Nintendo Game Boy
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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" (green to black)
- 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 Play It Loud!
In 1995 Nintendo released the Game Boy Play It Loud, a unit featuring a more powerful internal speaker and several external case colours. It was not commercially successful compared to the Game Boy Pocket.
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. The Game Boy Pocket has a smaller link port, requiring an adapter for linkage with the older Game Boy. The port's design was carried on to all later GB models. The screen was changed to a true black-and-white display, rather than the "pea soup" monochromatic display of the original Game Boy.
Game Boy Light
Only available in Japan, the Game Boy Light was about the same size as the Pocket and has a backlit screen for improved visibility. It uses 2 AA batteries which give it approximately 20 hours with the light off and 12 with it on.
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. A major draw of the Game Boy Color was its backwards-compatibility (that is, a Game Boy Color is able to read older Game Boy cartridges). This became a major feature of the Game Boy line, since it allowed each new launch to begin with a significantly larger library than any of its competitors.
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 SNES and backed up with superior ports of classics such as Super Mario Bros. 2, alongside new titles such as Mario Kart Super Circuit, F-Zero Maximum Velocity, and 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 [1].
Accessories
Game Boy Camera and Printer
The Game Boy Camera & Printer are accessories for the Game Boy handheld gaming console, released in 1998. The y 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
The Super Game Boy was a plugin cartridge for the SNES, 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 grays.
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.
Cartridges
Each video game is contained in a small plastic cartridge (or "cart"). Game Boy and GBC cartridges measure 5.8 cm by 6.5 cm. The software contained within 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.
The game cart is inserted into the console cart slot. If the game cart is pulled out while the power is on, the Game Boy will exhibit undefined behavior. This will freeze the game and may cause weird occurrences, 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. Pulling a cart out of the Game Boy while the power is on may cause saved data or hardware to be damaged. This applies to all game consoles.
The original Game Boy power switch was designed in such a way that it prevented the cart from being removed whilst powered on. Many Game Boy Color cartridges use the space intended for the locking mechanism to prevent insertion into 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 able to play 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.
Sonic Pirates on the Gameboy
NOTE: All legitimate games featuring Sonic have been released on the Gameboy Advance, not the Gameboy.