Jul 26, 2021 20:00:00

How to join a video conference with that Game Boy 'Pocket Camera'

by

Matthew Paul Argall

'Pocket Camera ' is a software released in 1998 that allows you to take pictures and play with Game Boy, a handheld game console. RetroGameCouch , a YouTube channel that deals with topics related to retro games, shows how to use a pocket camera that can be used by sticking it into the Game Boy cassette slot instead of a webcam in video conferencing on modern PCs and smartphones such as Zoom and Google Meet. Introduces.

Game Boy Camera as Webcam in Zoom / Teams / Meet --YouTube


The first thing to use is a pocket camera. The appearance of the game cartridge with a digital camera. The camera has 4 monochrome gradations, and the number of pixels is 112 pixels vertically x 128 pixels horizontally.

And a

peripheral device, Super Game Boy , that allows you to play Game Boy software on the Super Nintendo .

The aircraft used is the overseas version of the

Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), which is the European version with the same color scheme and cassette standard as Japan. Some of the parts have turned yellow, and you can see that they are quite old.

Normally, SNES is a composite output with a yellow (video) and red / white (audio) cable, but this SNES has been modified to add a

component terminal that outputs video signals in three types: Y, Pb, and Pr. increase.

A connector that converts component output to HDMI.

HDMI capture that connects to a PC via USB.

By using SNES and Super Game Boy, the image of the Pocket Camera, which cannot be taken without inserting it into the Game Boy, is output to the outside, converted to an HDMI signal, and captured by a PC.

A pocket camera is attached to the Super Game Boy inserted in SNES.

Connect the three component outputs to the HDMI conversion connector ...

The HDMI cable is connected to an HDMI capture connected to your PC. In addition, this time it is 'use in video conferencing', so it is not necessary to acquire the sound of the pocket camera, so only the video signal is input.

When you turn on the SNES ...

Super Game Boy starts.

With this feeling, I succeeded in using a pocket camera instead of a webcam. After that, you can capture this captured video with a virtual webcam and set it as a camera device used for video conferencing such as Zoom and Google Meet. The frame rate of a pocket camera is very low, and the image is very crisp compared to modern webcams, but it has some taste. Theoretically, it can be achieved using Japanese Super Nintendo and Super Game Boy, so if you are interested, please try it.