Not That You Would Really Want To, But You Can
This month saw the release of PlayStation and Xbox’s next generation consoles, the PlayStation 5, and the Xbox Series X. These consoles have a lot to be praised for, including some of the most impressive graphical capabilities seen in a video game console. Well, who cares about all that–we just want to play Demon Souls on a Gameboy Micro! Okay, maybe not. You probably aren’t looking to connect your fancy new consoles to a nearly 20-year old handheld, but if you wanted to, you can.
A YouTuber by the name of The Retro Future has discovered a way to play ANY console with HDMI output on a Gameboy Advance.
While The Retro Future demonstrates this with a PlayStation 5, any console with an HDMI output can be connected to the classic line of handhelds. Don’t have an 8K TV to play Spider-Man: Miles Morales on? Well, how about a 240 x 160 resolution screen that can fit in the palm of your hands!
So how did he do it? Well in a previous video of his he used an old GBA add-on called Blaze–originally used as an analog TV tuner to watch shows on your Gameboy Advance. The Blaze has audio/video inputs that can be used to connect to an HDMI console using a series of adapters. He originally used this set-up to connect a Nintendo Switch to the GBA.
This time, he is using an old Mayflash GBA cartridge with several audio/video outputs on it. The Mayflash adapter can be connected to another adapter to convert the PS5’s HDMI output into a AVI input for the Gameboy. Keep in mind that not only is this not very practical, it is also very expensive. The Mayflash adapter is very hard to find and cost the YouTuber £120 ($208 CAD).
One downside to this is that the handheld only works as a monitor and not a controller. Meaning you need to use a separate controller to be able to play any games on it, but considering the lack of additional buttons on the retro handheld, this is probably for the best. This set-up will work on the Gameboy Advance, Gameboy Advance SP, and Gameboy Micro.