Tired of you, Game Boy Printer.
Watch on youtube
The natural pairing with photography-focused games such as New Pokemon Snap is a device that allows you to bring in-game photos into the real world-so when Nintendo announced that it would be working with Fujifilm, I didn’t feel it at all. Surprisingly, the images taken on the switch will be printed on its Instax Mini printer.
In fact, after seeing Nintendo’s goal, I was relieved. Nintendo is the king of disposable accessories-an excellent plug-in, used in a few games, but basically worthless. This is the case with the Game Boy Printer, which is perfectly paired with the device’s camera and a small number of other games, but in other respects it is a dust collector. By cooperating with Instax, the company cleverly integrates with existing multifunctional equipment.
If you are not familiar, Instax Mini Link is basically a small photo printer that can be synced to your smartphone. It can segment good-quality photos in a Polaroid-style “real-time development” format within a few seconds. The photos are small, measuring 2.4 inches by 1.8 inches, but the novelty of these instant printing makes these devices appear to be somewhat powerful on the market.
Instead of ink, these photos are developed in a similar way to those of the earlier instant photos, which means you only need to pack them in a small sealed package to print ten images, and then pop out when ten are exhausted. replace. The main disadvantage is that it is expensive, and the color clarity of the printed photos is not always that good-but it is still a small and delicate device.
Before, I have dealt with the Instax brand. My partner has an Instax Mini camera, but the technology is the same, but all in one, no phone is needed. Point and shoot. The functions of Mini Link are slightly different. The included mobile app has built-in editing tools, so you can retouch and format photos, add text or other additional content, and then print.
Basically, you can upload photos on Instagram and then print them in a cute vintage format, giving you physical photos, and you can pin or slide them into the album-if people even own the album. For teenagers who want to decorate the room with photos of good times with their friends, this seems like a perfect thing…if this is still a teenager’s thing.
In any case, the printer is very simple. It has the function of opening and closing buttons, as well as some redundant motion control functions-so you can tilt, shake and flip it to control various functions without having to pick up the phone. However, none of these factors actually affect the realization of the Switch.
For Switch, Nintendo and Fujifilm launched a separate application “Instax Mini Link for Switch”, which is now available on both iOS and Android. It has the same functions as the existing Instax Mini App, so you won’t miss any functions, but it has the function of porting photos from Switch and some Nintendo-themed photo frames, etc., including Mario, Pokemon and Animal crossing.
The process of transferring photos from the Switch to the printer is a bit cumbersome, but considering the nature of the printer, this is understandable. It is not limited to Pokemon Snap, any screenshot of the Switch can be imported for printing.
Basically, this is a multi-step process. First, the printer must be turned on and synced to your phone. After synchronization once, as long as the printer is turned on, it will automatically reconnect via Bluetooth. Then, start the Instax application. At the same time, open the screenshot application on your Switch and bring up the sharing option. Here, there is an option “Send to Smart Device”, which is the option you use on the selected screenshot.
In this way, you can send one or more images to your phone at once. Clicking on it will pop up two QR codes; one is to temporarily connect your device to the switch for transmission, and the other is to confirm the transmission. In the Instax app, you can scan these QR codes… After a while, your screenshot will be displayed on your phone.
From there, you can use the same framing and editing tools as normal photos, and then send them to Instax Mini Link for printing. The app remembers past photos even after you load new photos, so you can easily reprint your favorites multiple times-although the film is expensive, it may not be repeated many times!
The whole process was the first time, but it was a breeze afterwards-it was fun to see your in-game photos enter the real world, just like the enhanced Game Boy Camera snapshots that used pixelation a few years ago.
Obviously, the whole process is a bit fancy. But it’s also very interesting, and the fact that it is a small and powerful instant photo printer in itself makes it better than Nintendo’s Game Boy attempt. It was a pure mm head-very good, impressive at the time. However, photo printing is now easy-no one wants to spend a lot of money on a photo printer that can only be used with the Switch.
However, this is a small partnership worth establishing with practical equipment, and it works very well. If you already own one of these printers, you should check Switch integration-if you are curious about this concept of mobile photo printing, you can consider Switch integration as a convenient option.
