ModRetro, creator of the ultimate Game Boy-inspired handheld, the Chromatic, has launched a transparent version of the Game Boy-style handheld. And it has knocked $50 off the price, with a price for the hardware at $150.
The new version launching today is once again compatible with Game Boy and Game Boy Color game cartridges as well as its own Chromatic game cartridges.
It’s also compatible with accessories including the Chromatic Mod Kit, the Chromatic Rechargeable Power Core, Link Cable and Chromatic Case. The new colors include Smoke, Green, Purple and Red. I tried it out with the Sabrina Zapped! game from WayForward and it worked fine on the transparent device.
With the transparency, you see the system board and how things work, like the buttons that connect to the board and all of the screws that hold everything in place. If you flip it over, you can see the batteries inside the device. It’s all the same stuff, so knocking $50 off the price is an achievement in both engineering and cost savings, given the rising cost of memory due to the AI boom.
For a refresher on the Chromatic, it’s a labor of love from Palmer Luckey — the creator of the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset and now founder of defense contractor Anduril.
ModRetro’s name itself is a nod to Luckey’s early years, when at the age of 12 he created a forum for technology enthusiasts, ModRetro.com. It was the virtual place where, among other things, Luckey learned all about VR.
One of the retro things Luckey admired was the Game Boy Color, and Chromatic is an homage to that machine with pixel-accurate colors. Torin Herndon, CEO of ModRetro, said in an earlier interview with GamesBeat that retro purists will see that accuracy in the gameplay. Herndon, who worked as an engineer alongside Luckey’s team, made Luckey’s dream of the Chromatic come to life.
The Chromatic debuted at the end of 2024 and it sold out. This summer, it came back with a larger supply, new games, a new colorway and more tweaks.
In July, ModRetro also launched the M64 home game console, billing it as the ideal machine to play your favorite original Nintendo 64 games.
The game console costs $229 plus $89 for a M64 Pro controller, or about $320. The machine is a labor of love for Luckey, the founder of Oculus and Anduril, and it is designed for retro purists to fit alongside the Chromatic handheld, a rethinking of the original Game Boy, launched last year.
Chromatic Transparent is now available at modretro.com in a variety of colors.