Game Boy iPhone case, announced as an April Fools’ Day prank, proves so popular, company will now develop it

Every April Fools’ Day, a bevy of companies send out releases and post notices about business dealings and false products they’re working on.

Most are dismissed with a half-hearted chuckle, while others barely raise an ounce of curiosity. 

Rare is the occasion where we see a truly worthwhile idea put out that could actually prove useful or popular with today’s consumer. This is what makes the Hyperkin story so amazing. Similar to other hardware companies, the folks at Hyperkin released a light-hearted, fully in-jest press release last week that detailed an iPhone Game Boy case that they were planning to release soon. 

Well, the release was posted to Reddit, whereupon it went viral, capturing the hearts and imagination of every iPhone owner over the age of 18. 

Upon reading the comments and seeing the enthusiasm of this audience, the company realized they had a truly legitimate, possibly high profit idea on hand. And so they announced that they were going to set out to make their joke product a real device.

So, while there’s no actual device to describe here, what we can work off of is what was included in the initial release, as it’s now serving as the blueprint for the upcoming product. Hyperkin calls it the “Smart Boy”, and it attaches to the iPhone 6 plus as well as other phones in the future, for the purpose of turning one’s smartphone into a handheld gaming device. 

As if that’s not already a worthwhile notion, the Smart Boy will also include within it a slot to accept Game boy and Game Boy Color cartridges.

“We wanted to create a retro device that can be easily adapted into any modern gamer's arsenal of devices,” said Hyperkin's product developer Chris Gallizzi in the company’s press release.

The Smart Boy will come with an exclusive downloadable app, noticeable upscaling, a cheat database, and save states. In terms of power, the device uses an external battery that will allow for up to five hours of gaming. 

In the announcement that they’re actually going to develop the Smart Boy, the company did warn that some of the features in the initial mock-release might change. 

Also, Nintendo will need to approve this idea, which may be a bigger hurdle than you might think, as the gaming giant is in the midst of trying to make a move into the smartphone gaming world. 

Stay tuned for more! 

Via Mashable