Hyperkin Game Boy phone: Will We Ever See A ‘Smart Boy?’

This week Reddit went a little bonkers for a new concept that would turn your iPhone into a Gameboy, and it turns out, it’s real. We can now confirm that the tentatively titled SmartBoy will be something you can eventually buy.

But it wasn’t always that way: A press release from Hyperkin states that what was “originally a planned April Fool’s Joke” is now “a full-fledged project for consumer release.”

The current concept is designed around the iPhone, but Gallizzi told Reddit that’ll change: “We’re working on an open side-panel version for Android phones” that should fit most major flagships.

So, what is this “Smart Boy”?

Well, the base of the device looks like the bottom of the gray brick we so emphatically remember as the Game Boy. In place of the screen however, you insert your smartphone (technically, the design only fits iPhones, but they’re apparently going to work on Android and Windows Phone versions too). The phone will display the image of the game, but you play using the controls on the device. The catch here is that you need to have the original Game Boy or Game Boy Color cartridges, so no ROMs allowed.

Hyperkin doesn’t have a release date yet, but it’s still a Nintendo fan’s dream that this thing is more than a joke.