game boy 1989 portable video game console for the entire game boy line of handheld consoles see game boy family game boymanufacturernintendoproduct familygame boy linetypehandheld game consolegenerationfourth generationrelease datejp april 21 1989 the game boy japanese hepburn gmubi is an 8bit handheld game console which was developed and manufactured by nintendo and first released on april21198919890421 in north america on july31198919890731 and in europe on september28199019900928 it is the first handheld console in the game boy line and was created and published by satoru okada and nintendo research development 1 redesigned versions were released in 1996 and 1998 in the form of game boy pocket and game boy light japan only respectively the game boy is nintendos first handheld game console and it combined features from both the nintendo entertainment system and game watch it was sold either as a standalone unit or bundled with the puzzle game tetris during its early lifetime the game boy mainly competed with segas game gear ataris lynx and necs turboexpress the game boy outsold its rivals and became a significant success history development the original internal codename for the game boy was dot matrix game which its initials came to be featured on the final products model number dmg01 the internal reception of the device was initially very poor the dmg even earned from nintendo employees the derogatory nickname damegame dame being the japanese for hopeless or lame in that context launch titles launch title japan north america europe super mario land yes yes yes alleyway yes yes yes baseball yes yes yes yakuman yes no no tetris no yes yes tennis no yes no hardware the standard gray cartridge for the original game boy games although other colors and shapes exist the game boy has four operation buttons labeled a b select and start as well as a directional pad the game boy also contains optional input andor output connectors on the left side of the system is an external 35mm 135mm dc power supply jack that allows users to use an external rechargeable battery pack or ac adapter sold separately instead of four aa batteries the rightside of the device offers a port which allows a user to connect to another game boy system via a link cable provided both users are playing the same game technical specifications comparison of nintendo portable consoles cpu custom 8bit sharp lr35902 at 419mhz this processor is similar to an intel 8080 in that none of the registers introduced in the z80 are present however some of the z80s instruction set enhancements over the 8080 particularly bit manipulation are present still other instructions are unique to this particular flavor of 8080z80 cpu parity flag half of conditional and all inputoutput instructions were removed from 8080 instruction set also the ic also contains integrated sound generation ram 8 kb internal sram can be extended up to 32 kb video ram 8 kb internal rom oncpudie 256byte bootstrap 256 kb 512 kb 1 mb 2 mb 4 mb and 8 mb cartridges sound 2 pulse wave generators 1 pcm 4bit wave sample 64 4bit samples played in 164 bank or 232 bank channel 1 noise generator and one audio input from the cartridge the unit only has one speaker but the headphone port outputs stereo sound display reflective stn lcd 160 144 pixels frame rate approximately 597 frames per second vertical blank duration approx 11ms screen size 66mm 26in diagonal color palette 2bit 4 shades of gray light to very dark olive green communication 2 game boys can be linked together via builtin serial ports up to 4 with a dmg07 4player adapter and 16 in maximum power 6 v 07 w 4 aa batteries provide approximately 15 hours of gameplay dimensions 90mm w 148mm h 32mm d 35 58 13 weight 220 g revisions play it loud play it loud transparent game boy north american edition on march 20 1995 nintendo released several game boy models with colored cases advertising them in the play it loud campaign japanese name game boy bros gmu bi burosu gmu bi burazsu specifications for this unit remain exactly the same as the original game boy including the monochromatic screen this new line of colored game boys would set a precedent for later nintendo handhelds every one of them since has been available in more than one color play it loud units were manufactured in red green black yellow white blue and clear transparent or sometimes called xray in the uk most common are the yellow red clear and black green is fairly scarce but blue and white are the rarest blue was a europe and japan only release white was a japanese majority release with uk toys r us stores also getting it as an exclusive edition to them the white remains the rarest of all the play it loud colors a rare limited edition manchester united game boy is red with the logos of the team emblazoned on it it was released simultaneously with the play it loud handhelds in the united kingdom the play it louds screens also have a darker border than the normal game boy game boy pocket the 1st release game boy pocket in 1996 nintendo released the game boy pocket a smaller lighter unit that required fewer batteries it has space for two aaa batteries which provide approximately 10 hours of game play game boy lighta clear skeleton famitsu edition appeared in 1997 which had only 5000 units released and a clear yellow edition see also list of game boy pocket colors and styles game boy light the game boy light was released on april 14 1998 for 6800 and was only available in japan the game