The internet just got a bit more wonderful.
A new free web app lets you take Game Boy camera-style photos, but this site is doing a lot more good than just creating retro-style selfies. That Guy With A Game Boy Camera This is for posting the Game Boy Camera Photos I take. Been taking photos since 2014. It's a hobby and keep it up. Have been featured in the LATimes.com and have spoken at conventions on the relevance of Retro Gaming. Totally unnecessary—at least that’s what the makers of the 8-Bit Pocket Camera app want you to think. This $1 iOS app lets you take 200 x 200 tiffs reminiscent of the pictures (and quality) that. This $1 iOS app lets you take 200 x 200 tiffs reminiscent of the pictures (and quality) that the Game Boy Camera used to take back in the day (which were 128 x 112). We all remember the Nintendo Game Boy. For many of us, this little 8-bit powerhouse was our first encounter with mobile gaming. From its original release in 1989, Nintendo’s little game console provided millions of people the world over the chance to enjoy addictive hits like Super Mario and Tetris even when they weren’t near a television.
On Saturday a coder, animator, and electronic musician by the name of maple 'mavica' syrup published a free web app that lets anyone take Game Boy Camera-style photos with just their browser and a webcam. It's super fun.
Over Twitter direct message, mavica, who prefers it/it pronouns and a lowercase styling, explained that a 2014 app made by Christine Love led it to create an updated version of the late nineties classic camera toy. mavica recalled how Love's app, 'Interstellar Selfie Station,' helped it at an important moment in its life.
'[She'd] made the app back in 2014 but after a few months it got pulled off app stores,' wrote mavica. 'i found the original app when i was just starting my transition and the low-res pictures helped a lot with my dysphoria, so it meant a lot to me and i've wanted to recreate it in some form ever since then.'
it's done!!
i've implemented all functions i wanted to my web gameboy camera app and it seems to be working alright
please let me know if you find any bugs and do share pictures, i'd love to see them!https://t.co/E1xJh6Ev0epic.twitter.com/ThvGqB2QSj
— maple 'mavica' syrup, professional lesbian (@maplesbian) October 18, 2020
The web app is super easy to use, and lets you adjust the brightness, contrast, and color pallet of your photos.
I never had a Gameboy, but I love the aesthetic of its camera. This is really cool, thanks for making it! pic.twitter.com/iC3oAeruDY
— The New Weird Daniel (@ChurchOfCordite) October 19, 2020
mavica built the entire thing over the weekend, and confirmed over direct message that the camera app doesn't store any of the photos people snap.
'[The] app is entirely client-sided, there's no storage anywhere in your device or the server, it's all only a single page with some basic javascript,' mavica explained.
This is rad!! pic.twitter.com/PKQKTVM3ZJ
— scare-ah🎃elizabeth (@saxysarah15) October 19, 2020
'[My] favorite part that people have shared with me so far have been other trans people who also noted that the filter helps their dysphoria and i'm so glad to have spread the same feeling i had 6 years ago,' wrote mavica.
In other words, mavica's web app is not just fun — it's providing real value to people (though, of course, fun by itself is also plenty valuable).
SEE ALSO: Take a Pixelated Look at NYC Through a Game Boy Camera
Game Boy Camera Cheats
So go take some rad pixelated photos, update your profile pic, and feel a little better about the world — even if only for a brief moment.