How many of you had a Skannerz toy back in the day? I was 10 when they released, scanning the barcodes on cereal boxes (and anything else I could get my hands on in the cupboards or fridges) to see if I could capture monsters from them. It was sort of a mixture of the Tamagotchi and Pokémon mechanics, all in a device that felt a little bit like a Digivice. So, in essence, it took all of the elements of our childhood and put them into a barcode scanner to keep us occupied and out of trouble.
I've not seen one of these devices for a heck of a long time, and I certainly didn't expect to see one playing Mario Kart: Super Circuit. That's exactly what Mark Ghirardi aka @marky_pi has done, however, turning this classic 2000s toy into a handheld emulator that plays DMG, GBC, and GBA games.
By adding an Arduino Microcontroller and a Raspberry Pi and adding back buttons into the device, Marky has turned the same model of Skannerz that we have here in the office into a bona fide Game Boy emulator, complete with a USB-C charging port for fast charging.
While Mark doesn't have any for sale as of yet as he's just uploaded his creation to the world today, there are chances that he'll start making these for the public. Keep an eye out on his website to see if and when they drop!