boy light is only slightly bigger than the game boy pocket and features an electroluminescent backlight for lowlight conditions it uses 2 aa batteries which gave it approximately 20 hours with the light off and 12 with it on it was available in two standard colors gold and silver and a solid yellow pokmon center tokyo version reception the original game boy lacked a backlight many thirdparty addons were created to improve the experience in low light conditions though it was less technically advanced than the lynx and other competitors the game boys excellent battery life and rugged hardware and the popularity of the bundled tetris and other games made it much more successful in 1995 nintendo of america announced that 46 of game boy players were female which was higher than the percentage of female players for both the nintendo entertainment system 29 and super nintendo entertainment system 14 nintendo portal 1980s portal 1990s portal list of game boy colors and styles list of games for the original game boy game boy accessories description of some selected accessories game boy advance game boy line microvision the first handheld to use cartridges game boy compact video game system owners manual nintendo 1989 dmggbukv kent steven l 2001 the ultimate history of video games 1st ed roseville ca prima publishing isbn0761536434 handheld electronic game design patent for the case media related to game boy at wikimedia commons official website game boy at nintendocom archived versions at the internet archive wayback machine game boy original games list at nintendocom archived from the original at the internet archive wayback machine game boy at curlie vtegame boy familyconsoles game boy color advance family advance sp micro visteon dockable entertainment accessories afterburner game boy advance video game boy advance wireless adapter game boy camera game boy player game boy printer game link cable nintendo ereader gamecube game boy advance link cable nintendo power playyan super game boy wormcam games game boy bestsellers color advance bestsellers super game boy multiplayer titles emulation visualboyadvance wzonkalad nintendo ds family vtenintendo video game hardwareconsoleshome nes famicom titler twin famicom nes101 sharp nintendo television nes classic edition accessories super nes newstyle sf naizou tv sf1 super nes classic edition nintendo 64 ique player gamecube panasonic q accessories wii wii u switch handheld game boy game boy color virtual boy game boy advance sp micro dockable entertainment pokmon mini nintendo ds lite dsi nintendo 3ds 2ds new 3ds new 2ds xl dedicatedhome color tvgame nes classic edition super nes classic edition handheld game watch mini classics pokmon pikachu arcade vs system playchoice10 super famicom box nintendo super system peripheralsaddons 3d system data recorder disk system satellaview super nes cdrom unreleased super game boy game boy camera game boy printer 64dd rumble pak ereader game boy player connectivity nes four score nes satellite game link cable gcngba link cable controllers family basic nes advantage nes zapper power pad rob speedboard snes mouse super scope nintendo 64 controller gamecube controller wavebird wireless wii balance board wii remote classic controller motionplus wii zapper thirdparty accessories wii speak wii u gamepad wii u pro controller joycon networking family computer network system teleplay modem xband satellaview nintendo wifi usb connector other nintendo power nintendo ds dsi browser amiibo technologymedia nes game pak snes game pak n64 game pak game boy advance video nintendo optical discs nintendo game card processors 2a03 ppu 5a22 gsu rcp gekko broadway hollywood pica200 espresso erista allwinner r16 list of products vtevideo game consoles fourth generationtypes home video game console list handheld game console list microconsole list dedicated console list generations first 197280 second 197692 third 19832003 fourth 19872004 fifth 19932005 sixth 19982013 seventh 200517 eighth 2012present fourthgenerationhome commodore cdtv neo geo neo geo cd philips cdi laseractive sega genesis sega pico super acan super nintendo entertainment system sns101 turbografx16 handheld game boy family game boy atari lynx game gear turboexpress gamate watara supervision mega duckcougar boy game master third generation fifth generation emulator game history list manufacturer vtehandheld game consolesbandai lcd solarpower design master senshi wonderswan game parkholdings gp32 gp2x xgp gp2x wiz caanoo nintendocomparison game boy family game boy color game boy advance family advance advance sp micro virtual boy pokmon pikachu pokmon mini nintendo ds family nintendo ds lite dsi nintendo 3ds family nintendo 3ds 2ds new 3ds new 2ds xl switch nokia ngage ngage qd sega game gear nomad snk neo geo pocket neo geo pocket color neo geo x sony playstation portable xperia play playstation vita tiger rzone gamecom other handhelds1970s microvision 1980s selectagame entex adventure vision palmtex portable videogame system super micro nelsonic industries electronika epoch game pocket computer atari lynx 1990s turboexpress game master gamate barcode battler watara supervision mega duck 2000s tapwave zodiac gameking gpang service didj leapster gizmondo coleco sonic dingoo vsmile pocket 2010s jxd devices pandora dragonbox pyra shield portable leapster explorer gcw zero gpd xd gpd win gpd win 2 early units list comparison authority control gnd 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