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The original Game Boy's design set the standard for handheld gaming consoles.
The Game Boy (Japanese:ゲームボーイ) is a series of battery powered handheld game consoles sold by Nintendo. It is the best selling game system to date. The Game Boy was the second portable system created by Nintendo (the first being the Game & Watch series starting in 1980).
Versions
The Game Boy console went through several design iterations, without significant changes to its computing power, since its release in 1989.
Game Boy
The original Game Boy was released on April 21, 1989 in Japan and in August, 1989 in the United States. Based around a Z80 processor, it had a tiny black and green reflective LCD screen, an eight-way directional pad, and two action buttons. It played games from ROM-based media contained in small plastic detachable units called cartridges (sometimes abbreviated as carts). The game that really pushed it into the upper reaches of success was Tetris.
- CPU: 8-bit Z80 at 4.194304 MHz
- RAM: 8 kbit internal
- ROM: 256 kbit, 512 kbit, 1 Mbit, 2 Mbit and 4 Mbit and 8 Mbit cartridges
- Video RAM: 8 kbit internal
- Sound: 4 channel stereo sound. The unit only has one speaker, but headphones provide stereo sound
- Display: Reflective LCD 160 x 144 pixels
- Screen Size: 66 mm (2.6 in) diagonal
- Color Palette: 4 shades of gray
- Communication: Up to 4 Game Boys can be linked together via serial ports
- Power: 6 V, 0.7 W (4 AA batteries provide ~35 hours)
Game Boy Pocket
In 1996 Nintendo released the Game Boy Pocket, a smaller, lighter unit that required fewer batteries. It had space for 2 AAA batteries, which would provide roughly 10 hours of game play.
Game Boy Light
Only available in Japan, the Game Boy Light was the same size as the Pocket, but has a backlit screen for improved visibility. Its backlit screen obviously impacts its battery life, but it is unclear by how much.
Game Boy Color
Main article: Game Boy Color
Released in November of 1998, the Game Boy Color (also referred to as GBC) added a color screen to a form factor slightly larger than the Game Boy Pocket. It also has double the processor speed, twice as much memory, and an infrared communications port.
Game Boy Advance
Main article: Game Boy Advance
In 2001, Nintendo finally released a significant upgrade to the Game Boy line. The Game Boy Advance features a 32 bit 16.8 MHz ARM processor, along with a Z80 processor to support original Game Boy games. Technically likened to the Super Nintendo and backed up with superior ports of classics such as Super Mario Bros. 2, Super Mario Kart and F-Zero alongside new titles such as Kuru Kuru Kururin. Often referred to as GBA.
Game Boy Advance SP
The SP version featured a new smaller clamshell design with a flip-up screen, an internal frontlight (not a backlight), and rechargeable battery, but was otherwise unchanged. The "SP" stands for "special".
Accessories
Game Boy Camera and Printer
The Game Boy Camera & Printer are accessories for the Game Boy handheld gaming console, released in 1998. They marked the beginning of a thus far mostly unsuccessful attempt by Nintendo to expand the Game Boy from merely a gaming device into a rudimentary PDA.
Super Game Boy
Main article: Super Game Boy
The Super Game Boy was a plugin cartridge for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, allowing Game Boy games to be played on a television screen. The black-and-white games could be colorized, by mapping colors to each of the four greys. The Super Game Boy was favoured by software developers and testers since they could use a larger television screen while working, instead of the small Game Boy screen.
Game Boy Player
Main article: Game Boy Player
Similar to the Super Game Boy, the Game Boy Player allows Game Boy and Game Boy Advance games to be played on the Nintendo Gamecube. It uses the same color palette as built into the cart instead of colorizing the games.
Game cartridges
A Game Boy screen may look unusual if a game cart is pulled out while the power is on.
Each video game is a small plastic cartridge (or "cart") which contains the software program for the game. The software provides the data, logic, and rules of the game, accepts input from the console controls or buttons, and outputs the results to the screen display and speaker. Game data can be saved so that the game can be continued at a later time, otherwise a new game would start from the beginning.
The game cart is inserted into the console cart slot. If the game cart is pulled out while the power is on, then the screen will not function correctly, and the information being displayed will abruptly stop. This will freeze the game and may cause weird occurances, such as rows of zeros appearing on the screen and the sound remaining at the same pitch as was emitted the second the game was pulled out. A Game Boy game cart should never be pulled out of the Game Boy while the power is on, as it may delete saved data and do other damage. This also goes for any game in any console.
The original Game Boy's power switch was designed such that it prevented the cart from being removed whilst powered on. Game Boy Color cartridges use the space intended for the locking mechanism to prevent them from being used on the original Game Boy.
Popularity
Most game consoles become obsolete as newer systems become available. The Game Boy is unique in its stamina. 2004 brings about its 15th anniversary and in this time it has seen off many (often technically superior) rivals; most notably the SEGA Game Gear and the Atari Lynx. The current incarnation, the Game Boy Advance, is backward compatible; still playing cartridges created for the Game Boy in 1989.
Thousands of games are available for the Game Boy, which can be attributed in part to its sales in the amounts of millions, a well-documented design, and a typically short development cycle.
See also
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