RetroOnyx has opened pre-orders for a third batch of the MrCART ROM cart, a fully menu-driven multicart for the Nintendo Virtual Boy designed by community member Mr. Flower and built for wider release by Kevin Mellott’s shop. For a system defined by scarcity, headaches, and eye strain, it is yet another win for preservation and accessibility that makes actually using original hardware feel viable again.
Unlike older flash solutions that lean on PC-side loaders or off-system menus, MrCART does the civilized thing and puts a proper game select menu right on the Virtual Boy’s displays. Pop in a microSDHC card loaded with .vb files, power on, and you scroll through the library with the d-pad before flashing your pick into the cart’s 32 Mbit of onboard memory. It supports commercial titles and most homebrew from 256 KB up to 4 MB, with SRAM on board for save data, so you are not sacrificing progress every time you change games.
Physically, MrCART keeps things era-appropriate by using an original-style Virtual Boy shell, dust cover, and a clean, simple presentation that will not look out of place next to OEM carts. Under the hood, it is driven by an ARM SoC for fast operation, handling flash writes in under a minute, even for the largest games in the library. RetroOnyx is handling manufacturing and shipping orders in waves through September as they work through the current batch.
For a niche community that has been juggling aging carts, pricey oddities, and a shrinking supply of working hardware, this kind of project changes the day-to-day reality of owning the system. Instead of hoarding or settling for YouTube footage, you get something closer to a “full library on tap” experience that still respects the original hardware quirks.
Source: RetroRGB
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