In the age of AI, one man spent years squeezing an entire museum onto a Game Boy - Why? For the most human of reasons

Dr. Marcel Pflug's journey to create a Game Boy reference museum on a cartridge began with a simple idea that made him laugh. The world was full of needs, but a Game Boy cartridge that didn't contain a game was not a priority. Pflug's project involved cataloguing every aspect of the Game Boy, from its product shots to its peripherals, hardware adjustments, and even articles about it. The ultimate goal was to create an exhibit about the collection, living inside the collection itself.

However, presenting this vast amount of information on a Game Boy cartridge posed significant challenges. The Game Boy's screen could only display 255 blocks at a time, making it difficult to show text. Pflug also wanted to include QR codes to link to photographs, but QR codes were not designed for this type of display. He had to create custom solutions for various elements, including displaying his own photo in the credits, which resulted in a pixelated skull.

Despite these obstacles, Pflug persevered, spending several years working on the project. He admits that building on outdated hardware makes every screen feel like a hard-earned achievement. The completed cartridge is a comprehensive encyclopedia of the Game Boy's world, available for free download or as a ROM for those who wish to create their own cartridge.

Pflug sees this project as a way to preserve the knowledge of the Game Boy on the device itself, ensuring that its story can be told even if websites and servers disappear.