Real-Time Video Streaming on Nintendo Game Boy Color Using Raspberry Pi Pico

Just a few days back, a YouTuber known as ChromaLock shared an intriguing new hardware project on his channel. This time, he has crafted a Game Boy Color that can play videos through its original link cable by employing a Raspberry Pi Pico along with some cleverly optimized custom software.

Now, here’s what’s interesting: the simplicity of the video content directly affects playback speed. With simpler clips, you get an impressive frame rate, showing off a surprising clarity and fluidity that even surpasses what you might capture with a classic Game Boy Camera. However, most videos run better in monochrome due to the Game Boy Color’s restricted 160 x 144 display and limited four-color palette, which makes color videos quite the challenge.

ChromaLock has created a practical tool for this setup, called CGBLinkVideo, which is available on GitHub. It taps into the power of a Raspberry Pi Pico, the Game Boy Color, and that trusty link cable. Even though the compression scales video down to 1 MB per second, the Link Cable’s threshold is just 64 KB per second. As a result, the video frames endure heavy compression, often leading to frequent dropped or split frames. Despite these hurdles, the video playback manages to function relatively well.

In his full video, ChromaLock doesn’t just show off his gadgetry; he details the software development that went into overcoming the Game Boy Color’s limitations. With grayscale or monochrome, videos can reach an impressive 60 FPS, but when color enters the picture, that drops significantly to around 12 FPS.

Game streaming using this setup was also explored. Yet, running even simple original Game Boy titles pales compared to their native performance. Modern games like Doom Eternal, with their high graphics demands, become utterly indistinguishable, thanks to the antique and tiny Game Boy Color screen.

What fascinated ChromaLock most about this venture was proving that the notably complex Touhou Project music video, “Bad Apple,” could be played smoothly on a Game Boy Color. Given that this video is already monochrome, hitting 60 FPS isn’t just a pipe dream—it’s achievable. Although, the method gives rise to notable dithering due to the streaming process.

If you’re a tech enthusiast or just love gaming nostalgia, this project by ChromaLock is worth checking out. It’s a testament to what’s possible when ingenuity meets classic gaming hardware.