The Game Boy Camera, a 16-kilopixel (yes, you read that right — 16,000 pixels) digital camera cartridge that attaches to the Game Boy, now works with PCs via the GB Operator dock made by Epilogue. This sleek device connects to Windows, macOS, and Linux devices via USB-C and the Playback software, allowing you to play Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance titles from your existing cartridges.
Hello from the team in glorious 16 kilopixels 👋🏻! Coming soon to a GB Operator near you. pic.twitter.com/nFjiQxn9DOJuly 2, 2024
This isn't the first time that someone attempted to turn the toy camera into a webcam for a modern PC, as Retro Game Couch built a system using the Game Boy Camera, the Super Game Boy adapter for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), an actual SNES, an AV to HDMI upscaler, and an HDMI capture card. While this system works to allow your PC to use the Game Boy Camera, it's quite a janky build with a lot of moving (and expensive) parts.
There's also the GB Interceptor, which is an adapter that you install on a Game Boy device which then accepts the Game Boy camera. While it lets you use your Game Boy Camera as a webcam, it still requires an actual Nintendo handheld console to use it, which could be hard to come by if you already don't own a functioning one.
I've used my #GameBoy #Camera with the #Interceptor by @diconx as a Webcam before <3Can't wait to try it with the #GBOperator ;) pic.twitter.com/EXP29abnZVJuly 3, 2024
On the other hand, the GB Operator acts like a small dock and is barely larger than the Game Boy cartridges it reads. This makes it much more convenient to use, and if you pair it with a Windows tablet like the Copilot+ Microsoft Surface Pro, you can take your lo-fi photography on the go. Unfortunately, Playback isn't supported yet on Android, iOS, or iPadOS, meaning you won't be able to use the GB Operator on your mobile devices.
Although the dock has been around since 2021, the Epilogue team took over three years to bring Game Boy Camera compatibility with the GB Operator. Nevertheless, it seems that this functionality has finally worked, with the team even posting a short video on X showing the grainy, low-res feed from the camera cartridge.
The Camera Viewer for the GB Operator seems to be still on its alpha build, and the app needs to be fine-tuned and configuration options enabled. Even so, it will excite the wider retro community, as we can finally find more use for the toy camera cartridge Nintendo made for the Game Boy handhelds and make it easier to share the images and memories we capture with it.
