You can now build your own awesome Game Boy Mini Camera


Starting today, you can buy the files, boards, and find instructions at the eight-bit photographer’s website. Expect to spend around $110, assuming you’ve already got a donor Game Boy Camera ($40–$50 used) and a 3D printer so you can print the shell yourself. Even the colorful Game Boy Mini Camera label design is included, though it might be a bit longer before you can order a preprinted label.
a:hover]:text-gray-63 [&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a:hover]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-gray [&>a]:shadow-underline-gray-63 dark:[&>a]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-gray”>Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge
Warning: this is not an easy mod. Shrinking down a Game Boy Camera involves painstakingly harvesting a resin-encased sensor from the original Nintendo cartridge, not to mention other donor parts. Graves warns that it requires “advanced soldering skills and tools,” adding, “I am not responsible for any harm done to you, your property, or family. Because of the complication required for this mod, personal support will be limited.”
I’ll add: please, please don’t destroy an original Game Boy Camera if you don’t know what you’re doing! Maybe try an easier project first.
But if you’ve got the skills, the result could be glorious. Graves sent us one of the modded cartridges, and it’s every bit as pleasing in person as it was in photos. Especially when I stuck it into an Analogue Pocket, whose big, bright screen makes a camera way easier to use than my wife’s original gray DMG model.
a:hover]:text-gray-63 [&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a:hover]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-gray [&>a]:shadow-underline-gray-63 dark:[&>a]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-gray”>Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge
My favorite bit of the design is a two-way switch on the side that lets you swap between A) the original Game Boy Camera experience and B) a custom ROM that instantly loads the viewfinder so you can start snapping photos fast.
I understand the switch is thanks to another modder, Martin “HDR” Refseth, who designed his own flashcart for the original Game Boy Camera, which Graves reverse engineered to shrink everything down.
The Game Boy Camera certainly doesn’t work for every kind of picture I’d like to take, but there’s magic when you get it right — turning an iconic frame into a play of pixels, shadow, and light.
Starting today, you can buy the files, boards, and find instructions at the eight-bit photographer’s website. Expect to spend around $110, assuming you’ve already got a donor Game Boy Camera ($40–$50 used) and a 3D printer so you can print the shell yourself. Even the colorful Game Boy Mini Camera…
Recent Posts
- Elon Musk says Grok 2 is going open source as he rolls out Grok 3 for Premium+ X subscribers only
- FTC Chair praises Justice Thomas as ‘the most important judge of the last 100 years’ for Black History Month
- HP acquires Humane AI assets and the AI pin will suffer a humane death
- HP acquires Humane AI assets and the AI pin may suffer a humane death
- HP acquires Humane Ai and gives the AI pin a humane death
Archives
- February 2025
- January 2025
- December 2024
- November 2024
- October 2024
- September 2024
- August 2024
- July 2024
- June 2024
- May 2024
- April 2024
- March 2024
- February 2024
- January 2024
- December 2023
- November 2023
- October 2023
- September 2023
- August 2023
- July 2023
- June 2023
- May 2023
- April 2023
- March 2023
- February 2023
- January 2023
- December 2022
- November 2022
- October 2022
- September 2022
- August 2022
- July 2022
- June 2022
- May 2022
- April 2022
- March 2022
- February 2022
- January 2022
- December 2021
- November 2021
- October 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- September 2018
- October 2017
- December 2011
- August 2010