Nintendo chips make this Lego Game Boy upgrade set the most authentic

Race to do Lego Boy game Play actual Game Boy games that are over before they even begin. On the same day that Lego officially launched the set, Natalie is a nerd She revealed that she had actually converted it to run real Game Boy cartridges on real Game Boy chips.

Turns out it doesn’t stop there! Natalie is now working on complete upgrade kits for the Lego Game Boy – no soldering required – and partnering with Mass display maker market To handle logistics. She warns that this wont Be something you want to play every day, but still make it real.

She invites her group Build a boyThe fully pre-welded version should really “get in and play,” she says. It’s a specially designed board that has everything you need outside of the cubes, including:

Natalie confirms that Edge They plan to offer an optional glass lens if you hate the plastic window that Lego uses to cover the screen — and they may also offer some sort of Video output So you can play on a TV or other external monitor, although that’s not guaranteed. She’s not sure how to produce the video yet. “It’s possible it’s over Wi-Fi if it doesn’t affect performance,” she told me.

While the original Game Boy offered a 160 x 144 10:9 aspect ratio display, Natalie says a 320 x 320 display will simply upscale the original images by 2x while keeping its relative shape and size the same.

Natalie doesn’t plan to connect the Link Cable port for multiplayer play – “I personally don’t care about the Link Cable?
,” she tells me — but she says she will “probably” leave a pin so mods can add their own.

As for the chip harvest, Natalie says she’s been able to buy damaged Game Boy Pockets in bulk, since they’re the “unloved brother” of the Game Boy family, but she doubts she’ll have enough to meet demand. If you have a Game Boy Pocket donor machine yourself, they’ll also sell a version that requires only the CPU and RAM for about $60. You will also be selling a completely DIY version for the “soldering iron geeks” out there. It will also continue to release files for free.

It’s not yet clear how much the full package will cost, given Trump’s tariffs. “I’m aiming for $99, but you know how the world is right now,” she wrote. It hopes to start selling them in early 2026, and says it should receive its first test panels this very week.

Natalie’s set won’t be the only way to play the Lego Game Boy for real.

While it’s a huge accomplishment to have an entire physical Game Boy game shrink down to the size of a Game Boy cartridge, others are coming close – Mudra Hero Satoh I’ve been showing off Excellent version of the Game Boy Color on Instagram He uses real cartridges, although he told me it requires a lot of modifications to the Lego “shell” and he’s not sure he’ll fire the set himself. Generally, Satoh sells one-off products for a commission.

Meanwhile, BrickBoy competition set It may be the easiest and most sustainable way to power a Lego Game Boy yet. It runs ROMs on an emulator, not actual cartridges on actual chips, but no Game Boy pockets will be harmed in the making of this kit. We’re still waiting to share the cost, however, as it will launch on Kickstarter on October 28.