Game Boy

Game Boy

Manufacturer	Nintendo
Product family	Game Boy line
Type	Handheld game console
Generation	Fourth generation era
First available	JP April 21, 1989 NA August 1989 EU 1990
Media	Game Boy cartridges
Units sold	Worldwide: 118.69 million, including Game Boy Color units
Best-selling game	Tetris, 33 million (pack-in/separately). Pokémon Red, Blue, and Green, approximately 20.08 million combined (in Japan and the US).
Predecessor	Game & Watch
Successor	Game Boy Pocket

The Game Boy (ゲームボーイ, Gēmu Bōi^?) is a handheld video game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on April 21, 1989 (1989-04-21), in North America in August 1989, and in Europe in 1990. In Southern Asia, it is known as the "Tata Game Boy"^[1][2] It is the first handheld console in the Game Boy line. It was created by Gunpei Yokoi and Nintendo's Research and Development 1 — the same staff who had designed the Game and Watch series as well as several popular games for the NES.^[3]

The Game Boy was Nintendo's second handheld system following the Game and Watch series introduced in 1980, and it combined features from both the Nintendo Entertainment System and Game and Watch.^[3] It was also the first handheld game to use video game cartridges since Milton Bradley's Microvision handheld console. It was originally bundled with the puzzle game Tetris.

The Game Boy was a tremendous success. The Game Boy and Game Boy Color combined have sold 118.69 million units worldwide. Upon its release in the United States, it sold its entire shipment of one million units within weeks.^[4]

Features

The Game Boy's main controls for playing games are located on the lower half of its front frame. The Game Boy has four operation buttons labeled "A", "B", "SELECT", and "START" as well as a directional pad. The functions of these buttons vary from game to game.^[5] There is a volume control dial on the right side of the console and a similar knob to adjust the contrast on the left side.^[6] The on-off switch is located at the top of the Game Boy in which the player can slide to turn the system on or off.^[7] The slot for the Game Boy cartridges (called "Game Paks" by Nintendo) is situated on top of the system.^[8] Normally, users leave the cartridge in the system as recommended by Nintendo to prevent dust and dirt from entering the system.^[9]

The right side of the Game Boy, showing the volume control and the link cable port.

A picture of the rare Red Game Boy with the Game Genie in it with the Tetris cartridge.

The Game Boy also contains the following optional input/output connectors. On the left side of the system is an external power supply jack that allows users to use a rechargeable battery pack instead of batteries; the rechargeable battery pack, which included a power adapter, was sold separately.^[10] Separate editions of the battery pack were made for 110V and 230V countries. The Game Boy requires 6V DC of at least 250mA.^[11] Finally, a 3.5mm stereo headphone jack is located on the bottom side of the console which allows users to listen to the sounds from the system without anyone else listening to it.^[12]

On the right side is an external connector port that allows a user to connect to another Game Boy system via a link cable, provided both users are playing the same game.^[13] The port can also be used to connect a Game Boy Printer. The link cable was originally designed for players to play head–to–head two–player games such as in Tetris. However, game developer Satoshi Tajiri would later use the link cable technology as a method of communication and networking in the popular Pokémon video game series including Pokémon Red and Blue and Pokémon Gold and Silver.^[14]

Games

Main article: List of games for the original Game Boy

Unlike Nintendo's predecessor Game and Watch, the games on the Game Boy come in the form of replaceable cartridges. It was the first handheld console to use cartridges since Milton Bradley's Microvision handheld console in 1980.^[15]

The Game Boy was released in 1989 packaged with Tetris.^[1] Its other launch titles were Super Mario Land, Baseball, Tennis, and Alleyway.^[16] The Game Boy sold over 450 million cartridges during its lifespan.^[17] The two most popular franchises from the Game Boy are the Tetris and Pokémon franchises. Other notable Game Boy games include Final Fantasy Legend, Final Fantasy Adventure, The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, Metroid II, Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge, Gradius: The Interstellar Assault, Operation C, and Chessmaster.^[3]

Tetris

Main article: Tetris (handheld game)

One of the top-selling games for the Game Boy was Tetris, which sold 33 million copies.^[18][19] The decision to package Tetris with the Game Boy was made by Nintendo of America president Minoru Arakawa.^[20] The game's style easily fit in with people who were on the go. The game also appealed to adults more than the Nintendo Entertainment System — something that would become a key marketing aspect in Nintendo's future advertising campaigns.^[21]

Pokémon

Main article: Pokémon

The Game Boy was also the birthplace of the Pokémon franchise. The first Pokémon video game was released in Japan on February 27 1996 by Nintendo.^[22] Pokémon was developed by Game Freak and was monitored closely by Nintendo. It is a role-playing game where the player caught and trained monsters and competed with others in competition.^[23] The object of Pokémon was to find and capture all 151 creatures either by capturing them in the game or by trading with other players via the Game Link cable. Two different versions of the game — Red and Blue — were released, both having different types of monsters to capture.^[24]

Pokémon would become one of Nintendo's most successful franchises, spawning its own highly–successful animated series as well as lines of toys, trading cards, and apparel.^[25] Pokémon Red and Blue became the highest–selling video games in 1998 upon its release in North America, and it revitalized interest in the Game Boy.^[26] It became the console's highest-selling non-bundled game at 20.08 million copies.^[27][28]

Reception

The red and gray GameBoy together.

