Review cover InsideGadgets Gameboy Wireless Controller (Hardware)
Official GBAtemp Review

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Yes, this is a cartridge that turns your Gameboy into a wireless gaming controller. It sounds neat, but what practical purpose does it serve, if any?

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First Impressions

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InsideGadgets has created a product that sounds cool in theory, but how much use is it really? This nifty Gameboy cart allows you to control PC, GameCube, or SNES games with your old-school handhelds. The cartridge comes in three variants; transparent GameBoy, grey GameBoy, and GameBoy Advance. We were sent the transparent GameBoy version—whilst I'd have preferred the grey one to fit with most of my other cartridges, the transparent aesthetic is still very nice, and seemingly a popular design choice with Nintendo fans. While the cartridge is certainly a high-quality build, the dongle does feel a little tacky. Each system dongle is sold separately, with just a thin plastic cover to protect each of the PCBs. I'm not worried about it breaking or anything, as it's certainly sturdy, but it would have been cool to have a dongle as aesthetically pleasing as the cartridge.

Usage

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To my surprise, the receiver worked shockingly well with Windows, which I'd expect is also the case with other systems. Upon plugging in the dongle into my PC, drivers were installed in seconds, and booting up the cartridge let me play immediately. There is no pairing process, making it a seamless plug and play experience. This makes using it as a controller a lot more feasible than it would have been had it used Bluetooth, for example. The cartridge we were sent is compatible with the Gameboy, Gameboy Colour, and the Gameboy Advance. InsideGadgets also sells a GBA cartridge version, which can be used with the Gameboy Advance, the original DS, and the DS Lite.

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Since were sent the PC adaptor, I can only judge the merits of this device on PC. Limitations of the GameBoy restrict us greatly—we only have 4 buttons and a D-Pad to work with, here. Classic titles work excellently, given that they use a small number of buttons; it's even reasonable to play certain Genesis and SNES games, if they make use of less than 3 buttons. Hell, I even managed to play through a level of New Super Mario Bros. Wii, although you would run into some obvious problems with motion control gimmicks down the line. GameBoy Advance games are also viable, given that they don't make use of the L and R buttons. The most obvious use of it, though, is to play original GameBoy and GameBoy Colour titles, which work flawlessly. I was expecting the gimmick of using a GameBoy as a controller to wear off rather quickly, but using it felt more natural than using my other PC controllers. Setting up the controls is also as simple as any other controller, and it worked flawlessly with every emulator I tested.

Final Thoughts & Where to Buy

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Overall, this is a super cool product. After showing it to my friends, everyone was on board with the idea of it. Unsurprisingly, though, it's hard to recommend. I think it's a quality product that is reasonable for the price, but it's ultimately a huge gimmick. I'd argue something along the lines of an 8BitDo controller would be a more worthwhile investment, allowing you to play a larger library of both retro and modern titles. You see, when you consider that each adaptor costs $14-$18, on top of the $24 cartridge, it's obvious that this isn't going to give you the best or cheapest experience. That said, the InsideGadgets Wireless Gameboy Controller is a novelty that I can't help but love. If you think it's cool, and you have disposable income, I'd wholeheartedly recommend it. If you want the best solution to play games, though, there are definitely better options.

If you want one of these nifty products, visit the InsideGadgets website below.

InsideGadgets Wireless Gameboy Controller

Verdict

What We Liked ...
  • Allows you to play Gameboy games with the original controller on your PC
  • Cartridge comes in pleasing transparent or grey variants
  • Shockingly seamless and simple to use
What We Didn't Like ...
  • Extremely limited use case
8
out of 10

Overall

Look, I'm not recommending you go online and buy this thing if you want a controller. That would be silly. That said, this thing is cool as hell! It's a neat concept that is implemented tremendously, and a cool gadget to show your friends. If you think it's cool, though, I could wholeheartedly recommend grabbing one.
I don't really think there is a market for this product. A for effort, but come on "Allows you to play Gameboy games with the original controller on your PC".

Its a cool gadget, but setting it just to play on the PC Gameboy games, i don't really think it worth the price.
 
