It, naturally, comes with Tetris.
Fun Fact: way, way back, before the defense company, before Oculus, before all of it, Palmer Luckey was a Game Boy modder. And that has come full circle with his newest project, a Game Boy beyond other Game Boys, called the Chromatic.
For $199, you can get the Chromatic. And what does that 200 dollaridoos get you? Well probably the absolute king of all Game Boys. From the Chromatic’s product page:
- Compatible with Game Boy®, Game Boy Color®, and Chromatic cartridges
- World’s only 160×144 pixel sunlight readable backlit display
- Super scratch-resistant sapphire front crystal
- Magnesium alloy shell
- Ultra-durable PBT buttons
- Share gameplay moments with USB video out
- FPGA-based emulation to play games exactly as their creators intended
And that’s not all. It comes with a high-quality mono speaker (in keeping with the design of the original Game Boy), as well as 3.5mm audio out. Speaking of output, it can output lagless video via USB C. It has a link cable port, backwards compatible IR link, Hell, it comes with 3 AA batteries. And if you want, you can swap those out for a custom lithium ion pack, which can be recharged through the console. Oh, and it even comes with a copy of Tetris; specifically, a version made from the ground up for the Chromatic.
It pretty much blows the Analogue Pocket completely out of the water, and for $20 less. As a matter of fact, as Luckey himself points out in the video on the ModRetro site, this isn’t exactly a financially viable product. It’s a tribute, a love letter to one of the most influential handhelds ever produced.
And while you’re there picking up your Chromatic, you may as well get some games, too. In addition to the bespoke version of Tetris, ModRetro also has several new game carts for sale.
We will also be launching all-physical re-releases and remasters of classic Game Boy® titles, entirely new IP from incredible indie developers, first-time launches of Game Boy® games that were canceled before release, and even some titles that were canceled before the public ever found out about them.
That said, such a piece of kit can’t sell forever (especially as there doesn’t seem to be much, if any, margin). Luckey plans to fund production long enough to fulfill pre-orders. Some will also be available, in limited quantities, at GameStop. As he told The Verge’s Sean Hollister:
I am going to make as many as I need to fulfill preorders. But this thing is too crazy to make forever.
I don’t see this as a way to make money, I see it as the way to make the world’s best tribute to the Game Boy, something that I’ll be proud of for a very long time.
Palmer Luckey
The Chromatic may just be the ultimate Game Boy. And it ships this holiday season.
Source: The Verge
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