The Game Boy turned 32 yesterday, and if you're old enough to have enjoyed that particular handheld back in the day you might recall the Game Boy Printer, one of the wackiest accessories ever produced for a games console.
The battery-powered thermal printer connected to your Game Boy and allowed you to print off images taken with the Game Boy Camera. It had its limitations – the monochrome images were printed onto a roll of cheap paper and looked pretty rough – but it was typical of Nintendo's desire to think outside of the box.
Fast forward to 2021, and Nintendo is reviving the concept, in a fashion. It has teamed up with Fujifilm to create a service that allows you to print screens from your Switch wirelessly, all thanks to Fujifilm’s wireless printer 'instax mini Link' and a new smartphone app.
Using the app, you'll be able to scan screenshots from the Switch using a QR code and then send them to the printer to create a hard copy. You can add borders from 3 Nintendo titles (Super Mario, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and New Pokémon Snap) as well as add special effects.
To celebrate the collaboration, an exclusive instax mini Link printer is being produced which will come in special Nintendo-themed packaging. There's also going to be a special Pikachu-shaped rubber case for the printer.
The app will be free to download and will launch on April 30th, 2021. Fujifilm has confirmed that both the printer and the app will be available outside of Japan; in the UK, it will set you back £109.99.
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[source topics.nintendo.co.jp]
Comments (30)
The wireless mini-printer is cool, but I bet that the ink is exorbitantly expensive.
@RupeeClock
40€ for 50 Pictures on Amazon.
It is one of those super waste producing cartridges.
So i can't recommend this product to anyone.
Better put the Screenshots on your Phone and print them in one of those instant Photo Shops where you can transmit them via Bluetooth.
@RupeeClock It's akin to Polaroid in that it doesn't use ink or toner cartridges but instead utilizes cards with prefilled ink pouches.
I wish I could find new thermal paper that fits the Game Boy printer these days (ideally as stickers like the originals). My daughters would love it. I’ve found rolls for tills but they need cutting to fit and never seem to work. I’m sure I could find Bluetooth printers for my iPhone that could print photos and stuff, but it doesn’t have the same novelty and appeal to me.
@Azuris
That indeed is pretty expensive.
@GravyThief If you get taxi sixed thermal paper, it fits perfectly. I got a box with some rolls of the stuff a few months back and printed some PokéDex entries. When I used the official Game Boy Printer paper it was just a fuzzy mess, but with the taxi paper it was so clear.
@RupeeClock is it laser colour printer. If so will be expensive
@twadebarcelona I’ll check it out, thanks!
The printer is already available in the UK, so I guess its just a case of waiting for the app to get a western release
I wonder how much all of the plastic Nintendo is responsible for weighs? I probably own like 4kg of Nintendo based material so I know it has to be millions of pounds for us poor nostalgia loving consumers 😂😭
It's cool no doubt, but it seems extraordinarily impractical. A year ago when we didn't have the option to transfer images to our phones it might have worked, but now it's just a waste of money and a stain on our environment.
You call it the Instax mini LINK and you don't use LINK as a posterboy? Come on Ninety, missed chance imho. Won't buy until they fix this...
This is really cool. The printer uses OLEDs to expose the image on to the film, basically taking a photo of your screenshot.
My kids (and wife, she already has an Instax camera!) would love this.
@RupeeClock The instax line already exists, It works kinda like a polaroid. The paper has everything in it, the printer uses no toner or ink.
The prices for this paper (or film if you will) where I live is R$ 80,00 for a pack with 20. It is the same as 15 USD or 12 EUR in a direct conversion, but I bet it is less than that, as our taxes on imports are huge.
@Damo any idea what's going on with the UK Nintendo store? It seems to have been closed and they've not had upcoming games to preorder for some time
@carlos82
A couple of weeks ago, Nintendo UK Store sent out an email informing users that "the Nintendo Official UK Store will soon become part of our Nintendo Account Services in Europe".
This might be related to that, although the necessary data transfer should've taken place already back on April 12th.
@RupeeClock I must have missed that email, just checked again and its back up, seems to be a complete redesign and yes its now linked to my Nintendo account
@carlos82
Yeah, a whole new site has launched that integrates with the My Nintendo rewards service.
https://store.nintendo.co.uk/en_gb/my-nintendo/my-nintendo-rewards/
The implication of this seems to be that you may be able to get these rewards without needing to pay the increased shipping costs that non-German customers face, and bundle them with proper UK Store orders?
I'd try it out, if there was anything I wanted to pre-order through the UK Store at this time.
People used that thing with the Camera? I thought it was always just for Pokemon stuff, though thinking back, I believe Super Mario Bros. Deluxe used it too.
They clearly had to get Nintendo's approval to license it, so I'm pretty surprised Nintendo didn't just buy the invention from them outright, since this kind of thing has been up their alley since the GB Printer was invented.
@RupeeClock in had a quick go adding the SNES controller to my basket and it's free delivery, used to be about £8. I'll get a couple of them on payday now
My printer can already print small photos, I don't see why anyone would buy a tiny machine for that single purpose.
@carlos82
That's brilliant, this really adds a lot of value to My Nintendo rewards and exclusive orders.
@RupeeClock if it is the model I'm thinking about, there is no ink. It's the paper which is special. It basically work somewhat like a polaroid
Imagine dunking your friend in smash...
Pausing...
Taking a screenshot...
Printing...
And LITERALLY HANDING THE L to your opponent
As much as I think instant cameras are stupid in this day and age (as you will never have a higher quality version of what you have captured) this seems like a cute novelty. I'll consider it if I can somehow get my hands on the Pikachu one.
i still have my gameboy printer and my gameboy camera, and my gameboy color. as of the last time i check which was years ago, they were all in great working condition. however, these days i like to use Polaroid cameras for when i mess around with instant photography.
besides, i already have enough ways to print and share screen shots taken from my Nintendo switch.
@RupeeClock It might not be cheap but it doesn't seem to use ink in the traditional sense but rather "film" in a style not unlike oldschool polaroid cameras?
This really amuse me and make me curious because if true, it's using such an old technology yet one ironically likely so much better fit for such compact format than the ink cartridges of modern printers.
Like, I was most likely going to pass this as novelty but as an artist who's often heavily distracted when trying to look at references pictures, saved up on my phone/tablet/PC, I'm starting to think that the ability to quickly print tiny photo pictures of art I've digitally colored/refs I found online to then use them as physical ref cards I could consult without having to go online or on my phone/tablet/PC and the like and thus avoid a lot of the distractions I'm often dealing with??
@Azuris as @fR0z3nS0u1 stated... though it might not be cheap it might not produce as much "waste"" than you think because.... it might not be using cartridges in the first place???
" It's akin to Polaroid in that it doesn't use ink or toner cartridges but instead utilizes cards with prefilled ink pouches."
Like this means that since the cards all come with that stuff "built-in", it may very well be not cheap to use.... but on the flipside you're not actually using plastic ink cartridges that need to head to the trash afterward??
@Ludovsky
The "Cards" itself are contained in a Cartdridge.
This is the Cartdridge:
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/31UdGn9rZZL.AC_SY350.jpg
It contains 10 "Papers", so you are throwing away such Cartdrigde every 10 Fotos you print.
The Ratio Prints/Waste is better with more classical approaches.
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