They’re talking about something like this https://www.thedrive.com/tech/34817/this-25000-game-boy-is-m...

No, some dedicated hardware device, about five years old, that looks like a Game Boy.

The flipper firmware is only about six months old, and it is still not as convenient and distributed.

The actual firmware exploit is the same idea.

Wow, that really is Gameboy-like! This time the reporters weren't wrong.

More than likely

No, they don't. You need to read the article. It says such devices cost $20k.

My understanding is that the firmware has some sort of DRM and it’s being sold - not freely distributed. (Admittedly, the comment I saw mentioning cost pegged it at 1k, not 20k for a license.)

Could still be a flipper with custom firmware.