Game Boy

The Game Boy (ゲームボーイ, Gēmu Bōi^?), is an 8-bit handheld video game device developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on April 21, 1989 (1989-04-21), in North America in August 1989 (1989-08), and in Europe on September 28, 1990 (1990-09-28). 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.^[5]

The Game Boy is Nintendo's second handheld system following the Game & Watch series introduced in 1980, and it combined features from both the Nintendo Entertainment System and Game & Watch and its B&W.^[5] It was originally bundled with the puzzle game Tetris.^[6]

Despite many other, technologically superior handheld consoles introduced during its lifetime,^[7] 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.^[8]

Features

The Game Boy has four operation buttons labeled "A", "B", "SELECT", and "START", as well as a directional pad.^[9] There is a volume control dial on the right side of the console and a similar knob on the left side to adjust the contrast.^[10] At the top of the Game Boy, a sliding on-off switch and the slot for the Game Boy cartridges are located.^[11] Nintendo recommends users to leave a cartridge in the slot to prevent dust and dirt from entering the system.^[12]

The Game Boy also contains optional input and/or output connectors. On the left side of the system is an external power supply jack that allows users to use an external rechargeable battery pack or AC adapter (sold separately) instead of four AA batteries.^[13] The Game Boy requires 6 V DC of at least 150 mA.^[14] A 3.5 mm stereo headphone jack is located on the bottom side of the console which allows users to listen to the audio with headphones or speakers.^[15]

On the right side is a port that allows a user to connect to another Game Boy system via a link cable, provided both users are playing the same game.^[16] 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.^[17]

Launch titles

• Alleyway
• Baseball
• Super Mario Land
• Tennis
• Tetris (Bundled with Game Boy)

European launch titles

• Qix
• Radar Mission
• Solar Striker

Reception

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. By Japanese fiscal year 1997, before Game Boy Color's release in late-1998, the Game Boy alone had sold 64.42 million units worldwide.^[3][18]

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.^[19] However, its release price of $189.95 and substantial requirement of 6 AA batteries that would provide roughly only four or five hours of gameplay (compared to 10–12 hours on 4 AA batteries and a release price of $89.99 for the Game Boy) doomed it to a second-rate status.^[20] Nintendo also experienced heavy competition from Sega's Game Gear. To promote its new color console, Sega aired a number of negative ad campaigns in the United States that mocked the Game Boy's monochrome display compared to Game Gear's full color display. 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.^[21] 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,^[22] and sold around 11 million units in total.

In 2009, the Game Boy was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame, 20 years after its introduction.^[23]

As of June 6, 2011, Game Boy and Game Boy Color games are available on the Virtual Console service on the Nintendo 3DS's Nintendo eShop.^[24]

Other models

Play It Loud!

On January 1, 1995, Nintendo released several Game Boy models with colored cases, advertising them in the "Play It Loud!" campaign.^[25] Specifications for this unit remain exactly the same as the original Game Boy, including the monochromatic screen. This new line of colored Game Boys would set a precedent for later Nintendo handhelds; the Game Boy Pocket, the Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance (including the SP and Micro), Nintendo DS (including the Lite, DSi, DSi XL), and Nintendo 3DS all feature different colored units. Play It Loud! units were manufactured in red, green, black, yellow, blue, white, and clear (transparent) cases. A very rare, limited edition Manchester United Game Boy is red, with the logos of the team emblazoned on it was released simultaneously with the Play it Loud! handhelds in the United Kingdom. The Play It Loud's screens also have a darker border than the normal Game Boy (with the exception of the black Play it Loud!).

Game Boy Pocket

In 1996, Nintendo released the Game Boy Pocket: a smaller, lighter unit that requires fewer batteries. It has space for two AAA batteries, which provide about 10 hours of game play. The Pocket has a smaller link port, which requires an adapter to link with the older Game Boy. The port design is used on all subsequent Game Boy models, excluding the Game Boy Micro. The screen was changed to a true black-and-white display, rather than the "pea soup" monochromatic display of the original Game Boy. Also Game Boy Pocket (GBP) has a larger screen than the Game Boy Color (GBC) that later superseded it, the GBP's screen is 65mm (2.56") diagonal, width 48.5mm (1.91"), height 43.5mm (1.71") compared to a 59mm (2.32") diagonal for the GBC. Again, and like the Game Boy, the Game Boy Pocket has no backlight to allow play in a darkened area. The first version did not have an LED to show battery levels. This was soon added due to public demand, along with new Game Boy Pocket units of different colors, some of them new to the Game Boy line. There were several limited-edition Game Boy Pockets including a metallic Ice Blue unit and a pink model exclusive to Japan. The Game Boy Pocket was not a new software platform and played the same software as the original Game Boy model.

Game Boy Light

The Game Boy Light was released on April 14, 1998 for ¥6,800^[26] and was only available in Japan. The Game Boy Light is only slightly bigger than the Game Boy Pocket and features an Electroluminescent backlight for low-light conditions. It uses 2 AA batteries, which gave it approximately 20 hours with the light off and 12 with it on. It was available in two standard colors; Gold and Silver, as well as numerous special editions. There is an Astro Boy edition with a clear case with an Astro Boy picture on it. There is a Osamu Tezuka World shop edition with a clear red case and a picture of his characters. There is a Pokémon Center Tokyo version in yellow color. There is a clear 'skeleton' Famitsu edition which had only 5,000 units released. There is a clear yellow edition separate from the solid yellow Pokémon Center Tokyo version.

It was the only handheld Nintendo produced with an integrated backlight until the release of the Nintendo DS in 2004 (The Game Boy Advance SP released in 2003 was frontlit, and the later backlit model Game Boy Advance SP (Model AGS-101) was not released until 2005)

Technical specifications

• CPU: Custom 8-bit Sharp LR35902^[27] core at 4.19 MHz which is similar to an Intel 8080 in that none of the registers introduced in the Z80 are 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.^[28]
• RAM: 8 kB internal S-RAM^[29] (can be extended up to 32 kB)^[30]
• Video RAM: 8 kB internal^[30]
• ROM: On-CPU-Die 256-byte bootstrap;^[31] 256 kb, 512 kb, 1 Mb, 2 Mb, 4 Mb and 8 Mb cartridges
• Sound: 2 square wave generators, 1 PCM 4-bit wave sample (64 4-bit samples played in 1x64 bank or 2x32 bank) channel, 1 noise generator, and one audio input from the cartridge.^[32] The unit only has one speaker, but headphones provide stereo sound (for further information, see Game Boy music)
• Display: Reflective STN LCD^[33] 160 × 144 pixels^[30]
• Frame Rate: Approx. 59.7 frames per second on a regular Game Boy, 61.1 on a Super Game Boy^[34]
• Vertical Blank Rate: Approx 1.1ms^[34]
• Screen size: 66 mm (2.6 in) diagonal^[28]
• Color Palette: 2-bit (4 shades of "gray" {light to very dark olive green})^[30]
• 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.^[30]
• Power: 6 V, 0.7 W (4 AA batteries provide ~15 hours)^[33]
• Dimensions: 90 mm (W) x 148 mm (H) x 32 mm (D) / 3.5" x 5.8" 1.3" ^[33]

See also

• List of Game Boy colors and styles
• List of games for the original Game Boy
• List of Game Boy accessories (list of all known accessories)
• Game Boy accessories (description of some selected accessories)
• Game Boy Advance
• Game Boy line
• Microvision, the first handheld to use cartridges

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 ed.). Roseville, CA: Prima Publishing. ISBN 0-7615-3643-4. 
• Hand-held electronic game - Design patent for the case

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.
• Game Boy console games Game boy games search