From Brick-like Behemoth to Revolutionary: The Complete History of the Legendary Nintendo Game Boy

The Nintendo Game Boy series forever changed the face of portable gaming after storming onto the scene over 30 years ago. Across four iconic models and a 14 year journey, this product line captivated millions with revolutionary hardware design, an ever-expanding game library and franchise-defining software that still endures today.

Setting the Stage: Gunpei Yokoi Lays the Groundwork

Before envisions the Game Boy, Nintendo engineer Gunpei Yokoi already established himself as a pioneer in portable interactive entertainment. Way back in 1980, Yokoi took Nintendo‘s first step into the portable gaming market with the Ultra Hand toy followed by the massively successful Game & Watch series of LCD handhelds.

According to former Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi, Yokoi constantly pushed the company to invest in portable gaming development throughout the first half of the 1980s. At the time, Nintendo remained focused on their 8-bit Famicom home console. However, Yamauchi trusted Yokoi’s vision and greenlit a skunkworks project for him to begin developing a portable Famicom prototype capable of swapping cartridges.

This research laid the groundwork for the device that would ultimately become known worldwide as the Game Boy. After 3 years spent rigorously refining and patenting his portable console design, complete with trademark elongated horizontal form factor, Yokoi formally pitched the concept to Yamauchi and Nintendo of America president Minoru Arakawa in 1987.

Even in its early unrefined state, gamer culture historian Blake Harris noted that Yokoi’s prototype "…perfectly encapsulated his long-standing philosophy of building products that were simple, durable and inexpensive yet also fun and entertaining." Years ahead of its time, the prototype clearly demonstrated the Game Boy’s massive market potential.

Launching a Revolution: The Nintendo Game Boy Arrives (1989)

Yokoi’s disruptive portable gaming vision was realized on April 21, 1989 when the 8-bit Nintendo Game Boy hit Japanese store shelves with little fanfare. Literature bundled with the console taught players how to insert cartridges and touted the handheld’s remarkable 30 hour battery life. Although acceptable for the time, the unlit 2-inch 160×144 pixel LCD screen was still difficult to view without adequate external lighting.

When the Game Boy made its North American debut in July of the same year with a pack-in copy of Tetris, expectations remained muted despite Nintendo allocating $10 million towards promoting their monochrome $90 brick-sized handheld. However, as genius Nintendo of America Vice President Don James observed, “Once the player witnesses Tetris on the keychain-sized Game Boy screen, he or she is hooked." Nintendo knew that Tetris’ approachable yet endlessly compelling gameplay would single-handedly sell millions of Game Boys. They were right – the revolution had begun!

Original Game Boy Specs:

By the end of 1990, Nintendo had shipped over 7 million Game Boy units internationally including 1 million in North America alone, vastly exceeding even the most optimistic first year sales projections. Strong steady sales continued year-over-year ultimately reaching nearly 119 million lifetime units sold by the time the Game Boy line was discontinued in 2003.

Facing Off Against Color Competition

Despite holding over 90% of worldwide portable gaming market share by the early 1990s, Nintendo resisted calls to release a Game Boy successor with color graphics, pointing to ongoing strong sales of their competitive-priced monochrome handheld. However they soon faced a growing existential threat as rival console makers launched flashy alternatives featuring full color LCD displays.

Companies including NEC, Atari and Sega began eating at Game Boy’s market lead throughout the first half of the 1990s with their respective Turbo Express, Lynx and Game Gear portables. The $189 Turbo Express even offered the ability to play full-fidelity TurboGrafx-16 cartridges in portable form. Meanwhile the Game Gear touted graphics approaching the 16-bit Sega Genesis home console.

However all three challengers shared one critical hardware flaw compared to the Game Boy – significantly reduced battery life ranging from just 3 to 6 hours per set of batteries. This made them less appealing for on-the-go gameplay and long trips where the Game Boy could last over 30 hours on just 4 AA batteries!

