Game Boy

A few blogs ago I promised to write a blog about the humble Game Boy. Now that I find myself home alone, sick with a cold, I've decided to write it. Mostly, to cure my boredom.

Nintendo's first Game Boy was released in 1989. It is one of the worlds most successful game system lines, selling more than 188 million units world wide.



It all started with the original Game Boy, released on April 21 1989. It had a black and green LCD screen, directional pad, action buttons (A and B), and Start and Select buttons. The game that pushed it to the top was Tetris. Yes, Tetris. The Game Boy was the first cartridge based system that could support more than four players at a time. I happened to have this Game Boy, well, it was Green instead of grey. I got it for my 7th birthday. I remember it, clearly. Playing Donkey Kong, a game which I still have by the way. The Game Boy is long gone now. I have no idea what happened to it. I moved house and everything. You would have thought I'd found it then. But, no such luck.



The second Game Boy released was exactly the same model as the first Game Boy. The only difference being they had coloured cases as part of the Play It Loud! series. It was released in 1995 with cases in red, yellow, green, black, blue, white and clear cases. Now that I read this, I'm starting to think I had one of these Game Boy's, mine having a green case and all. Awesome.



When the year 1996 came along, Nintendo released their third Game Boy. The Game Boy Pocket. This Game Boy was smaller and thinner than the original, and the screen was changed to a black and white LCD display, instead of the green of its predecessor. The first version did not have a LED light to show battery levels. This was later changed due to popular demand. Both my sisters, older and younger, recieved this Game Boy for Christmas one year. I was probably 8 years old at the time. My older sister got a silver one, and my younger sister a red one. We still have them actually, along with the games they came with - Super Mario World and Mario & Yoshi.



In 1998, the next Game Boy was released. The Game Boy Colour (or Color as it's written on the Game Boy). This was Nintendo's first Game Boy that had a colour screen. However, it was slightly larger than the Game Boy Pocket. It also had double the processing speed, and four times as much memory, along with an infrared communications port. The good thing about the Game Boy Color is that it's backwards compatible. This means it's able to play games from all it's predecessors, amazingly, in colour (well, limited colour. For some games it just gave it a bluish tinge). When my original Game Boy went missing, this is the one I recieved for Christmas when I was 11. It's sitting on my desk right now. It's clear in colour. I remember the first game I recieved was Donkey Kong Country. Quite clever of my mother, I thought, as the first game I recieved with my first Game Boy was Donkey Kong Land.



The next Game Boy to be released was in 2001. The Game Boy Advance. This Game Boy had a larger screen compared to Game Boy Colour, and, due to its new shape, it also had the addition of two new buttons - Left and Right. I never had one of these Game Boys. I think the fact that it wasn't the "Game Boy shape" in my eyes turned me off it. Plus, I had just recieved a super spiffy Game Boy colour for Christmas when it was released. I wasn't complaining.



The Game Boy Advance SP was released in 2003. Nintendo had gone back to the original Game Boy shape, adding a flip down screen. This Game Boy also has the addition of the backlight. So it is able to be played anywhere, without having to look for a suitable light source. My younger sister has this Game Boy. It's, I have to say, awesome. I became addicted to the games Mario & Luigi and Zelda (I've forgotten the name of the actual Zelda game at the moment).



The Game Boy micro was next to be released. It's only four inches wide, two inches tall and only plays Game Boy Advance games. Apparently, it has the same dimensions as the NES controller. It has a higher quality backlit screen with adjustable brightness. I haven't got one of these Game Boys, nor have I played one. I have, however, watched some little kid in front of me in a shopping line play one. Looked like fun.



Nintendo DS was released in 2004. It goes back to the Game Boy Advance Shape, only with a backlit screen, flip down top screen and a touch screen. The company has stated, however, that the DS is in actual fact not part of the Game Boy line. The refer to it as their third pillar. Home consoles being the first pillar, and Game Boy being the second pillar. Odd. Anyway, my older sister has this Game Boy, with the game Nintendogs. It's really quite spiffy, being a touch screen and all, and everybody likes touch screens. And there's also a chat function in it, where you can chat to other people with a DS that are around 300 metres away from you. I'm still not to fond of it's shape though.



In 2006 the Nintendo DS Lite was released. It's pretty much the same as the Nintendo DS, only, lighter, smaller, and not as chunky. I don't have one of these. Nor would I want one, it being basically the same as one I already have. Nonetheless, it's screen does have four levels of brightness.

So there we go. Game Boy. The whole generation. I love them dearly. If ever I see a green original Game Boy again then I'm buying it. I want it back.


References: Wikipedia and Google Images