One of the smallest working Game Boy consoles may have just been created. Nintendo fans seem to gravitate towards modifying Game Boys and home consoles from The Big N, and the most recent example appears to have included a shrink ray of some sort. A modder has taken a keychain and stuffed an incredibly small Nintendo emulator inside.
The Game Boy is a beloved lineup of handheld consoles for many a Nintendo and video game fan. While the Nintendo DS took over and did incredibly well in terms of sales, the Game Boy has a nostalgic place in the hearts of many, and thus it also is a console that is popular to modify. This recent example is one of the most extreme.
YouTuber The Retro Future was able to get his hand on what he coins the "Game Boy Nano" (ironically the polar opposite of the jumbo Game Boy mod from a few days ago). The device itself is taken from the 26-1 GAME BOX Mini keychain, a novelty knockoff type toy that can be purchased online or on store shelves. However, a modder instead took the GAME BOX Mini, gutted it, switched out some buttons, and replaced it with a fully functional emulator able to play NES, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Sega Master System, ColecoVision, and Game Gear games.
As far as the specifications, the Game Boy Nano has wi-fi functionality, a 1.4-inch screen and a resolution of about 192 by 240. Meanwhile, it has 520KB of ram and comes with a 32GB micro SD card, and has a rechargeable battery. The device packs a punch for being so tiny, but it is a far cry from the rumored Nintendo Switch Pro.
This Game Boy Nano is about half of the size of the failed Game Boy Micro, the smallest released Game Boy console. Functionally, the "Nano" is almost too small to play any game realistically. While most games work, attempting fast reflexes in an arcade shoot 'em up, for example, is not realistic. A turn-based game like Pokemon, though, makes a little more sense.
Video game modders can often get into competitions with each other, as late last year there was a Nintendo 64 that was built to be the smallest in existence. In that case, however, the Nintendo 64 still played actual cartridges, instead of connecting to the internet and playing ROMs. There are all sorts of modifications, and in the case of this GAME BOX Mini turned Game Boy Nano, it is just entirely too small to be able to play a physical Game Boy cartridge of any sort.