A crowdfunding campaign has just been successfully funded for an open source FPGA handheld console called the Game Bub. At launch, it can play Game Boy, Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance cartridges and ROMs, with no extra hardware or “jailbreaking” required. It’s also compatible with GB/GBA accessories and offers a video-out dock as well for an additional $60. The price for the Game Bub itself is $250 and there’s a “Campaign Exclusive Transparent Purple” version available for $300. The campaign ends the first week of October and they’re scheduled to ship to customers in February 2026. More info after the link:
Back The Campaign: https://www.crowdsupply.com/second-bedroom/game-bub
This project is really interested, as the hardware itself is potentially more powerful than the Analogue Pocket. That means if retro FPGA devs want to port MiSTer cores over, it should be possible. Also, it’s got a 720×480 4.0-inch LCD screen, which is both a good resolution for retro stuff and a reasonable resolution for hardware to scale to. This seems really promising for both retro handheld gamers, as well as FPGA dev’s and I’m interested to see where the project will go.
Also, while I have no affiliation with Game Bub, the campaign and goals seem very realistic and level-headed. I’m always super weary of crowdfunding that promises clearly unrealistic things and I get none of that from this. So as always, there’s no guarantee you’ll get anything after putting your money down, this feels like as good of a bet as any.
Here’s some of the main specs, but please check out the link above for all the details and check out the launch video at the top of this post as well.
Classic System Compatibility
- Game Boy-compatible cartridge slot for Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance games
- Custom FPGA cores designed for high accuracy and physical hardware compatibility
- Built-in ROM loading and backup
- GBA-type multiplayer link port (also compatible with Game Boy Color)
- Rumble motor for games with force feedback
- Accelerometer and gyroscope for compatible games
- Real-time clock
Modern System Specs
- Enclosure: Transparent plastic
- FPGA: Built around the powerful AMD (Xilinx) XC7A100T FPGA, with 101,400 logic cells and 607.5 KiB of block RAM
- MCU: ESP32-S3 microcontroller for auxiliary tasks
- Wireless: 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi and Bluetooth LE
- Memory: 32 MiB of SDRAM and 512 KiB of SRAM connected to the FPGA
- Display: 4.0-inch 720 x 480 IPS LCD
- Audio: Stereo 1 W speakers, TRS headphone jack
- Input: 12 buttons for the FPGA, 4 additional system buttons for the MCU only
- Expansion: PMOD header
- Storage: microSD card slot
- Power: USB Type-C charging, 3000 mAh battery with 14+ hour in-game time
- Optional Dock: Digital video output and wireless controller compatibility, simultaneous charging
- Dimensions: 85 x 174 x 19 mm (3.35 x 6.85 x 0.75 in)
- Weight: 250 g (8.82 oz)
