nv2:
    My ps3 short circuited during a deep clean still salty about it after downloading 2tbs worth but SteamDeck okay with emulation still just can't run mgs4 worth shit
  • BigOnYa @ BigOnYa:
    Yea forgot bout trophies. They just silly to me. Just like the xbox achievements. Hey, to each they own tho.
  • K3Nv2 @ K3Nv2:
    It keeps players in touch with the game like a check list of things to do after they beat it
  • S @ salazarcosplay:
    @BigOnYa they ruined the gaming experience for me to be honest
  • S @ salazarcosplay:
    @BigOnYa Im not crazy about getting all of them, i feel like I have something to show for for the time put in
  • S @ salazarcosplay:
    @BigOnYa If you want to do rgh or 360 mod
  • S @ salazarcosplay:
    does it matter if you update your 360 or not before trying is it advisable or not
  • BigOnYa @ BigOnYa:
    Yea I don't pay attention to them really. Or do I try to 100% a game. I just play till story ends/ or I get the girl!
  • K3Nv2 @ K3Nv2:
    Bigonya uses his wiener to mod 360s
    +1
  • Xdqwerty @ Xdqwerty:
    Going to the water park, see ya
  • BigOnYa @ BigOnYa:
    You should update the 360 to newest dash before RGHing it yes. But not a big deal if you don't, you can install new dash/avatar updates after. It's just easier to do it auto online before, instead manual offline after.
  • BigOnYa @ BigOnYa:
    Have fun @Xdqwerty. If you see a chocolate candy bar floating in the water, don't eat it!
  • AncientBoi @ AncientBoi:
    :O:ohnoes: Y didn't U Tell ME that ALSO? @BigOnYa :ohnoes: 🤢🤮
    +1
  • BigOnYa @ BigOnYa:
    Does it taste like... chicken?
    +1
  • S @ salazarcosplay:
    @BigOnYa I wanted to ask you about your experience with seeing south park. Most of the people a bit younger like my younger brother and cousins that are a few younger than me that saw kids found south park funny because of the curse words, kids at school, that seemed like liking the show on a very basic level.

    I could not quite have a in depth discussion of the show.

    How was it for you? As an adult. What did you find the most interesting part about it. Did you relate to the parents of the kids and their situations. Was it satires, the commentary on society. The references on celebrities' and pop culture.
  • BigOnYa @ BigOnYa:
    I remember seeing the very first episode back in the day, and have watched every episode since. I used to set my VCR to record them even, shows how long ago.
  • BigOnYa @ BigOnYa:
    I just like any comedies really, and cartoons have always been a favorite of mine. Family guy, American Dad, Futurama, Cleveland Show, Simpsons - I like them all.
  • BigOnYa @ BigOnYa:
    South Park is great cause they always touch on relavent issues going on today, and make something funny out of it.
    +2
  • S @ salazarcosplay:
    @BigOnYa were you always up to date on the current events and issues of the time or were there issues that you first found out thru south park
  • BigOnYa @ BigOnYa:
    Most of the time yea I knew, I watch and read the news regularly, but sometimes the Hollywood BS stuff, like concerning actors slip by me. I don't follow most Hollywood BS (example: the Kardasians)
    BigOnYa @ BigOnYa: Most of the time yea I knew, I watch and read the news regularly, but sometimes the Hollywood BS...