The Nintendo Game Boy is one of the most popular consoles of all time and rightly so. In their day, Super Mario, Tetris and Co. captivated the whole family in front of the small screen and even today the handheld and its successors are still popular for gaming.
Many of you are probably familiar with the little gimmicks that were available to buy as additional features - such as the attachable lights that allowed us to play in the dark, or the magnifying glasses that we could attach in front of the display to make it larger to get picture.
In fact, it was much bigger, but then we really couldn't talk about handheld anymore.
This is the Game Boy Store Kiosk
It wasn't actually intended to connect the Game Boy to the TV at home, but the so-called Store Kiosk still made it possible to play the Nintendo games of the time on the 'big' screen.
The play station, which you may have seen in large department stores and electronics stores, was not originally available for use at home; it was only produced for marketing and demonstration purposes. Reddit user jayhest was able to get hold of one and is currently presenting it on Reddit:
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The top of the device is actually reminiscent of the normal Game Boy design, but is just significantly larger. The Game Boy is firmly inserted in the lower area. To change the game, we need a key to open the hood, which at the same time protects the Game Boy from theft.
But how does it all actually work?After all, the Game Boy doesn't have a suitable connection. jayhest explains this in a comment under his post. A ribbon cable is connected directly to the circuit board and receives a black and white signal from there, which it transmits to the screen. To create the familiar greenish Game Boy look, a tinted plexiglass pane is installed above the monitor.
In any case, we think the thing is pretty cool. If you see it that way and are thinking about buying a store kiosk, you'll have to dig deep into your pockets. We have currently only found one offer on eBay for 6,028.42 euros - and it is the slimmed-down version, without a screen.
So it's lucky that in 2025, 36 years after the release of the Game Boy in 1989, another handheld from Nintendo awaits us - the Nintendo Switch 2. Luckily, this comes with a slightly handier docking station.
That still exists today
We still know the principle of the store kiosk today, especially from electronics stores or trade fairs. For test purposes, TV sets are often set up there to which consoles enclosed in glass cases are connected. With the controllers also secured, we can usually play a specific game.
These play stations used to be incredibly popular - especially after school - because we could play there even if we didn't have our own console.
With more modern consoles, the structure no longer differed so much from the home setup, after all, later devices were usually intended to be connected to the TV. Handhelds, on the other hand, are simply displayed as they are.
What do you think about the Store Kiosk and would you like to have one? Tell us in the comments!
