Skip to content

NGBC

Play together again

Next Generation Game Boy Color Cartridge

The Game Boy Color was made for two people in the same room, a cable between them. That way of playing still matters, and it deserves new games. NGBC is a next-generation cartridge in a standard shell, powered by the console, so a friend can join without the cable and a developer can build what the console could not hold alone.

NGBC is in active development, and it is not yet available. The architecture is defined, and a diagnostic board is underway.

The design is open and source-available for non-commercial use. The files will be published when they are ready.

Design and documentation are offered under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Firmware is offered under the PolyForm Noncommercial License. Commercial use requires written permission from Linkport.

Inside the shell

Guest Join

Guest Join is the heart of the cartridge. One console hosts the game, and a friend joins from the other the moment they are ready, the way a link cable once made a room feel closer, without anything on the table but the two consoles.

The design reaches four consoles in one session, so more than a pair can sit down and play together.

The cartridge draws its power from the Game Boy Color itself.

The estimate

About $110

Estimated at about $110 at low volume. A larger production run brings it down.

ABOUT $110LOW VOLUMEHIGHER VOLUME

The road ahead

  1. 01 / Defined

    Architecture

    The architecture is defined, and it is the map the hardware is being built from.

  2. 02 / Underway

    Diagnostic board

    A diagnostic board is underway, so each part of the design can be brought up on its own.

  3. 03 / Ahead

    On a real console

    Power, fit, motion, rumble, and wireless come next, on a real Game Boy Color.

  4. 04 / Ahead

    Prototype

    A fuller prototype follows, with those features together in one cartridge.

  5. 05 / Ahead

    Developer kit

    A developer kit will give studios a way to build for NGBC, and a path into the catalog.

  6. 06 / Ahead

    Production

    Production follows the prototype. That is the step that makes the cartridge available.

The games are already in the catalog. Follow development here, or get in touch if you are a studio or a developer who wants to build for NGBC.

For studios and developers

If you want to build for this cartridge, write to Linkport and say what you have in mind.

Follow development

Leave an email and Linkport will write as the hardware moves forward. No release date is set.