For some programmers dreams of players seems to have no limits. If we had been told a few years ago that it was possible to play Grand Theft Auto 5 on a Game Boy, our first reaction would have been a laugh. But the truth is that the magic of streaming now makes it a possibility.
This was a game initially released for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC in 2013. But the modifier Sebastian Staacks, owner of the YouTube channel ‘The Oughta Be’, demonstrates that with a modified cartridge and Wi-Fi it is possible to play Rockstar’s classic game on a product as old as the Game Boy.
The feat can be seen in the video below, but don’t expect miracles. Given the visual limitations of the Game Boy, it would be excruciating to think of seriously playing GTA 5 on this device at a more competitive level.
Playing GTA with a modified Wi-Fi cartridge is possible on Game Boy
“A few weeks ago I created a Game Boy cartridge with WiFi built in. Now I’ve taught him how to stream video and play games, at full resolution. at 20fps. On an original, unmodified Game Boy,” says the programmer.
Video data is converted from pixels to tiles (used by Game Boy). The big problem is that you are limited to 360 tiles per image and can run the game at 20 frames per second.
“It can display anything and I can control anything my computer can display and control. Obviously the interface and image are almost unusable that way, so some dedicated implementations can still be interesting,” says the author of the With.
It is certainly a video to remember. Since playing GTA 5 for a long time on this Game Boy will be a herculean task.