Game Boy

The Game Boy is Nintendo's second handheld console. It is the first and titular handheld of the Game Boy family, and was launched in Japan and North America in 1989 and later in Europe in 1990. The Game Boy is the handheld counterpart of both the Nintendo Entertainment System and Super Nintendo Entertainment System. In 1998, the Game Boy received a successor, the Game Boy Color.

The Game Boy combines features from both the Nintendo Entertainment System and Game & Watch units. The console features a dull green dot-matrix screen with adjustable contrast dial, five control buttons (a, , , , and , the same as on a Nintendo Entertainment System), a single speaker with an adjustable volume dial, and, like its rivals, uses cartridges as physical media for games. The color scheme is made from two tones of grey with accents of black, blue, and dark magenta. All corners of the portrait-oriented rectangular unit are softly rounded except for the bottom right, which is curved. Initial pressings of the Game Boy were bundled with Tetris.

Despite being technologically inferior to its competitors —, , and , all of which had 16-bit full color graphics — the Game Boy received praise for its battery life and durability in design. The Game Boy runs on four AA batteries, allowing for up to 30 hours of gameplay. The Game Boy is one of the best selling handhelds, let alone game consoles, of all time, having solid over 64 million units worldwide (not including its successor, the Game Boy Color).

Production of the Game Boy continued into the early 2000s, even after the release of Game Boy Advance, and would cease production in 2003.

Several Game Boy games have been ported to the Nintendo 3DS's Virtual Console.

Development history
The Game Boy was designed by Nintendo's chief engineer Gunpei Yokoi and the Nintendo R&D1 team. Following the popularity of the Nintendo Entertainment System, he pitched the Game Boy concept to Hiroshi Yamauchi, and began working on it. The original internal code name for the Game Boy is Dot Matrix Game, referring to its unlike Game & Watch handhelds, which have segmented LCDs pre-printed with an overlay, limiting each model to only one game.

The initials DMG are featured on the final product's model number: "DMG-01". Internal reception of the console at Nintendo was initially very poor, with the derogatory nickname "DameGame" from Nintendo employees, in which dame (だめ) means "hopeless" or "lame".

Hardware specifications

 * CPU: Z80 8-bit CMOS
 * CPU speed: 4.19 Mhz
 * RAM: 8 Kbyte
 * Maximum resolution: 160 x 144 pixels
 * Colors: Grayscale (four shades of gray; dark olive green for original units)
 * Maximum sprite size: 8 x 16 pixels
 * Maximum number of sprites on screen: 40 sprites, 10 per line
 * Minimum/Maximum cart size: 256 Kbit - 16 Mbit
 * Sound: 4 Channel

Compatibility
Below is a compatibility chart. There are notable color exceptions for this chart, such as Pokémon Gold and Silver Versions, which act as standard black Game Boy Color cartridges but have unusual cartridge colors.

Launch titles
The Game Boy was released alongside six launch titles. Japan had five launch titles, although North American and Europe each had four launch titles.

Mario franchise
In the Game Boy comics mini-series by Valiant, Game Boys acted as gateways between the Mushroom World and Earth.

The Club Nintendo comic "Wart steht unter Strom" is about Bowser (who is erroneously named "Wart") who is playing Game Boy. The power of the batteries expires, so Wart carelessly throws the batteries away. Mario reminds him that they should be properly disposed of in containers instead.

In the Nintendo Adventure Book Doors to Doom, Mario and Luigi can encounter Wart, who is relaxing in his lair and playing a Game Boy, having mellowed out and become a skateboarder since his last encounter with the heroes.

In Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, Mario is able to buy a game from a Game Boy-playing Toad at the inn in Mushroom Kingdom.

In Luigi's Mansion, there is a Boo called Game Boo, named after the Game Boy and its line of handhelds.

In Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, there is an oversized Game Boy as the scoreboard in the Pianta Parlor.

In WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$!, 9-Volt has a giant Game Boy in his house.

A stage that takes place in a Game Boy system, Dream Land GB (based on Kirby's Dream Land), appears in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Additionally, during the Classic mode credits minigame, hitting the Nintendo logo towards the end plays the Game Boy start-up sound.

In Super Mario Odyssey, although the Game Boy does not physically appear in the game, one of the Snapshot Mode filters has the graphics style of the Game Boy.

In WarioWare Gold, a Game Boy appears as a souvenir. It is accompanied by the description, "Unlike Game & Watch, the Game Boy used an idea from Famicom: changing games by swapping cartridges. It also used batteries—extras were handy!"

Trivia

 * To commemorate the 100th issue of Nintendo Power, an exclusive golden Game Boy Pocket with a Nintendo Power logo and a 100 next to the system's logo was bundled with the issue.
 * The screen color on the original Game Boy is later used as an alternate costume for Mr. Game & Watch in Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U.
 * The Game Boy's startup sound can be heard in Nintendo Puzzle Collection while playing Yoshi's Cookie. It is heard when a lightbulb appears over Mario's head.