Portable Preservation

For our third year at Toronto Games Week, we focused on handheld video game systems. Our event, Portable Preservation, took place at the Royal Ontario Museum in the Earth Rangers Studio on June 17, 2025.

In the centre of the room, we built an exhibit displaying a timeline of handheld video game consoles (and some interesting peripherals), from the Nintendo Game & Watch up until the final entry of the 3DS family. Each display case was accompanied by an info sheet with basic facts about each artefact.

It was heartwarming to hear the many comments from visitors who recognized an old favourite: including parents introducing the original Game Boy to their kids… or lamenting that a plaything from their youth should appear in a museum! 😅

Around the edges of the room, we set up our interactive displays. More than 700 visitors got to play, sew, photograph, and cheer each other on with a variety of systems and accessories. For the Broken Games Collective, giving people a chance to get hands-on with intriguing video game artefacts is a big part of what preservation means to us.

Now You're Playing with... PlayStation?
An undercurrent of the event was the astonishing number of ways to play Game Boy games. Highlighting one bizarre comparison was Tetris for the Game Boy set up on a Super Famicom using a Super Game Boy 2, side-by-side with an original PlayStation using a Super GB Booster accessory. A strange chimera, Game Boy cartridges plug into the Super GB Booster, which plugs into the parallel port on early models of the PlayStation.

Both setups allow for playing Game Boy games on a television, but while the official Super Game Boy 2 experience is accurate to the original, the unofficial Super GB Booster produces unpredictable (though fascinating!) glitches during gameplay.

Not Exactly Handheld
We also brought the Vectrex and the Nintendo Virtual Boy to share our love for self-contained systems that, while they won't fit in your pocket, are meant to be conveniently transported and set up anywhere. Both have surprising revivals coming in the new year!

The Vectrex has a built-in vector-based display that draws perfect lines from point to point on screen—rather than a series of horizontal lines as used in a traditional CRT television—giving it a unique look with jaw-dropping scaling effects for the era. It's impossible to fully replicate on modern displays, but a Vectrex Mini was announced in August 2025 at Gamescom that will attempt to simulate the experience using an AMOLED display.

Rarely mentioned by Nintendo since its discontinuation in 1996, the Virtual Boy is a 3D gaming headset with a distinct red display and a handful of fun games. In one of the most surprising video game announcements ever, Nintendo revealed in September 2025 that the Virtual Boy would be revived for the Switch and Switch 2 with a custom stand that recreates the look and feel of the original system.

Sewing 
Attendees got to try their hand at the Jaguar JN-100, also known as the Game Boy Sewing Machine. Instead of inventing a whole new digital interface, the idea was instead to connect an existing, familiar device to the sewing machine for its screen and controls: the Game Boy. In much the same way that modern smartphones can now control devices around the home, the Game Boy is used to choose stitches, and more!

Game Boy Selfies
One of the most popular stations was the area for taking photos with Game Boy Cameras. Released in 1998, the Game Boy Camera was for many their first experience using a digital camera. Thanks to aftermarket sticker paper still being manufactured today (original supplies have all since expired), visitors were also able to print out and take home their selfies.

The Big Screen
Inspired by the groups of people who gathered to collaboratively play Hotel Mario together at last year's event, we used the room's largest screen to present Donkey Kong 94 using an Analogue Super Nt and Super Game Boy 2. The fan-favourite game turned out to be a little more difficult to rally around than the comparatively simple Hotel Mario, but there were still plenty of cheers as folks worked their way through DK94's many levels.

The Full List
Want to see the full list of the systems, accessories, and games that we brought to the event? Click "read more" below!

We can't wait to see you next year!

GCE Vectrex (Mine Storm)
Nintendo Virtual Boy (Galactic Pinball)
Sony PlayStation (Super GB Booster and Tetris)
Nintendo Super Famicom (Super Game Boy 2 and Tetris)
Analogue Super Nt (Super Game Boy 2 and Donkey Kong 94)
Analogue Pocket (Game Boy Sewing Machine and Singer Sewing Machine Operation Software)
FunnyPlaying FPGBC (Game Boy Cameras and Game Boy Printers)
Game & Watch Donkey Kong Jr.
Game Boy
Game Boy Pocket
Game Boy Light
Game Boy Color
Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Advance SP (AGS-001)
Game Boy Advance SP (AGS-101)
Game Boy Micro
Super Game Boy
Super Game Boy 2
Game Boy Player
Sega Game Gear
Atari Lynx (Model I)
Atari Lynx (Model II)
Neo Geo Pocket Color
Bandai WonderSwan
Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS Lite
Nintendo DSi
Nintendo DSi XL
Nintendo 3DS
Nintendo 3DS XL/LL
Nintendo New 3DS
Nintendo New 3DS XL/LL
Nintendo 2DS
Nintendo New 2DS XL
Sony PlayStation Portable
Sony PSP Go
Sony PS Vita

Nintendo e-Reader
Pocket Monsters Stadium with Game Boy Transfer Pak
Game Boy Pocket Sonar
Mobile Golf with Mobile Adapter GB
Game Boy Sewing Machine
Game Boy Camera
Game Boy Printer