Game Boy: Difference between revisions
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Revision as of 08:50, 14 August 2006
The Game Boy, Nintendo's flagship handheld console, was first released in 1989, and even today is the best selling handheld console of all time. Gumpei Yokoi is credited with playing a key roll in its development and release.
The console's first incarnation was large and grey, with a monotone dot matrix screen and monaural sound. It was playable for an average of 35 hours with four AA batteries. Many peripherals were released for it through its time, the more popular ones being the Game Boy Printer and Game Boy Camera. The Game Boy was also later released with five differently colored bodies.
Game Boy Pocket was released in 1996 as a replacement for the original Game Boy. The Game Boy Pocket had a smaller frame, a larger screen, and a higher resolution display. Despite its screen improvements, the Game Boy Pocket display was still in monotone and the sound remained the same as it was in the original Game Boy. Another somewhat minor improvement was that the system took two AAA batteries instead of four AA, effectively helping to lighten its weight.
Game Boy Light was a system released exclusively in Japan. It was similar in all ways to the Game Boy Pocket with the main difference being an indigo back-lit screen.
In 1998, the Game Boy Color was released. It was slightly smaller than the original Game Boy (the same size as the Game Boy Pocket), and arrived in a wide array of colors — but the biggest change was in the graphics display, which could now display colors instead of just black and white. The GBC (Game Boy Color) could also play old monotone Game Boy games, and would color them using a color pallet that you could choose by pressing any direction on the D-pad and A or B when a game started up (there are 18 palletes in all). It also had a new infrared port at its top that could be used to link wirelessly with other GBCs if the game being played supported the feature.
The next form of the Game Boy, the Game Boy Advance, was released in 2001. Not only did it look dramatically different (a semi trapezoidal shape compared to the rectangle shape of the original Game Boy and Game Boy Color), but it also contained a powerful processor, allowing it to display SNES caliber graphics and even play voices.
Later, the Game Boy Advance SP was released, with a front/backlight (depending on the model) and a flippable "clamshell" design.
Pokémon and the Game Boy
Pokémon is widely considered to be one of the primary driving forces behind the Game Boy's sales, especially in the later part of the 1990s and early 21st century.
