A Complete Windows 10 Computer Was Crammed Inside of This Game Boy
Left4alan wanted to be able to play real PC games everywhere he went, so he crammed an entire Windows 10 computer into a Game Boy case.
While the Nintendo Game Boy wasn’t the first handheld console ever made, it almost single-handedly created the market. When it was released in 1989, gamers suddenly had the ability to play good games no matter where they were. Since then, Nintendo has released a number of other handheld consoles that have pushed the market to astounding heights—particularly with the Nintendo Switch and its ability to play “real” games on the go. But if you want to play PC games on a handheld, you’re still mostly out of luck. That’s why Redditor Left4alan crammed a complete Windows 10 computer into a Game Boy shell.
The computer used for this project definitely isn’t comparable to a modern gaming PC and it isn’t capable of running many recent releases aside from 2D indie games. But it can run a lot of older PC games. Left4alan reports that it can run most games from 2008 and earlier, including Halo 2, Half-Life 2, Left 4 Dead 2, and many others. Modern triple-A games may be out, but there are many of those older games that are still a ton of fun to play. Steam can also be installed, which provides access to a huge catalog of new indie games that should run just fine on this handheld.
This project is based around an Intel stick PC that contains an 8350 Atom CPU, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage. There is no dedicated graphics card, so this relies on the integrated GPU. Left4alan added a LiPo battery that is good for 5 hours of gaming and a 3.5” LCD screen. At this time, there is no built-in speaker, so headphones are required for audio. Input control is through a small mouse trackball and a d-pad that acts as the WASD keys.
That is a lot of hardware to fit inside of a Game Boy case, even one as big as the original Game Boy. That forced Left4alan to make some serious modifications to the case (don’t worry, it was an aftermarket case). The most notable modification was a sort of spacer that dramatically increases the thickness of the case. Copious amounts of epoxy resin were used to patch up the case after the modifications. It isn’t the cleanest case mod we’ve seen, but it is functional. Most importantly, Left4Alan now has the ability to play actually PC games when he’s out and about.