Your old Game Boy cartridges work on Steam Deck with this probably legal gadget

Mario Kart: Super Circuit title screen on Steam Deck — (Image credit: Epilogue)

A gadget that lets you play Game Boy games on PC is also compatible with Steam Deck, it's been confirmed.

The GB Operator's manufacturer, Epilogue, shared an image of Game Boy Advance game Mario Kart: Super Circuit's title screen on a Steam Deck. "It's official - enjoy your childhood cartridges, now on SteamDeck!" reads a tweet from Epilogue. "Today we validated at the office that GB Operator and the Operator app are fully compatible with Steam OS and run impeccably on SteamDeck. This makes the experience fun and portable, we're happy to support it."

It’s official - enjoy your childhood cartridges, now on SteamDeck! Today we validated at the office that GB Operator and the Operator app are fully compatible with Steam OS and run impeccably on SteamDeck. This makes the experience fun and portable, we're happy to support it 💪🏻 pic.twitter.com/Ik4Pc6xPnyOctober 13, 2022

I've been holding out on buying a Steam Deck, but the thought of playing Zelda: The Minish Cap and Final Fantasy Tactics on its glorious IPS LED screen might just be the thing that convinces me to pull the trigger. Epilogue says the setup is "for the most part" plug-and-play, but you can check out the short list of instructions here.

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Now, if you remember the time Nintendo slapped an injunction on the owner of a ROM website, or the time it demanded the removal an old archived Japan-exclusive Super Mario 64 guide, or the time it shut down a fan-made Pokemon game, or the time it trademarked the phrase "it's on like Donkey Kong," you might be concerned about how long this will stay on the market. However - and I'm certainly no legal expert - this seems fairly safe since you're playing actual Nintendo cartridges. Plus, people have been buying it to play Nintendo games on PC for months and there hasn't seemed to be an issue.

Here are the best GBA games you can officially play on Steam Deck now.

After earning an English degree from ASU, I worked as a corporate copy editor while freelancing for places like SFX Magazine, Screen Rant, Game Revolution, and MMORPG on the side. I got my big break here in 2019 with a freelance news gig, and I was hired on as GamesRadar's west coast Staff Writer in 2021. That means I'm responsible for managing the site's western regional executive branch, AKA my home office, and writing about whatever horror game I'm too afraid to finish.