NN Audio releases Game Boi, a freeware retro-inspired virtual instrument for Windows and macOS.
The developer describes Game Boi as the true lo-fi experience, representing the sound of misspent youth for many of us.
Game Boi is inspired by two iconic and now vintage game consoles: the Nintendo Game Boy and Nintendo 64.
The Game Boy is the most famous handheld gaming device in history, and the Nintendo 64 was once cutting-edge home gaming technology, leading the charge in the war for supremacy with arch-rivals Sega.
The Game Boy and Nintendo 64 are very different devices with vastly different capabilities, and it’s important to say that Game Boi doesn’t recreate the sound of either.
Well, it doesn’t recreate the sounds precisely. But, it is heavily inspired by both and delivers sounds reminiscent of the developer’s favorite games of the era.
In other words, you won’t find an exact Dr. Mario or Legend of Zelda sound, but it should quickly transport you to your favorite 2D world in all its chiptune glory.
Game Boi features two customizable samplers and four adjustable FX modules, including Dimension, Reverb, Bitcrush, and Delay.
The plugin has a nice preset manager where you can save customized user presets for easy recall.
NN Audio created an interface that looks just like the original Game Boy, which is pretty cool.
It’s easy to label plugins like this one as a bit of fun, and that’s not a bad thing because they are fun. But the retro chiptune sound of yesteryear is very cool for the right project and context.
So, something that’s a bit of fun could potentially help you create some serious work.
If you were a kid who liked video games during the Nintendo/Sega era, you typically picked a side and stuck with it.
As much as I hate to say it in this article (and I loved Nintendo), I was always team Sega as a kid. I stayed with Sega all the way until the PlayStation arrived, and my loyalty meant nothing anymore.
Later on, I shamefully jumped ship again when the Xbox was released.
Are there any former or current gamers out there? Let us know what you’re playing now and what are your favorite games from the 90s.
You can download Game Boi free from the NN Audio website now. We also have a free Game Boy-inspired plugin called GB DrumBox.
If you haven’t checked out the now-free Ohmforce plugins, have a look; Ohmicide is just brutal.
Game Boi is available in AU and VST3 formats for macOS (10.14 upwards) and Windows (10 upwards).
Download: Game Boi (FREE)
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4 Comments
Ade
onOther than owning a SEGA GameGear handheld in the early 90s, I had no predetermined loyalty to any particular brand, until the PlayStation’s arrival – been strictly a Sony boy through all five generations since then. Xbox, Schmexbox.
Hey, but the plug-in sounds cool! Should be fun.
CoopMusic247
onThis is the most convoluted plugin to install. Having a few libraries from them this gets mixed up with others trying to pull samples in. It loads the samples from other libraries from the developer into it when it scans and it’s just a mess unfortunately. It’s nice that they give it away, along with other stuff but they need to figure out a better installation process.
Rafael
onThis plugin doesn’t really sound anything like a Game Boy. Some of the samples do have huge Ocarina of Time vibes though.
javanflo
onI don’t think it’s the same so I still choose Gameboy