Nintendo Game Boy

Nintendo Game Boy Specifications

The Game Boy, is an 8-bit handheld video game device developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on April 21, 1989, in North America in August 1989, and in Europe on September 28, 1990. It is the first handheld console in the Game Boy line, and was created by Gunpei Yokoi and Nintendo Research & Development 1—the same staff who had designed the Game & Watch series as well as several popular games for the Nintendo Entertainment System.

It is Nintendo's second handheld game console and combines features from both the Game & Watch handheld and NES home system. The console features a dot-matrix screen with adjustable contrast dial, five game control buttons (a directional pad, two game buttons, and "START" and "SELECT"), a single speaker with adjustable volume dial and, like its rivals, uses cartridges as physical media for games. The color scheme is made from two tones of grey with accents of black, blue, and dark magenta. All the corners of the portrait-oriented rectangular unit are softly rounded, except for the bottom right, which is curved. At launch, it was sold either as a standalone unit, or bundled with one of several games, among them Super Mario Land and Tetris. Several accessories were also developed, including a carrying pouch, a camera, and a printer.

The original Game Boy had a monochromatic display, but it was still very popular due to its affordability and portability. It also had a long battery life, which made it ideal for gaming on the go. The Game Boy was so successful that it remained in production until 2003, when it was finally replaced by the Game Boy Advance.

The Game Boy's library of games included many classic titles, such as the Super Mario Land series, the Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, and Tetris. It also introduced several new franchises, such as Pokemon. The success of the Game Boy paved the way for future handheld consoles, including the Nintendo DS and the Nintendo Switch Lite.

The Game Boy received mixed reviews from critics and was deemed technologically inferior to its fourth-generation competitors (Sega's Game Gear, Atari's Lynx, and NEC's TurboExpress) due to its monochrome graphics, along with a design that was perceived as bulky by some. In spite of its perceived disadvantages, it quickly outsold the competition, selling one million units in the United States within a few weeks. An estimated 118.69 million units of the Game Boy and its successor, the Game Boy Color, have been sold worldwide, making it the fourth best-selling video game console of all time. It is one of the most recognizable devices from the 1990s, becoming a cultural icon in the years following its release. Several redesigns were released during the console's lifetime, including the Game Boy Pocket in 1996 and the Game Boy Light in 1998 (Japan only). Production of the Game Boy continued until 2003, well after the release of its second successor, the Game Boy Advance, in 2001.