Game Boy

The Game Boy (ゲームボーイ, Gēmu Bōi^?) is a handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo, released in 1989 at $89.95 USD^[1]. The Game Boy was the first successful handheld console, and was the predecessor of all other iterations of the Game Boy line.

The Game Boy was originally bundled with the puzzle game Tetris, since Nintendo thought that an addictive puzzle game would get consumers' attention. It is the most succesful portable in the history of video game selling 69 million units.

Features

Games

Main article: List of games for the original Game Boy

One of the top-selling games for the Game Boy was Tetris, which sold about 3 million copies in the US^[2] and is an example of a killer game. Tetris was packaged with the Game Boy, and often, consumers were buying the Game Boy to play Tetris^[3].

Controls

The Game Boy's main controls are located on the lower half of its front frame.

Like the NES controller, the Game Boy has four face buttons labelled "A," "B," "SELECT," and "START." The functions of these face buttons vary from game to game, though generally, the START button is used as a "pause" function to temporarily stop gameplay. The Game Boy also features a Directional Pad, allowing up to eight directions of movement in its games.

Outside of buttons used in gameplay, there is a volume control knob on the right side of the console, and a similar knob to change the contrast on the left side. The ON/OFF switch is located at the top of the Game Boy^[4].

Input/output

The Game Boy contains the following input/output connectors:

• A power input, located on the left side of the handheld console. The power adapter was included in a rechargeable battery pack kit. Separate editions of the battery pack were made for 110V and 230V countries. The Game Boy requires 6V DC of at least 250mA^[4].
• A link cable port, located on the right side. It connects two Game Boy handheld consoles, and transfers information between two games of the same type or same series. This was widely used in games such as Pokémon.
• A 3.5mm stereo headphone jack output is located on the bottom side of the console.
• An input for Game Boy cartridges (also called Game Paks) is situated on top of the Game Boy.

Sales and competition

The success of the Game Boy is exhibited in one way by its expansive and successful line of consoles. For instance, the Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance have reached worldwide sales figures of 49 million (as of December 2004) and 75 million (as of June 2006), respectively. The original Game Boy sold roughly 70 million units worldwide.

At the time of its release in 1989, the Atari Lynx, also known as the "Handy," was also just being introduced to the market. This system featured color graphics, a backlit screen, and networking capabilities.^[5] Nevertheless, its release price of $179, substantial requirement of 6 AA batteries that would provide roughly four hours of gameplay (compared to 10-12 on the Game Boy), physical bulkiness, and other factors doomed it to a second-rate status^[6].

In the 1990s, Nintendo experienced heavier 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. Nonetheless, the Game Gear suffered from generally the same problems that the Lynx did.

Accessories

Several accessories compatible with the Game Boy were also produced:

• The Game Boy Battery Pack (or AC Adapter), sold for about $30 USD, 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 sticks out prominently.^[7]
• 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 U.S., and Europe, primarily towards children. It is no longer in production by Nintendo.
• 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 Pokémon Yellow and The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX.
• 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.

Technical information

CPU

Custom 8-bit Sharp Z80 at 4.194304 MHz (has a slightly different instruction set than a standard Z80, and integrated sound generation)

RAM

8 kByte internal S-RAM

Video RAM

8 kByte internal

ROM

256 kbit, 512 kbit, 1 Mbit, 2 Mbit and 4 Mbit and 8 Mbit cartridges

Sound

2 Square Waves, 1 Triangle Wave, 1 White Noise. The unit only has one speaker, but headphones provide stereo sound

Display

Reflective LCD 160 × 144 pixels

Screen Size

66 mm (2.6 in) diagonal

Color Palette

4 shades of "gray" (green to (very) dark blue)

Communication

Up to 16 Game Boys can be linked together via serial ports

Power

6 V, 0.7 W (4 AA batteries provide ~35 hours)

Dimensions

90mm(W) × 148mm(H) × 32mm(D)/3.5 × 5.8 × 1.3 (inch)

See also

• Game Boy music
• List of games for the original Game Boy

References

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Wikipedia information about Game Boy This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Game Boy". It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer). Help contribute to Americola and edit this article.