Wide Boy

What is the Wide Boy?

Like I said above, the Wide Boy is a development utility that enables people with N64 systems to play Game Boy and Game Boy Color titles on a television. This makes it easy to grab screenshots and video clips of Game Boy Color titles in action without having to go through a less-capable emulator. The Wide Boy isn't an emulator ¿ it's a Game Boy Color encased in a N64 development cartridge and engineered to utilize the N64's controller ports and video out.

Where can I get one?

You can't. Unless you're a Nintendo publication or official Game Boy Color game developer or publisher, you won't be able to get one. These cartridges are very costly and are hand-made in Japan ¿ they are not mass-produced. Hell, even we had to bend over backwards to get our hands on one.

What does it look like?

That's an easy one:

On the left, the unit without a game. On the right, with a game.

What can it do?

Well, with a N64, you plug it in and play the Game Boy Color game on a TV screen.

You can play it at the standard 160x144 resolution ¿ which will put a border around the screen, since the resolution it's running at is 320x240.

Or, you can play zoomed up to fill the screen, using the analog stick up or down. Problem is, the system automatically anti-aliases the image ¿ you can turn off anti-aliasing by hitting the L shoulder button. Just look at the difference:

Full image, anti-alias on
Full image, anti-alias off

The unit also has a link port on the side of the cartridge, which enables two systems or one system and one Game Boy Color to play two-player link-up games.

So now you know what the Wide Boy is. And knowing is half the battle.

And just in case you didn't see it above. the Wide Boy is not for sale.

-- Craig Harris