The SGBC is a new FPGA-based console designed to play original Nintendo Game Boy cartridges while adding modern connections and features. Its creator, French electronics engineer Thomas Sanfourche, has also built in a way to copy a cartridge’s ROM to a microSD card inserted in the console.
The device uses a field-programmable gate array, or FPGA, configured to replicate Game Boy hardware. Sanfourche has not detailed which original components are implemented in the FPGA. The SGBC is also designed to output at 1080p in a 16:9 format without stretching the image, using integer scaling to keep pixels aligned on a television or monitor connected over HDMI.
For compatibility with original accessories and multiplayer features, the console includes a Game Boy Link port, supporting multiplayer and trading, as well as a port for SNES controllers. It has not yet been released.
Sanfourche developed the Game Boy FPGA core as a final-year project after taking an FPGA course. In an interview with French retro-gaming YouTuber GyuGyu, he said his professors questioned the purpose of building the project on an FPGA, which discouraged him from continuing. He later met a seller active in the local retro-gaming scene, who encouraged him to bring the project to market and offered to fund the equipment needed to develop it. The seller plans to resell the product and has shared updates with local retro enthusiasts.
Sources: Tom's Hardware.