Tech

GB Inceptor is a capture card that works on unmodified Game Boy units.

GB Inceptor is a DIY video capture (do it yourself or do it yourself) for the first Game Boy that was released three decades ago and is also compatible with the Game Boy Color. The good thing about the GB Inceptor is that it doesn’t seem like it requires you to open the console, instead it’s a device that fits into the cartridge slot and in turn makes another slot available for games.

As we have already said, the GB Inceptor inserts into cartridge slot and according to its creator, Sebastian Staacks, it works on unmodified Game Boy units. Once connected, provides a USB interface that is responsible for transmitting the image from the console to the PC as a mirror (or at least that is one of the modalities). The developer has shown a game of the mythical Tetris transmitted from the first Game Boy to a PC running Linux Mint and using VLC for video capture.

Basically, the GB Inceptor consists of a custom circuit board with a Raspberry Pi RP2040 microcontroller as the brain and a Game Boy-compatible connector. At the software level, it is capable of emulating the Game Boy’s processor and graphics processing unit to recreate the video RAM that is used for capture and transmission. Once the capture card is connected to the PC, it is identified as a webcam, which should make it easy to stream and record video, as well as being compatible with capture solutions like OBS Studio. For now, and possibly to the surprise of some, it seems that for now it is only compatible with Linux, although it cannot be ruled out that it will work at least on Windows in the future.

Sebastian Staacks has posted documentation, PCB, firmware and instructions on how to order and build the GB Inceptor, plus more details on his blog, there should be. Of course, despite being apparently simpler than other similar solutions, the developer insists on posting a disclaimer for the possible damages that his invention may cause.

GB Inceptor is not something revolutionary in itself, but considering the possibilities that it holds, it can be a good invention for streamers who want to use the original hardware instead of using emulators, although Nintendo will surely already be on the lookout to knock down any content that does not conform 100% to the draconian restrictions that it has established around its intellectual properties.



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