If you've been following the Game Boy in recent years, you'll almost certainly be aware that a wide range of aftermarket modifications exist for the system, including rechargeable batteries and backlit screens.
These mods give your ageing portable some much-needed 'modern' love – and many of them are produced by a company called Funnyplaying.
It would seem that the company is no longer content to simply produce parts for the Game Boy – a new image that has appeared online (thanks, RetroDodo) suggests that it is now moving into the business of creating 'clone' Game Boy consoles using entirely new hardware.
The photo below shows a Game Boy-like device along with a cartridge slot for running original games and the traditional Game Boy link cable port. However, it also boasts a USB-C plug, and the circuit board has an 'Orz-Studio' logo on it (the company which is presumably making the board for Funnyplaying).
Funnyplaying has previously mooted the Game Boy-like Retro Pixel Pocket, which runs Android and allows you to play ROMs. However, it doesn't support original Game Boy cartridges, so the connection between the two was only skin-deep.
This new machine would appear to be closer to the likes of the GB Boy and GB Boy Classic, two Game Boy clones from the Far East which made a small splash a few years back thanks to their excellent screens and low price points.
Why release a system like this now? Well, despite the fact that millions of Game Boy and Game Boy Color consoles were sold during their respective lifespans, there are only so many in circulation that can be obtained cheaply, upgraded with new parts and then sold on as 'new' consoles.
Second-hand Game Boys are constantly rising in value as more and more of them are modded and resold, even if they're still relatively easy to find. Sooner or later, the market for modded Game Boy systems will become unviable as prices rise – so it makes sense for a company like Funnyplaying, which already produces many of the parts used in the upgrade process, to create an 'entirely new' Game Boy without having to cannibalise existing machines.
Would you be interested in buying a 'new' Game Boy console made by Funnyplaying? Let us know with a comment below.