They do know that after decades most Gameboy screens are so scratched they are basically useless, right?
 
This is cool, it can be used as a more genuine experience for emulating. Whats the latency?
 
@raxadian What do you need the Game Boy screen for when using the console as a controller? And also if the display lens is badly scratched, it takes a little money and two minutes to replace it.

The use case is limited with such few buttons. But the idea is awesome. Playing Game Boy games on a big screen with a Game Boy. And the GBA version offers L/R in addition. Game Boys are/have pretty good controllers.
 
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Personally I think this product is cool as fuck. Sure it's not really that useful, but I will definitely be buying one as a collector's item and just for the geek factor. I absolutely love quirky carts which add hardware features, like the GameBoy camera and printer, the Super Gameboy etc. Even though these things aren't really useful any more, as a gamer geek I can't resist having them. The fact that this comes with so many combinations of sender and receiver cart just adds to the quirky mystique of the product. And for the price it's a bargain whether you want to buy it to use it, or buy it to put it in your display case. I love it.
 
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I've bought the GBA transmitter + USB receiver.
This product is truly impressive and will do the job for so many games (thanks to the L+R buttons)
 
9
8 out of 10 seems too high for this product imo
 
Now, when they release a similar product for my 3DS/N3DS I might get one.

The very limited button options is something to keep in mind when thinking on using your GB/GBC/GBA as a controller (don't forget the batteries!). Unless you're only emulating games prior to the N64 era (no analog controller needed).

Interesting product. But not for me.
 
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Now, when they release a similar product for my 3DS/N3DS I might get one.

The very limited button options is something to keep in mind when thinking on using your GB/GBC/GBA as a controller (don't forget the batteries!). Unless you're only emulating games prior to the N64 era (no analog controller needed).

Interesting product. But not for me.
there are a few hb apps that can do that.
 
I wonder if it would work if you put the Gameboy cart in a Super Gameboy in a SNES so you could use SNES controllers with it.

Then put the receiver in another SNES, so you’re using one SNES to control another:P
 
Completely useless on a GB. It'd be slightly less useless if you could send game related data to the screen though.
Slightly less useless on a GBA, but still, for that price you can get much better controllers.
 
So wait, I can use my Game Boy Micro as a controller?!?! That's still smaller than most of 8bitdo's offerings! I'm very interested in this, too bad it costs as much as it does though! I can get Game Boys for less than the cartridge itself :/
 
So wait, I can use my Game Boy Micro as a controller?!?! That's still smaller than most of 8bitdo's offerings! I'm very interested in this, too bad it costs as much as it does though! I can get Game Boys for less than the cartridge itself :/
no. The GB micro does not play original GB or GBC games.
 
It can only with a GC/GBC emulator like Goomba/Goomba Color on a gba flashcard.

It's the only gameboy which can't read original gameboy catridges
Well, It's cart slot lacks the physical switch that the regular GBA/SP had, but I think the software might be able to play GB/C games if it had the switch.
 
Well, It's cart slot lacks the physical switch that the regular GBA/SP had, but I think the software might be able to play GB/C games if it had the switch.
No. At least I don't think so (written from memory without research)
  • Main CPU of a GB(C) is something similar to the Z80.
  • Main CPU of the GBA is an ARM7.
  • GBA cartridges use a different voltage than GB(C) carts.
Game Boy Micro (and DS phat/lite) are missing the old CPU similar to the Z80.

Other GBA models essentially contain a GBC and the internal switch turns the GBA into a GBC when an old cart is inserted. This is why for example software like this
https://github.com/FIX94/gba-link-cable-dumper
cannot dump GB(C) games.
 
No. At least I don't think so (written from memory without research)
  • Main CPU of a GB(C) is something similar to the Z80.
  • Main CPU of the GBA is an ARM7.
  • GBA cartridges use a different voltage than GB(C) carts.
Game Boy Micro (and DS phat/lite) are missing the old CPU similar to the Z80.

Other GBA models essentially contain a GBC and the internal switch turns the GBA into a GBC when an old cart is inserted. This is why for example software like this
https://github.com/FIX94/gba-link-cable-dumper
cannot dump GB(C) games.
oh
 
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