The GB Interceptor Allows You to Stream Your Favorite Game Boy Games Using the Original Hardware
Streaming retro games is becoming more and more popular. The trick is that it’s been hard and/or impossible to use original hardware for streaming some games. Many streamers use more modern hardware like an Analogue Pocket or emulators. However, for competitive gaming, that’s not always the best as gamers may have developed muscle memory for the original hardware. This was the case that Sebastian Staacks found for an online Tetris competition. Enthusiasts have practiced on original Game Boys but during the competition they were supposed to stream their gameplay which meant original hardware was out of the question. So, Staacks developed a solution.
The GB Interceptor allows you to use your original Game Boy, Game Boy Color, or Game Boy Advance to connect to a computer and stream your favorite Game Boy games. You can read a lot of the details on his official post or watch his video all about it. This is a really cool solution and Staacks does acknowledge that there are some problems with it still that need to be worked out. Also, it’s important to note that while you can use this with a GBC or GBA, you cannot play GBC or GBA games with the GB Interceptor.
If this looks cool to you, you can build your own GB Interceptor. What’s more, Staacks made a video walking you through the process of ordering and building the cartridge. You can find all the necessary files on a GitHub and I’ve included the instructional video below. Basically, you have to order the PCB from JLCPCB, get a case (you can 3D print one with a file he provides), get a few extra parts, and then do a little assembling. It honestly doesn’t look too bad. The key is that when you go to order the PCB, the minimum number you can order is five and when I went to get a quote, the total came out to about $150 for all five or $30 each. That’s really not bad, especially if you can get some friends to chip in on it.
Do you think that someone will get this working for GBC and GBA cartridges? Do you plan on building one of these GB Interceptors? I think this is really cool and would love to give it a go sometime if I can find some friends to order the PCB with.