The original grey Game Boy – also known as the Game Boy DMG – is an iconic piece of technology. Gunpei Yokoi was its original designer when it launched on 21st April 1989 and it was part of the Game Boy line that sold over 118m units worldwide.
But why was it so popular, and how did it manage to live for so long before a recent revival? Its official lifespan was 1989–2003 – which included the Pocket, Light, and Color variants. 15 years is a long time for a line of gaming tech but it worked (as you can see by the sales).
It was Nintendo’s second handheld after their Game & Watch series. Both were designed by Yokoi but the Game Boy combined parts of the G&W and the Nintendo Entertainment System. It used a green dot-matrix screen (hence the name “DMG”), an adjustable contrast wheel, that classic D-pad, and uses game cartridges.
The Game Boy was technically inferior to its rivals. But where it excelled was in its battery life and choice of games. It was an 8-bit console while the Sega Game Gear and Atari Lynx were 16-bit. Game publishers could translate NES or NES-style games for the console with quick turnaround times. The Game Boy was sold on its own or bundled with two games: Super Mario Land and Tetris. The latter made the Game Boy a desirable console and left its rivals in the dust.
30 years later and people still covet the console. But with some technological improvements. There’s a modding community that adds backlights to Game Boy screens to the system’s main problem – you can’t play it in the dark. But the backlights reduce its contrast so modders often add a
I bet if you look in your attic or an old drawer somewhere you’ll find a Game Boy. They sold over 100 million units after all. Its durability both physically and commercially is evident in its modern-day renaissance. Game Boys in varying condition command prices above what you’d expect for a console from 1989. Even without a box, a backlit,
And to that I say, happy birthday Game Boy!
(image courtesy of Dan Clarke aka Arkotype)
