American entrepreneur Palmer Luckey, best known for founding Oculus VR and designing Oculus Rift, presented ModRetro Chromatic, a modern reimagining of the Game Boy handheld console.
Lucky says that the hundreds of irrational decisions made during the development of the Chromatic resulted in a device that will be remembered not just as one of many Game Boy clones, but as "an uncompromisingly authentic celebration of everything that made the console special."
The ModRetro Chromatic features a specially designed synthetic sapphire screen cover and a fully sun-tuned 2.56-inch IPS liquid crystal display with a resolution of 160×144 pixels that mimics the color balance, size, and sub-pixel structure of the Game Boy Color.
The case is made of magnesium-aluminum alloy, and the buttons and D-Pad are made of PBT semi-crystalline polymer. There is also a full-fledged communication cable and IR transmitter, a 3.5 mm headphone port, and Type-C for lag-free video output.
ModRetro Chromatic will run on three AA batteries, which will provide 24 hours of play. The console is also compatible with a special lithium-ion battery that can be recharged through the console.
Of course, the Chromatic is fully compatible with all Game Boy and Game Boy Color game cartridges and supports ModRetro cartridges through FPGA-based emulation.
The console is available in 6 colors and costs $199. As with the original Game Boy, the console will be bundled with a new version of Tetris developed specifically for the ModRetro Chromatic. The console will start shipping at the end of the year.