A webcam for retro lovers
If you have a YouTube channel whose name is Retro Game CouchIt is clear that most of your content is going to be related to the retro world, with all those devices and software that gave way to many of the things that we now see as normal in our technological day to day.
Well, that is what happens to this user who has manufactured a very particular webcam to use in applications such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meets, etc. And it will not be the highest quality webcam on the market or the most suitable for streaming, but it cannot be denied that the style it offers with that 8-bit video game touch is unique.
Creating a webcam for 8-bit video calls
To create this particular webcam that will allow you to give a very different touch to your video calls, you will not need great knowledge of electronics or go around soldering different components to a Raspberry Pi Zero type board or similar.
The only thing that you will have to have is a series of components that due to their release date are already somewhat difficult to get in good condition. Although if you have a bit of patience and know how to search in forums and second-hand pages as well as other types of stores, you will surely achieve it and without having to pay a lot for them.
These elements, as you have already seen in the video above, are the following:
- A Game Boy Camera (accessory released in 1999)
- The Super Game Boy cartridge that allows you to use the cartridges of the laptop and in particular this accessory in the Super Nintendo
- A Super nintendo where obviously you are going to connect the cartridge and the camera
- Video signal converter analog to digital for HDMI output
- HDMI Video Capture. There are many inexpensive options here and we ourselves reviewed a super inexpensive HDMI grabber that performs very well.
Ready, once you have all these components you simply have to connect it and then go to your video calling application to configure that incoming video signal through the capturer as if it were the one that would capture a webcam.
Ok, you are not going to get the best image quality, we do not think you are going to use a webcam as particular as this for your Twitch broadcasts, but really this is more of a why not to do it than something practical for day to day. Although it must be admitted that it must be fun to see the reaction of your colleagues to see you with that particular aspect with 8-bit graphics.
