We pride ourselves on only listening to music recorded before 1999 here at Nintendo Life, so prior to being chained to a desk and forced to write this story, we had absolutely no idea who Soulja Boy was, what songs he'd done or why he's such a big deal. A few minutes of slack-jawed research later, and we now know that he's currently peddling a line of games consoles that essentially run a bunch of emulators and come packed with (we can reasonably assume) unlicenced ROMs.
That's right, Soulja Boy – whose real name is [checks Wikipedia] DeAndre Cortez Way – is basically selling a pair of cheap Chinese gaming machines and is passing them off as his own unique vision. To make the whole situation even more amusing, he's charging more for the device than it costs to buy them directly from the manufacturer.
Both machines – a handheld and a console – are made by Chinese firm Anbernic, and usually cost $60 and $90 respectively. Good old Soulja Boy is charging $100 and $150, although he's kind enough to point out that currently, these prices are $50 less than the $150 and $200 he'd normally charge, presumably after smoking some of those funny cigarettes we've heard rappers like.
You can check out these amazing slices of tech below. We're almost certain that Soulja Boy asked Bandai Namco for permission to employ Tekken's Jin Kazama as 'brand spokesperson'. Almost certain.
The portable system can apparently run "Switch/3DS/Vita/NEOGEO/GBC/Gameboy/GBA" games and comes with 3,000 (count 'em) pre-loaded, with the ability to download more. Let that sink in for a moment; this thing is being marketed as running Switch games.
The console has 800 games, but can run (it says here) “PS/NEOGEO/PC/SEGA/GBA/NES" as well as the mysterious "SOULJAGAME". We assume that piece of software involves buying up a bulk load of terrible emulation-based Chinese consoles and selling them at a premium to your gullible fans. We can't wait to play that one.
The handheld model is hilariously a rip-off of the Revo-101, which just makes the whole situation even more amusing. If you're not laughing already at the thought of millions of fans snapping up these pieces of junk just because they love a bit of Soulja Boy, then check out the equally chuckle-worthy SouljaWatch (which looks nothing like the Apple Watch, honest!) and the SouljaPods (Apple Air Pods? Never heard of 'em, mate).
The truly bonkers thing about all of this is that Soulja Boy's fans are gobbling up this cheap plastic tat like it's coated in gold and comes with a bag of diamonds as a bonus:
https://twitter.com/RealLifeKaz/status/1070568704960839680
Now if only we could get some of these people to buy these magic beans we've got clogging up the cupboard in the Nintendo Life office.
Some people have been getting in on the act, including Atooi's Jools Watsham:
This whole episode may be unintentionally hilarious, but it looks like Soulja himself will be having the last laugh – he says he has taken more than $250,000 in orders already.
Perhaps he's not so crazy after all?
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Comments 74
I'm surprised Jin isn't blurred out but clearly visible, like the Superman logos in the Crank That video.
Garbage can.
Trash in the garbage can.
Bottom-of-the-garbage-can rubbish.
This.
Oh....So that's what it was when I heard he was doing a system....
Just re-hashed shlock from Chinese manufacturers...
This is wrong on so many levels, I don’t even know where to begin lol
Well, I guess he’s gonna get some lawsuit over IP infringement in the near future.
Also, while I agree today’s mainstream music is horribly appalling, there’s still A LOT of good music made after 1999 and still being made today, it’s just you have to look for it.
I mainly listen to prog/experimental rock and jazz fusion, and I can guarantee there’s a lot of talented bands out there, even if they only get a fraction of the views these chaps make.
Okay. Which get-rich-fast punster sold him on this idea?
Hmm Love the "switch" support xD
Rappers can sell anything to their fanbase and he has a lot of fans. When good seats can cost upwards of $250 a ticket, this is peanuts.
Also some could be buying it to try and initiate a lawsuit.
Just waiting for the games devs to ruin him if he hasn't paid any licences for the games.
Never heard of him to be fair, but slap someone name on something and then it normally ups the price.
Yup, it looks exactly like one of those old Dingoo A320 inspired devices, why Soulja Boy is promoting it though I have no idea.
... I am willing to bet he wasn't even on the army.
Come on Nintendo, if you can sue ROM Sites for billions and put them out of business, why are you not going after them?
This can play Switch games? Yeah sure. Let me ask my girlfriend Scarjo if that is true.
While I wait for a response would anyone like to buy the Golden Gate Bridge from me for just 1 billion dollars?
This dude's gonna be a Homeless Boy when the lawsuits start coming in.
I wanna see it running switch games before buying it. since they are claiming to have a fully compatibility of running these on a Linux 3.0 from an official switch emulation and permission to do this from Nintendo.
I find it quite amazing that he doesn't have a single person within his setup that told him how much of a bad idea this is?! Even if he did do his due diligence and got a pair of legal eyes to ensure there's some kind of loophole whereby this is OK and legal, ripping off your fanbase with cheap knock-offs that don't do what they claim they can do is going to catch up with you sooner rather than later...
I really wish I could say what I really want say about SouljaFraud and his nonsense. But I REALLY like this site, and have a ton of respect for the folks who run site.
Does it come with Souljacalibur?
I prefer my consoles to be less dodgy, thanks.
@AxeltheBuizel No, but I think it runs Dark Soulj
I love how theres no information on the site and that the news section is just his music video with him wearing the souljawatch.
Hey, if this is what folks wanna spend disposable income on, go ahead. In my opinion, it’s not worth much more entertainment than his music.
C&D incoming!
I’m having too much of a good time reading this article, lol priceless!
@RauTheSlasher Soulja boy has fans?
Hahahahaha no wonder why the world is so ruined. I hope companies sue his ass ASAP.
Lets sue this dude into oblivion!
I.. I thinking I'm going to be sick....
