Published on December 12th, 2012 | by MarkH
First up some blurb about this amazing handheld.
The Nintendo?Game Boy??is an 8-bit?handheld video game device?developed and manufactured by?Nintendo. It was released in?Japan?on April 21, 1989, in?North America?in August 1989, and in?Europe?on September 28, 1990.
It is the first handheld console in the?Game Boy line, and was?Nintendo?s second handheld system following the Game & Watch series introduced in?1980. Its combined features from both the Nintendo Entertainment System and Game & Watch and was originally bundled with the puzzle game?Tetris.
It was discontinued in 2003 and has sold?Worldwide: 118.69 million units, including Game Boy (Play it Loud!), Game Boy Pocket, Game Boy Light and?Color?units.
The Game Boy was for me, the most important handheld console I have ever owned. It introduced me to a world of gaming I had never before dreamed of. If you were born in the 80?s then you will probably feel the same way.
This grey box of massive proportions was the staple diet of many a small child, back in the days?when a handheld with a 3D or touch panel screen was part of a lavish dream world, cobbled together from films such as; Back to the Future, Tron and the Lawnmower man.
We?didn?t?need all the crazy extras everyone has access to now, we just needed a light to sit under!
We also?didn?t?need a 4 inch screen to play games on, we just needed the magnifying glass attachment to make it feel like 4 inches!!
For those of you who are a bit younger and have not played on an original Game Boy you will probably take one look at the grainy, difficult to see in most lights, yellow and black screen and run a mile. This looks and feels archaic when you pick it up now but for some reason it still has the original pull that it always did.
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The handheld had a bulky rectangular design with a D-pad, A and B and Start and Select buttons on the front. On the top of the unit was the power switch and on the front was the 2.6 inch square black and yellow screen.
There were dials either side of the handheld; one for the volume and one to adjust screen contrast to your liking. A plug slot on the side allowed 2 GBs to be connected via a link cable (2 player madness)?and finally there was a slot to plug in some headphones if you wanted to.
It needed 4 AA batteries which sounds like a power guzzler but to be fair to?Nintendo?s?grey brick, the 4 batteries lasted a long long time.
The Game Boy had no in built saving mechanism and so with all the original games you would find yourself simply leaving it on until you had completed a game. This?didn?t?cause any night time issues due to the lack of back light but it was a concern when a parent would see it on the side switched on and do the worst thing possible?. Turn it off.
There were many many accessories to get your grubby little mits on, but I feel 4 of them deserve a special mention. I wont bother talking about them as the pictures do that for me. Enjoy!
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1. Booster for Game Boy
2 & 3. Game Boy Camera and Printer
4. Handy Boy
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Personal experience stories:
Jamie from TGS
I still remember one of my greatest achievements when I was a child ? at the age of 12 we were shipped off to Wales for a school activity holiday.
Within the first hour or so of?arriving?we were all assigned our overalls ? serving as a way to protect our Spliffy jeans and Naf Naf t-shirts from the harsh elements Wales would potentially throw at our team. When I tried on the smelly, red, oversized onesie, unlike all the other kids in my class who were?whinging?about their new anti-fashion statement, my face lit up ? for I had delved my hand into my pockets and discovered a Game Boy cart ? this Game Boy cart was The Legend of Zelda: Links Awakening. I had achieved gaming royalty whilst on this school trip.
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Mark from TGS
I was 13 and during one of my bi-yearly town twinning trips to the French capital of Paris, I found myself on a coach ?heading to another boring sight seeing destination. I was Happily tapping away on the big red buttons of my treasured Game Boy making Mario do his thing, when I was told to stop being boring and socialise. Miserably, I?packed up my dear friend into its carry case (Big enough to carry all my luggage) and stored it safely overhead. After another hours worth of travel and about 58 minutes sleep, we arrived at our destination and was?duly?hurried off the coach because the Francs were ticking on the meter! Next thing I knew I was off the coach, being dragged along with the party. Unfortunately for me I only realised about 15 minutes later about my Game Boy in the overhead locker? As you can imagine I was distraught and to this day cant help but get angry thinking of some French kid finding it and making it?their?own. Grrrrr?
As a side story (Slightly happier), recently my wife thought she would have a quick play on Super Mario Land for the Game Boy. A game she thought would be pretty tough to complete. In reality it?isn?t?and there is hardly any content in the games 16 levels.
The conclusion to this story is that she completed it in 20 minutes and almost fell off her chair when she saved the princess.?
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Games
8 of my favourite (no particular order) Game Boy original games are:
Tetris
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Super Mario Land
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Super Mario Land 2
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Tennis
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The Legend of Zelda: Links Awakening
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R Type
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Donkey Kong Land
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WWF Superstars
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Before I get slated for my game choices I must say these were some of my personal favourites. I was not a Pokemon or Final Fantasy type of bloke and so I did not include them. Tetris and Super Mario Land were Game Boy must haves but for me WWF and Zelda particularly make me very nostalgic. I loved these games when I was a spotty teenager and really think they were the start of something amazing in gaming.
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Summary
The Game Boy in my eyes will always bring fond memories and so I can never give it a bad review. Yes, the games looked awful, the screen was virtually impossible to play unless you had a light shining on it and the screen was too small to play on; but none of this mattered in the early 90?s as the Game Boy was ground breaking and started a new era of multi cartridge portable gaming.
It may not seem like much when you hold it now but the history and stories speak for themselves.
For me it is a masterpiece and although has the proportions of a brick, it will always hold a place in my hall of fame.
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Drop a comment below with your thoughts
About the Author
MarkH One half of TGS, Mark claims to be the inspiration for the Alex Kidd series. This may be due to him obtaining a motorcycle license at the age of three. Mark enjoys football video games and is daft for all things Mario. Princess Peach once remarked "That Mark best back off from my man"
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