The Game Boy and Game Boy Color combined have sold 118.69 million units worldwide, with 32.47 million units in Japan, 44.06 million in the Americas, and 42.16 million in other regions.^[29][30]

At the time of its release in 1989, the Atari Lynx was also just being introduced to the market. This system featured color graphics, a backlit screen, and networking capabilities.^[31] However, its release price of $179 and substantial requirement of 6 AA batteries that would provide roughly only four or five hours of gameplay (compared to 35 hours on 4 AA batteries for the Game Boy) doomed it to a second-rate status.^[32] Nintendo also experienced heavy competition from Sega's Game Gear. To promote its new color console, Sega aired a number of negative but unsuccessful ad campaigns in the United States that criticized the Game Boy's monochrome color palette. Like the Lynx, it too required six AA batteries that only lasted about 4-6 hours and was much more expensive than the Game Boy.^[33] The Game Gear had the advantage of being fully compatible (with an adapter) with all Sega Master System games and, while not as successful as the Game Boy, it sold from 1991 until early 1997.^[34]

Official Nintendo Magazine has praised the Game Boy and its models that follow it as it "got people who enjoyed gaming while sprawled on the couch in their undies to game wherever they liked."

Accessories

See also: Game Boy accessories

A Game Boy which was used to play the game Tetris, damaged in the Gulf War, which still works and is now on display in the Nintendo World Store in New York City

Several accessories compatible with the Game Boy were also produced:

• The Game Boy Battery Pack (or AC Adapter), sold for about US$30, was roughly 3 in. long, 2 in. wide, and 0.5 in. thick. One end of it had a 2 inch-long cord, ending in a 3.5 mm phone plug, while the other end had a standard mains plug. The first version of it was gray with purple lettering, to match the colors used on the Game Boy. It also featured a belt clip. The battery pack was good for several hours of gameplay per charge, providing an alternative to purchasing more AA batteries once their power was exhausted. The product used nickel-cadmium batteries, lasted about 4-5 hours per charge, and could be charged roughly 1000 times before a significant loss in effectiveness. A major drawback of the battery pack was its weight, as well as the way the phone plug stuck out prominently.^[35]
• The Game Link Cable an accessory that established a data connection between two Game Boys using the same game or game from the same series.
• The 4-player adapter (DMG-07) was a special link adapter for certain games which supported more than 2 players, such as F1-Race (up to 4 players) and Faceball 2000 (up to 16 players).
• Released in 1998, the Game Boy Camera was able to take pictures that could be printed out using the Game Boy Printer. The photos were in black and white only, and the resolution of the pictures was 128 x 123. Both the Game Boy Camera and Game Boy Printer products were marketed together in Japan, the United States, and Europe, primarily towards children.
• Released at the same time as the Game Boy Camera, the Game Boy Printer was a thermal printer. It ran on six AA batteries. In addition to printing out Game Boy Camera photos, it also ran in conjunction with several Game Boy games, such as The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX, Pokémon Yellow: Special Pikachu Edition, and "Super Mario Bros. DX"
• The Work Boy was a rare accessory for the Game Boy. It included a mini keyboard that plugged into the link cable outlet. The Work Boy cartridge included such programs as a clock, calendar, measurement conversion, and a phone book. This accessory was featured in Volume 36 (May, 1992) of Nintendo Power.

Technical specifications

• CPU: Custom 8-bit Sharp LR35902^[36] (Z80-clone) core at 4.19 MHz which is similar to an Intel 8080 in that all of the registers introduced in the Z80 are not present. However, some of the Z80's instruction set enhancements over the stock 8080, particularly bit manipulation, are present. Still other instructions are unique to this particular flavor of Z80 CPU. The core also contains integrated sound generation
• RAM: 8 kB internal S-RAM
• Video RAM: 8 kB internal
• ROM: On-CPU-Die 256-byte bootstrap; 256 kb, 512 kb, 1 Mb, 2 Mb, 4 Mb and 8 Mb cartridges
• Sound: 2 Square Waves, 1 programmable 32-sample 4-bit PCM Wave, 1 White noise. The unit only has one speaker, but headphones provide stereo sound (for further information, see Game Boy music)
• Display: Reflective LCD 160 × 144 pixels
• Screen size: 66 mm (2.6 in) diagonal
• Color Palette: 4 shades of "gray" (green to (very) dark green)
• Communication: Up to 2 Game Boys can be linked together via built-in serial ports, up to 4 with a DMG-07 4-player adapter. More than 4 players is possible by chaining adapters.
• Power: 6 V, 0.7 W (4 AA batteries provide ~35 hours)
• Dimensions: 90 mm (W) x 148 mm (H) x 32 mm (D) / 3.5" x 5.8" 1.3" (in)

References

• Game Boy Compact Video Game System Owner's Manual, Nintendo, 1989, DMG-GB-UKV 
• Kent, Steven L. (2001). The Ultimate History of Video Games (1st Edition ed.). Roseville, CA: Prima Publishing. ISBN 0-7615-3643-4. 

External links

• Official website
• Game Boy at Nintendo.com (archived versions at the Internet Archive Wayback Machine)
• Game Boy (original) games list at Nintendo.com (archived from the original at the Internet Archive Wayback Machine)
• Game Boy at the Open Directory Project
• Game Boy at Nintendopedia.