Nintendo Game Boy

Game Boy is one of the most popular portable consoles ever made. It's an 8-bit based handheld console, made from Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on April 21, 1989, in North America on July 31, 1989, and in Europe on September 28, 1990.

Despite the contrasts with the most sophisticated competing consoles and the fact that its standard version had grayscale graphics on a green screen, the competitive selling price, good marketing, and wide range of games it offered were the key points that made the Game Boy the highest-selling console. That lasted for over a decade, until the DS and PlayStation 2 took over. Its total sales, including those of the smaller sized Game Boy Pocket and colored version Game Boy Color, reached 118.69 million.

Tech Specs

• CPU: Custom 8-bit Sharp LR35902 at 4.19 MHz

• RAM: 8 KB internal S-RAM (can be extended up to 32 KiB)

• Video RAM: 8 KB internal

• ROM: 32 KB to 8 MB cartridges

• Sound: 2-pulse wave generators, 1 noise generator, and an audio input from the game.

• Speaker: One speaker with stereo headphone out support

• Display: Reflective LCD160 × 144 pixels

• Frame rate: 59.7 fps

• Screen size: 2.6"

• Color palette: 2-bit color palette with 4 greenish shades also referenced as grey shades

• Communication: 2 - 16 system connection at the same time with link cables and adapters when needed.

• Power: 6V from 4 batteries (1.5 Volts per battery) or external power supply

• Dimensions: 9 cm Width × 1.48 cm Height × 3.2 cm Depth

• Weight: 220 g

Revisions

In 1995 Nintendo started a fashion that all manufacturers copied (and did very well). They named it Play it Loud! It brought out the classic Game Boy in new colors without the slightest change in the hardware of the device. The new colors were black, green, red, yellow, blue and transparent. There are some highly collectible versions today. Some also consider the below releases as revisions.

Game Boy series releases

Game Boy Classic

The first Game Boy came out in 1989 in Japan and North America and in 1990 in Europe. The most-selling game is Tetris with 33,000,000. Its green screen brought up many generations of people and taught gaming.

Game Boy Pocket

Launched in 1996. This is the first updated version of the first generation. It was smaller, lighter, it needed fewer batteries, the screen was bigger and the greenish elements were gone. It's playing the same games. The Game Boy Pocket came out in a variety of colors, most notably black, green, red, yellow, blue, and in 2 new (and now more collectible colors) metallic blue and pink.

Game Boy Light

Game Boy Light was a revision of Game Boy pocket with a bright backlit screen. It only came out in Japan and thus is considered one of the most collectible and valuable Game Boy.

Game Boy Color

In 1998 Nintendo decided to add some color to our lives. Game Boy Color is a bit larger than Game Boy Pocket, unfortunately without a backlit screen. The system was slightly upgraded to meet the demands of the color era. Given the compatibility with older titles that had the choice of 12 color palettes to give them a bit of a color depth. In addition, most Game Boy Color cartridges work on older systems. It was initially released in 5 basic colors.

Game Boy Advance

Year 2001. For some, it's considered as the best Game Boy. It's like holding a SNES in your hands. It has more keys, still no lighting, still only has one speaker, still gets batteries. Although GBA games are different, it has backwards compatibility. Of course it was available in several colors The Pokemon game is the highest selling one (13,000,000).

Game Boy Advance SP

Game Boy Advance SP is the first enhanced version of Game Boy Advance. It is the first to differ so much in its design, the first with a lithium battery and the first for Europe and America with illumination, the only disagreement being the lack of input 3.5 for a headphone that needed a special adapter. From a hardware perspective it is no different from the first Game Boy Advance. It came in several colors and collectible versions.

Game Boy Micro

Unfortunately for the compact size, almost identical to the NES controller, there is no second processor, so it is not backward compatible and the user had to be content (in the huge range) of GBA games. It came out in 2005, when the Game Boy series successor, Nintendo DS, was already released, so it doesn't have the recognition it deserves.