I was someone who grew up with a Gameboy Color in my hands. I would play games like Pokemon, Ray-Man, and Super Mario until my fingers cramped. So, last year, when Apple opened the gates and allowed emulator apps like Delta into the App Store, I was all over it. It was awesome playing my old games on my iPhone. Although the app does a great job with haptic feed to mimic physical buttons, there is really nothing like the real thing. So when I saw the GAMEBABY at CES this year, I knew I had to get my hands on it.
Be sure to check out our hands-on video review below. It gives you a good idea of how everything works and even demos it live.
So, what is the Gamebaby? At its core, it’s actually very simple. It’s a regular case for your iPhone that comes in two parts. The top portion houses the camera cutout, and then the bottom portion has all the magic. When you use it as a regular case, it’s just that—a regular case.
- Multi-colored design (Yellow and beige)
- Made of plastic materials
- Gold accented volume rocker, action button, and lock button
- Camera bump lip
- Pill-shaped camera control cut-out
How it works
So, how does this actually work? The first thing you might notice is that nothing digital is happening. There is no Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or USB-C connectivity, and the case does not need any batteries. So, how is this all going to work?
If you look at the inner portion of the bottom of the case, you see a bunch of black pieces of material under each button. This is the same material used in stylus pens for iPhones. The material mimics a finger touch input onto the screen, so each time you press the buttons down, the iPhone will be responsive to it.
Delta Emulator & GAMEBABY
The best way to use this is alongside Delta Emulator. Check out our video here to learn more about Delta. Delta is a free emulator app that emulates a few consoles, most importantly GameBoy Color and Gameboy Advance. One of Delta’s features is that it lets you upload custom Gameboy skins, so you can essentially change the layout and look of the buttons. If you try to use Delta emulator and the GAMEBABY without the GAMEBABY skin, it will not work.
In the packaging, there is a QR code that takes you to the GAMEBABY skin download. Simply download it, open the zip file through the Delta app, and then you will have the GAMEBABY skin. The skin will now match the layout of the physical buttons.
Once you are all set up, it is very simple. Slide off the bottom portion of the case, flip it over, and slide it back on. Now, you have a set of physical buttons to use when you are playing your beloved retro games. Since the phone thinks that each button press is your finger, you still get the awesome haptic feedback, which I love. I have used this thoroughly, and from my testing, it has a 99% hit rate. There was only one time where i had to re-press the button because the screen didnt receive the input.
One thing to note about this case, though, is that due to button placement and the two-piece nature of the case, there is no Magsafe support. The case is easy to remove and put on again, but with the case on, MagSafe accessories will not work.
Final verdict, pricing & availability
For someone like me, this is a no-brainer purchase or gift. Whether I use it as my main case or just bring the case in my bag, I will be using it a lot: on the subway, during commutes, on road trips, on airplanes. It can be used anywhere. Since no electronics or an app are needed to use it, they are able to keep the price low, even lower than some normal cases.
The GAMEBABY is available for pre-order with an early bird price of $24.99. Final retail pricing will be $39.99 with shipments coming in Q1. Right now it is only avaialble for the iPhone 15 Pro Max and 16 Pro Max. As there is more demand they will be able to support more iPhone models.
What do you think of this? Is it a good idea? Would you use it? I can see this being a nice gift for anyone who still enjoys playing retro games.
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