Description

The Game Boy is a Nintendo manufactured handheld released initially in 1989. It was the first dedicated 8-bit handheld system from the company with  that made use of interchangeable cartridges to play many different titles. It featured a 2.6" 4-shade LCD, stereo sound through headphones, and interchangeable cartridges. The button layout was based on that of the Nintendo Entertainment System controller. It used 4 AA batteries, but can also be used with an AC Adapter to power the system from a wall socket. While not the first handheld system to use ROM cartridges, it was certainly the most popular of its time.

Smart marketing and a trusted brand led the Game Boy to become the most successive handheld platform of its era despite being the least impressive when it came to technology compared to other platforms like the Sega Game Gear.

The Game Boy was affordable, its batteries lasted and it was bolstered by an impressive software library. Various video games such as Tetris, Super Mario Land, Kirby's Dream Land and Pokémon games led the system to a very long life. The original Game Boy was remade various times, though the most impressive was the Game Boy Color, which gave Game Boy games color graphics while the original Game Boy just had four shades of grey.

Technical Specification

• CPU: Custom 8-bit Sharp x80 core at 4.19 MHz
• RAM: 8 kB internal S-RAM
• Video RAM: 8 kB internal
• ROM: On-CPU-Die 256-byte bootstrap;
• Sound: 2 square wave generators, 1 programmable 32-sample 4-bit PCM wave sample, 1 white noise generator, cartridge external audio input. The unit only has one speaker, but headphones provide stereo sound. The external audio input was never used in any commercial games.
• Display: Reflective STN LCD 160 × 144 pixels
• Screen size: 66 mm diagonal
• Color Palette: 4 shades of "gray" (green to (very) dark green)
• Communication: Up to 4 Game Boys can be linked together via serial ports
• Power: 6 V, 0.7 W (4 AA batteries provide ~10–12 hours)
• Dimensions: 90 mm(W) × 148 mm(H) × 32 mm(D)
• Weight: 200g (without batteries)