September 11, 2015
Public Domain /Wikipedia
The Nintendo Game Boy, a handheld gaming console released in 1989.
Given the kinds of problem-solving and cooperation skills video games can teach us to utilize, the bad rap gamers tend to get for being lazy isn't particularly fair or even true. One Canadian blogger noted for making creative modifications has concocted the perfect device to mock those who would bash the habits of gamers: a Gameboy minifridge.
Daniel D'Entremont wanted to enter to the 2015 Bitflix Gameboy Classic Competition and was working on a Gameboy Color Advance when he realized he wouldn't have it finished in time. He took one look over at his minifridge and decided to audible by making a fully functional Gameboy that also works as a refrigerator.
As D'Entremont explains over at his blog Mod Purist, the Cold Boy is fashioned out of wood carved buttons, an old USB keyboard, a flatscreen computer monitor mounted in the fridge's door, and a credit-card sized Raspberry Pi 2 computer that serves as an emulation station.
To keep the fridge working as a fridge, all of the necessary wires run down a channel in the insulation and to the back where the chip is located. To keep the fridge cold, D'Entremont packed loose fiberglass insulation behind the channels.
As for gameplay? It could be better, D'Entremont admits. Due to the large size of the buttons, more of a punch than a press is required, but it's the spirit of the project that counts. Regardless, D'Entremont plans to make it a fixture in his college dorm room.
Check out a demo in the video below.
