Game Boy as a mini PC, discovered a peripheral after 28 years

The Game Boy was one of the most incredible portable consoles ever that kicked off the idea of ​​Nintendo portability. It was marketed in 1989 and was developed as a true successor to that Game & Watch produced in the early 1980s. The Game Boy was an incredible success with 118 million units sold, almost triple its predecessor. In addition to the console, the package included stereo headphones, the Game Link cable for multiplayer and the Tetris cartridge, an incredible title that made millions of players fall in love all over the world. After 28 years, the WorkBoy peripheral for Game Boy was found. But what is it?

It is in effect a Game Boy accessory that transforms the console into a real mini PC. The device included 12 applications including an address book, a calculator and a calendar. Is Liam Robertson of DidYouKnowGaming sharing this discovery? who told the story of this device lost in time. This is not a third-party accessory, but on the contrary, Nintendo itself licensed it more than twenty years ago. It was in fact conceived by Source Research and Development and produced by Fabtek Inc in collaboration with the Japanese company.

WorkBoy, this is the name of the device, was invented in 1992 and many newspapers talked about it at the time. Robertson was able to contact Eddie Gill, the creator of the Game Boy peripheral, who revealed all the secrets to him. First, it was supposed to be released in late 1992 or early 1993 for about $ 79-89, but before the release there were several issues that inevitably blocked the release, and the project was later canceled from existence. .

Gill further explained that there were only two prototypes in circulation, one, according to him, hidden in the large "Nintendo safe", the other in the hands of the founder of Fabtek. Contacted the founder, Robertson was able to receive the device and then try it out. After various searches he managed to connect the WorkBoy with his Game Boy thanks to the discovery of a particular ROM. Installed this on an empty cartridge, the device started working. Above we have in fact left the photo that testifies to everything, we admit that it is a sensational discovery. The project never went through due to the high costs, so the Japanese company decided to move on to something else. Gill subsequently created a new device inspired by the Work Boy bought by Nokia for the Nokia 9000 series, presented at CeBIT in 1996. The Nokia 9000 was the first mobile phone with an extended keyboard that allowed sending and receiving emails.

What do you think of this news? Were you aware of this Game Boy peripheral that has never seen the light? Let us know with a comment below in the dedicated section. As always, we invite you to stay tuned to our pages for all the news in the videogame field.

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