Over at Portable Video Gamer, you can read a brief but informative history of the Game Boy gaming line from Nintendo, including the Game Boy Advance, the Nintendo DS, and variants of these handheld consoles.
On January 10, 1989, a patent was filed that would lead to the creation, distribution, and ultimate enormous success of the world’s most popular videogame machine: the Game Boy portable gaming series. Nintendo’s previous handheld experience with the Game & Watch (a watch that included mini-games for quick play), led to the invention of a fully-developed, portable gaming system. Many people imagined the Game Boy would play just like the Game & Watch systems, with different games available for purchase but featuring little differences amongst them. Surprisingly, the Game Boy allowed for development of sophisticated games of many styles and genres. The Game Boy has had many different variations over time and eventually led to the creation of the Nintendo DS. Hop along as we explore the history of the Game Boy franchise and take a look at how things have changed along the way.
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GAME BOY POCKET
40% smaller than the original, with AAA batteries and longer lasting life, a truly gray and not yellowish screen, and the disappearance of the battery life LED marker, the Game Boy Pocket was a big change. Released in 1996, it was first available on a limited-edition platinum color.
. . .WIDE BOY
The Wide Boy was available to developers and the gaming press only. It would play Game Boy games on the NES.
I’m surprised at how many of these I have owned or currently own. I sometimes forget how much of a gaming-stuff purchaser I am, given how little I buy any more. Pretty cool backgrounder information on the entire line of hand-helds, and a link off to speculation on the future of the series.
[tags]Game Boy series history, Gaming, Nintendo, GBA, NDS[/tags]