There are a few caveats in this story - technically speaking, the game isn’t “running” on the Game Boy itself. That would be well and truly ludicrous, as even though GTA 5 isn’t exactly a new game, it would be outright impossible to make it run on hardware with the Game Boy’s capabilities - especially if the handheld itself is unmodified, as it is in this case.
Even so, it’s an impressive feat of hardware modding, as something that Sebastian Staacks did alter is a game cartridge for the handheld. To be precise, Staacks modified a Game Boy game cartridge to be a jury rigged Wi-Fi adapter. Getting an original, unmodified Game Boy to become Wi-Fi capable is a pretty serious feat, though the creator did call it one of the most “useless” things they’ve ever built. That might be because the cart takes up the only slot, so you can’t really use it for play. Unless… This is where GTA 5 comes into the picture - the Wi-Fi cartridge was needed to take advantage of the steadily proliferating game streaming technology that most of the big publishers have been so excited about recently. Thanks to that little Wi-Fi cartridge, Staacks could stream GTA 5 running on a PlayStation to the Game Boy, which would display the game with stunning dot matrix graphics at around 20 frames per second, which is honestly a lot more than we would have expected. What’s more, the Game Boy’s buttons actually supply input, allowing limited control of the game. Nintendo’s classic and beloved handheld isn’t the only device which supports the Wi-Fi cartridge - the Analogue Pocket nostalgia console is also compatible, albeit with a few graphical glitches that aren’t present with the original hardware. So what’s the point of all this? Very little beyond novelty - this is hardly an ideal way to experience GTA 5, but it is fascinating that it is possible in the first place, much like how nobody would actually play DOOM on fridge, but they’re determined to make it work anyway. Funny as seeing GTA 5 on a Game Boy is, this is perhaps the most effective demonstration of the benefits of streaming services - while many valid concerns about their effects on the industry and its own economy have been raised, in a world where hardware is so difficult to source and expensive, streaming is a much needed alternative that makes games accessible to many who otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford the hobby. This also goes to show just how ridiculously accessible streaming makes games - sure, Staacks had to hack together a Wi-Fi cartridge and do more, which you can read about on his blog, but we’re still seeing evidence that you essentially just need a device with a screen and some buttons and you can play just about anything. We can’t help but wonder, though - does it run Crysis?
