Not everyone knows that before founding Oculus VR and creating Oculus Rift, Palmer Luckey his hobby was making modified versions of the Game Boy. After 17 years his efforts gave birth to the ModRetro Chromatica “Ultimate Game Boy”a highly customized version of the portable console designed for particularly demanding players, arriving during the Christmas period at the price of 199 dollars (185 euros) bundled with a new version of Tetris.
The term “definitive” is not an exaggeration at all, considering the quality of the materials. Starting from the outside, this device boasts a magnesium alloy body, the screen glass is made of sapphire crystal and the buttons are made of PBT (a material usually used for high-end keyboards). The display is an IPS screen with dimensions, resolution and pixel structure identical to those of the Game Boy, with colors adapted to the Game Boy Color screen and with brightness “well above 1,000 nits”, which allows you to play even under direct light Of sun. Under the body there is an FGPA processor to play all Game Boy and Game Boy Color cartridges.
Other details and where to buy Chromatic
As mentioned at the beginning, the Chromatic will be sold bundled with Tetrisa bit like what happened at the launch of the Game Boy in North America in 1989. However, this is not the original title, but rather a new licensed version developed internally by the Luckey team and which supports multiplayer.
In this regard the device uses a sort of LinkCable for playing with friends and has a 3.5mm jack input and a USB-C port as video output. The console is powered strictly by AA batteries, thanks to which an autonomy of approximately 24 hours is guaranteed. On the audio side we find a single speaker, like the original Game Boy, but it is a customized version with enhanced audio.
As far as Chromatic games go it is compatible with all original cartridges Game Boy and Game Boy Color, but not with ROMs. Not only that, some will also be published original “Chromatic” cartridges with new games and coming in the future, according to Luckey, “physical re-releases and remasters of classic Game Boy titles, completely new IPs from amazing indie developers, first-time releases of Game Boy games that were canceled before release and even some titles that were canceled before the public knew about them.”
As explained by Luckey, Chromatic is a project born out of passion and not to make a profit, so much so that in his opinion the construction materials are so expensive that choosing them “does not make sense at all from a business point of view”. For this reason he does not promise that it will remain on sale forever. In particular, he promised that he will finance the production to ensure that all pre-orders are fulfilled, but that “this thing is too crazy to be produced indefinitely”. In short, if you are interested you should buy one while you still have time.
In this regard, Chromatic is available for pre-order on the ModRetro portal at the price of 185.95 euros in English or Japanese version. The console will be available in seven colors: Inferno, Leaf, Bubblegum, Volt, Wave and Midnight. Orders will be processed starting from Christmas 2024. You can purchase it at this address.