By 1996, Nintendo still held 41 million in annual Game Boy sales despite technologically superior color alternatives being readily available. Their gaming library breadth, user-friendly form factor and cost/power efficiency kept fans firmly on board even with monochrome graphics. However it was time for an upgrade.

Delivering “Color Portable Perfection” – The Game Boy Color Arrives (1998)

By 1998, Nintendo could no longer ignore demands for a color-capable Game Boy unit. After 9+ years cementing portable gaming market leadership, Nintendo released their first major Game Boy refresh – the Game Boy Color.

Launching on November 18, 1998 for $69.99, the Game Boy Color (GBC) finally brought color graphics to Nintendo’s portable powerhouse by utilizing a faster improved Sharp LR35902 processor now clocked at 8MHz, 2.37x faster than the original Game Boy. This horsepower augmentation allowed the GBC to render up to 56 simultaneous colors on screen from a 32,768 color palette. And thanks to a refined power supply subsystem, the cumbersome AA battery pack was now replaceable with just two AA batteries while still delivering 10+ hours of gameplay.

Game Boy Color Specs:

But beyond dazzling color visuals, Nintendo ensured backwards compatibility with the GBC’s entire monochrome Game Boy library while introducing iconic new titles like Legend of Zelda: Link‘s Awakening DX and Pokémon Gold & Silver.

This winning formula allowed combined Game Boy and Game Boy Color sales to ultimately eclipse an astounding 118 million units globally following the GBC’s discontinuation after a remarkably successful 5 year run. This performance firmly cemented Nintendo‘s dominance over the portable gaming landscape leading into the new millennium.

Leaping Into 32-Bits: The Game Boy Advance Debuts (2001)

Hot off the Game Boy Color’s runaway success, Nintendo continued the Game Boy lineage by leaping head first into the 32-bit era with 2001’s Game Boy Advance. Representing the most radical technological upgrade in the brand‘s history, this landscape-oriented portable shipped with a 32-bit 16.8 MHz ARM7TDMI processor capable of rendering up to 32,768 colors on a high resolution 2.9-inch 240×160 display

Launching in early June 2001 for $99.99, the Game Boy Advance eschewed AA batteries entirely in favor of an internal rechargeable pack rated for 15+ hours of gameplay. Out of the gate, gamers were treated to enhanced Super NES ports like Super Mario Bros 2, Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past and even a port of the beloved arcade racer Ridge Racer.

Game Boy Advance Specs:

This influx of powerful hardware combined with a massive 600+ game library adoption that approached 82 million in lifetime sales before the Game Boy Advance line ceased production in 2010. Thanks to iconic exclusive games like Metroid Fusion, Fire Emblem, WarioWare Inc. and Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga, the Game Boy Advance extended Nintendo’s portable gaming dominance further into the 21st century.

The Game Boy Advance also represented a major evolutionary step towards future Nintendo handhelds. Many Switch owners likely felt a sense of familiarity the first time they grasped Nintendo’s newest portable thanks the ergonomic and visual DNA passed down from the best-selling Game Boy Advance.

Cementing an Unmatched Legacy

Across nearly 15 unbelievable years from 1989 through the early 2000s, the Game Boy product line single-handedly designed, dominated and expanded the portable video game market from niche hobby to global phenomenon. Defying repeated attempts from adversaries in the console space, Nintendo managed to sell a staggering 220 million Game Boy units cumulatively while introducing legendary software IP like Tetris, Pokémon Red & Blue to the mainstream.

The Game Boy forged central pillars of simplicity, mobility and accessibility that ripple through Nintendo’s entire portable history including the massively successful Nintendo DS, 3DS and Switch Hybrid eras. Recent retro-inspired handhelds like last year’s Analogue Pocket even pay direct homage to revolutionary Game Boy aesthetic and ethos.

So when you boot up Pokémon Violet/Scarlet or Mario Kart 8 Deluxe on your current-generation Switch, make sure to briefly reflect on the 8-bit monochrome portable that started it all those years ago!