Nintendo Game Boy is a title that brings joy into the hearts of many people who are in their 20’s or 30’s right now. As the age of computer entertainment was dawning, the Game Boy was one of the first to make a reality out of remote, handheld gaming devices.
So whether you are one of the people who grew up with a Game Boy or simply enjoy games on your mobile device in general, Nintendo has some great news. The company had been hinting at an intention to do so for a long period of time, and finally proceeded to patent a Game Boy emulator for use on smartphones, computers and other portable devices – more specifically the ones on airplanes, cars or trains. However, Nintendo statements have pointed out that in all eventualities, the emulator will make its way to airline seat entertainment first.
Another reason for this decision is Nintendo’s attempt of putting the illegal emulation problem that has been making its way across the app market for smartphones and tablets. Earlier this year one of the most popular additions to the App Store was GBA4iOS, a fan-made Nintendo Game Boy emulator for iPhones. It was designed by a high-school student with a knack for programming and retro gaming and quickly got picked up by numerous fans in the iPhone gaming circles. For the people who got the application, it was a pocket dream come true and a trip down the childhood memory lane.
Emulating, while legal within the United States, tends to be frowned upon mostly because of unauthorized distribution of copyrighted content that comes with it most of the time. Nevertheless, in 2014, getting your hands on an old Game Boy and games to compliment it is really not the easiest mission out there. The device has been out of retail for a very long time, and most of the time you would have to find people willing to part with their beloved devices via eBay or Amazon. Considering that emulators on iOS get shut down and removed from the App Store as soon as they are discovered, the potential of Nintendo bringing its older titles to mobile devices legally probably already raised high interest in consumers.
Nintendo already emulates some of its past console titles for newer devices, so the Game Boy Emulator is simply the next step into widening its range of offers for old-school fans.