I've heard of him. Trust me, he's not a big deal at all
Also, just have to say that as an "artist" who has his own intellectual property that he protects, what a piece of work he truly is to joyfully rip off and profit from other people's work. I know you've only selected a few tweets from his fans that are lapping up this rubbish, but I hope that surely there are more than a handful that are calling him out on this.
Who?
Goddam this site's minimum word count.
What is this, a news site or a blog? This is so subjective it reads more like a vent post than an article. I would suggest rewriting this to better fit quality standards.
never head of this rapper personally, but i think Soulja Boy or what's his name has beat sony and nintendo for ripping off the fanbase with useless tat. (PlayStation Classic NES classic)
@ReaderRagfish It isn't. He's jusf setting a bad example
Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole would never even think of this
What's most notable about Soulja Boy is how he rose to stardom. He was literally producing beats in his bedroom, and marketed himself using clever social media strategies, like an instructional video for how to do the catchy dance that went with "Crank That" single. He went viral and started getting national radio play and used so few resources to get him there.
I'm not a fan if his music, but I've always respected that aspect about him. But this? This is straight up DUMB. This sounds like something Ricky and Julian from Trailer Park Boys would have schemed up.
@Caryslan yeah i know, the irony speaks volumes doesn't it, this is a worse situation because he's clearly making lots of profit from his name from copyright material, while those sites were archiving them but they get sued millions.....
I loved the twitter posts. How can people be so stupid?
People still listen to Soulja Boy?
I can't tell if he's trying too hard or barely putting in any effort to try to be relevant.
I get why Soulja is doing this (no scruples, wants money), but I cannot understand why his fans would be so dumb that they would buy off on this. It’s not like the US is a video game desert....they’re everywhere and it should be easy to deduct the scam going on here....yet here we are.
@Draz While I'm not doubting the potential for folks to be stupid, I'm going to be a little optimistic and say they're plants. How sad it is that that's considered optimism.
Sad, so sad. But, a seller can sell what they want... it's up to the buyer to recognize garbage and not promote a product. People gonna do what they want, but I'm not really a fan or supporter of Soulja Boy or a lot of the trite trash in hip hop today. I miss the old days, but I'll leave it at that.
He’s currently calling everyone that calls him out on the scam a hater and a racist, a store he wanted parnter with didn’t want that so he is telling everyone they don’t support black people.
Just wanted to say that, hope it’s allowed.
@Agent721 Looking into the replies of one person who bought into it, they are actually that stupid that they actively believe he invented this console and put a tonne of hard work into it, even though others had provided evidence of how much of a scam this is.
Don't want to sound cynical buuuut
These are junk and whoever buys them and has buyers remorse deserves the remorse.
But, he knows his fans will buy anything because of the mindless sleep mentality that some people sadly suffer from.
So, whatever. Their loss.
Don’t do the Soulja Boy.
Hilarious!!!!
Had me at "Build-in".
But what are they like to paly?
How long until Nintendo sues him?
800 lawsuits for infringement, damage, and losses in 3...2...1....
I love that the design of the thing looks like an unholy union of an OG PS4, an X1X, and the output of a 3D printer.
@darkswabber That's fun "anyone who doesn't want to buy my stolen warez for more than the normal fencing price, is clearly a racist"
I wonder if Soulja Boy's fans would be interested in my new music player, the NESTune. It come pre-loadbearing with all of Soulja Boy's albums build-in!
@Mijzelffan I find humor the we are proud to be closed minded after X year. Not a good joke on a site that reviews stuff.
@FragRed
Seems unreal. How can this be?! People are either stupid or paid to post. I hope it’s the latter.
There is nothing I can say about this that won't cause a race card to get thrown my way, so I'm going to just walk away.
@Agent721 Those who are certified by Twitter I reckon are in the know on what’s going on and are just doing it to “support” or as you said, were paid. But I think some of his fans truly believe anything this man says. And that I think is the scary/worrying part of any fan base.
I'm glad they went with Linux 3.0. It's so much better than Linux 2.0.
This is great
I hope they make a joke about it on the Game Awards tonight
I smell copyright infringement and IP theft.
@DarthNocturnal Drug charges. Battery. Murder, sure.
This is IP theft from Nintendo Ninjas, and a bunch of companies connected neck deep with the Yakuza. Money doesn't buy escape from stolen Japanese honor.
I read this whole thing and I can already imagine the political journalistic spin this is going to conjure up.
What's amazing most of all is this guy is in the IP business, himself (music), but doesn't see the problem with selling other people's stolen IP, let alone doing so at extreme markup. It defies all reason.
So he played WarioWare and thought "Yeah! What a great business plan!".
Lol paid people tweeting they support it.
He should stick to super-soaking hoes, yoooouuhhhhhh.
But does it run Jonathan Blow's classic game for people who smoke, or people who drink, like if you drink beer and you get drunk or if you smoke weed and get high?
Thanks for this, I needed a laugh today.
Wow if Nintendo gets his name on their radar... This guy will loose a lot of money.
I actually wanna see how poorly this hardware run this games.
250k won't cover the Nintendo trial
Why is there always a catch.......
seeing as hes in us id love nintendo to go after him. How gangstar would that be convicted for selling a crappy chinese console lol
@Cloud-Strife madlittlepixel on youtube has a review
Unfortunately this isn’t the most embarrassing thing Soulja Boy has done. Take a look at this: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=x9bb2hvBiN0
@Aozz101x what do they even mean by Linux 3? Linux kernel version 3? because that's really old, the current version is 4.19. 3 was developed between 2011 and 2015
@tommydii
Oh good lord, it's Wrigleyville on game night.
But that mysterious SOULJAGAME tho!!!
Lol: Scammers, they will always exist.
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