In response, Hyperkin announced that they’re making the Smart Boy a real item. The Smart Boy mockup posted this week boasts a familiar Game Boy Color layout, with a D-Pad, two action buttons, and the classic Start and Select buttons. While outfitted with an authentic Nintendo design, the Smart Boy draws power from the phone itself, giving gamers 5 hours of play time on a full charge.
With Nintendo itself moving towards smartphones and tablets, Hyperkin may have stiff competition if they start introducing old games onto the smartphone market. However, this isn’t Hyperkin’s first rodeo. In the past, Hyperkin produced items like the Retron 5 console, which is capable of playing Game Boy Advance, SNES, NES, Genesis and Famecom games on one system. Given Hyperkin’s background with hybrid consoles, it’s not surprising that the Smart Boy sounded like a good idea to the manufacturer.
The developers at Hyperkin were overwhelmed by the Smart Boy’s positive response, and made the decision to go ahead with the project shortly after their mockup went viral. As they revealed:
Since the iOS Marketplace doesn’t allow unlicensed console emulators, this will allow Hyperkin to access a very specific subset of nostalgic gamers. Hyperkin has stated that, while the Smart Boy has only been announced for the iPhone 6 Plus, they’re looking into producing the accessory for other mobile phones.
What do you think about the Smart Boy, Ranters? Would you like to get your hands on one?
Source: Hyperkin
