Play your GameBoy games on the PS2!
Datel introduces "Game Studio" emulation system
From the makers of Action Replay 2 comes Game Studio, an emulation system for the PlayStation 2, which allows gamers to play GameBoy games on the PS2. Once you've booted up Game Studio, you plug the GamePort device into a memory card slot and insert a GameBoy or GameBoy Color game of your choosing. Game Studio then plays it on the big screen. Anybody who was around during the heady days of the SNES will remember Nintendo's own answer to this, the Super GameBoy, but it is not thought that GameBoy Color games were supported, making the Game Studio something of a breakthrough. "Game Studio takes advantage of the PS2's bi-linear filtering to display your Game Boy games in hi-res, with smoother edges and graded colours," the press release beams. Games like Zelda: Link's Awakening (arguably the best Zelda game ever) and of course the ubiquitous Pokemon franchise can now appear in their full screen glory on your television. Obviously they lose their portability as a result. The Game Studio features eight built-in games to get you going; Space Invasion, Karate Joe, Painter, ATV Racing, Full Time, Hang Time, Pocket Smash Out and Race Time. In total, Datel reckon you would have to spend £100 to secure these independantly. Most of that would of course be bus fares to dealers who still carry them. The Game Studio "Games To Go" feature allows you to download the built-in titles onto a cartridge for use in your actual GameBoy too. Whether this will mean more free games distributed by Datel via their website is unknown. One would think that if it does happen, the games will not take the form of ROM images. If that happened, any old pirated GameBoy game would function on the Game Studio. Game Studio is actually powered by the Action Replay technology, so you can also use it to gives yourself the edge in games that are proving too difficult. Not to mention expose any easter eggs left by the developers. Oh, and the games will learn to make use of the Dual Shock 2 controller's "rumble" function - pretty neat, eh? Game Studio is due out in April.