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Back in January, as the world awaited news on the Switch 2, Lego jumped in and teased a collaboration with Nintendo that would bring the classic Game Boy console back to life in brick form. Now it’s here—and it looks even better than we expected. But, the promo video for launch has caused a fair bit of confusion as to whether you can actually play it.
The video is a remake of part of the original Game Boy commercial from 1989. As the included brick-built game cartridges are placed into the GamePak slot, the video’s actor at least looks to start playing, before turning the Lego Game Boy to the camera—which shows the game on the screen moving pretty convincingly.
“THE GAME IS PLAYABLE?!?!” says one excited commenter. Another jumps in: “Wait, so the screen is a real working screen?” And they continue: “Can you play other games if you have the cartridges?” “So, is this a functional Game Boy?” For anyone stumbling across the video in their newsfeed, it’s fair to say it is… unclear.
However, click the audio on and the reality is, unfortunately, confirmed. The voiceover says that the games are “interchangeable and not playable” and the moving display is actually down to “the lenticular display pieces.”
But even that hasn’t stopped people’s questions. “Did he say ‘not playable’?” asks one viewer. “So you can’t actually play the games?” asks another. Some are just straight up disappointed: “All that effort to make it look like [it] is playable to quickly say is not playable.”
The 421-piece Lego Nintendo Game Boy set, complete with unplayable games cartridges.
Photograph: Lego
We did ask Lego for comment on the potentially misleading nature of the video promo, and while we didn’t receive any response in time for publication, Lego did confirm that the Lego Game Boy isn’t playable, but highlighted that the buttons do move like real buttons. A nice bit of attention to detail that is continued across the 421-piece replica.
For a start, it’s almost identical in size, standing 14cm tall and 9cm wide, and with all original features accounted for. Of course, those pressable bright pink A/B buttons, the D-pad, and start and select buttons are present and correct, but there’s also the volume wheel on the side, the speaker grille along the corner, and a battery “light”—even a serial number, plus properly labelled bricks for everything from the on/off switch to the EXT connector and headphones port.
Photograph: Lego
However, arguably the best parts are the source of the apparent confusion: those brick-built games—The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening and Super Mario Land—and the swappable lenticular screens, that animate famous scenes when viewed at different angles. Purists might prefer the lenticular start screen, though.
The decidedly unplayable but eminently buildable Lego Game Boy is available for pre-order today for $60, and will be available from 1 October. Sadly there’s no word on coming Lego versions of the Game Boy Printer or Game Boy Camera.
