118.69 million (including all variants and Game Boy Color)[6]
Media
Game Boy Game Pak
System on a chip
Original: Nintendo DMG-CPU (Sharp LR35902)
Pocket/Light: Nintendo CPU MGB
CPU
Sharp SM83 @ 4 MHz
Memory
8 KB RAM, 8 KB VRAM
Display
Original: STN LCD
Pocket/Light: FSTN LCD
Best-selling game
Pokémon Red, Blue, and Yellow (46 million units)
Predecessor
Game & Watch
Successor
Game Boy Color
The Game Boy is a handheld game console developed by Nintendo, launched in the Japanese home market on April 21, 1989, followed by North America and Europe later that year. Following the success of the Game & Watch single-game handhelds, Nintendo developed the Game Boy to be more like a portable console, with interchangeable cartridges. The concept proved highly successful and the Game Boy became a cultural icon of the 1990s.
The Game Boy was designed by the Nintendo Research & Development 1 team, led by Gunpei Yokoi and Satoru Okada. The device features a dot-matrix display, a directional pad, four game buttons, a single speaker, and uses Game Pak cartridges. The two-toned gray design with black, blue, and dark magenta accents sported softly rounded corners, except for the bottom right, which was curved. At launch, it was sold either as a standalone unit or bundled with games like Super Mario Land and Tetris.
Despite mixed reviews criticizing its monochrome graphics and larger size compared to competitors like the Sega Game Gear, Atari Lynx, and NEC TurboExpress, the Game Boy rapidly outsold them all. An estimated 118.69 million units of the Game Boy and its successor, the Game Boy Color (1998), have been sold worldwide, making it the fourth best-selling console ever. The Game Boy received several redesigns during its lifespan, including the smaller Game Boy Pocket (1996) and the backlit Game Boy Light (1998). Sales of Game Boy variants continued until 2003.
^White, Dave (July 1989). "Gameboy Club". Nintendo Power. No. 7. p. 84.
^"retrodiary: 1 April – 28 April". Retro Gamer. No. 88. Bournemouth: Imagine Publishing. April 2011. p. 17. ISSN 1742-3155. OCLC 489477015.
^Edwards, Benj (April 21, 2019). "Happy 30th B-Day, Game Boy: Here are six reasons why you're #1". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on May 4, 2024. Retrieved May 26, 2024.
^Moriarty, Colin (October 15, 2013). "The Real Cost of Gaming: Inflation, Time, and Purchasing Power". IGN. Archived from the original on September 15, 2020. Retrieved August 28, 2020.
^"Console Crazy!". ACE. No. 37. September 1990. p. 142. Archived from the original on April 1, 2024. Retrieved April 1, 2024.
^"Consolidated Sales Transition by Region" (PDF). Nintendo. April 26, 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 27, 2016. Retrieved October 23, 2016.
The GameBoy is a handheld game console developed by Nintendo, launched in the Japanese home market on April 21, 1989, followed by North America and Europe...
The GameBoy Color (GBC or CGB) is an 8-bit handheld game console, manufactured by Nintendo, which was released in Japan on October 21, 1998, and to international...
The GameBoy Advance (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console developed, manufactured and marketed by Nintendo as the successor to the GameBoy Color. It...
restarted the video game industry after the video game crash of 1983, and was an international success. In 1989, Nintendo released the GameBoy, which became...
The GameBoy Micro (stylized as GAMEBOY micro) is a handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on September...
GameBoyGame Pak is the brand name of the ROM cartridges used to store video game data for the GameBoy family of handheld video game consoles, part of...
The Super GameBoy is a peripheral that allows GameBoy cartridges to be played on a Super Nintendo Entertainment System console. Released in June 1994...
The GameBoy Advance SP (GBA SP), released in Japan on February 14, 2003, is a foldable handheld game console developed, released, and marketed by Nintendo...
The GameBoy Camera, released as Pocket Camera in Japan, is a Nintendo accessory for the handheld GameBoygame console. It was released on February 21...
External links GameBoy Advance GameBoy Advance SP GameBoy Micro Nintendo DS List of best-selling GameBoy Advance games List of cancelled GameBoy Advance...
This list of GameBoy Color games includes 915 licensed releases from the GameBoy Color's launch in 1998 to the final release in 2003. The last official...
GameBoy Wars is a wargame developed by Nintendo and Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo for the GameBoy in Japan only in 1991. It is a portable...
of GameBoy games List of Super Nintendo Entertainment System games List of Super GameBoy games List of Satellaview broadcasts List of Virtual Boy games...
This is a list of video game accessories that have been released for the GameBoy handheld console and its successors. Accessories add functionality that...
The GameBoy portable system has a library of games, which were released in plastic ROM cartridges. The GameBoy first launched in Japan on April 21, 1989...
thoughts are presented as an inner voice derived from a childhood video game. Boy Kills World was premiered at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival...
GameBoy Advance Video is a format for putting full color, full-motion videos onto GameBoy Advance ROM cartridges. These videos are playable using the...
The GameBoy Printer is compatible with all the GameBoy systems except the GameBoy Micro and is designed to be used in conjunction with the GameBoy Camera...
with popularizing the handheld console concept with the release of the GameBoy in 1989 and continues to dominate the handheld console market. The first...
British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved December 24, 2022. "Wicked Game - Single by Boy & Bear". February 14, 2020. Retrieved May 4, 2023. "ARIA Charts –...
The Nintendo Game Link Cable (Japanese: ゲームボーイ専用通信ケーブル, romanized: Gēmubōi sen'yō tsūshin kēburu, lit. 'GameBoy dedicated communication cable') is an...
alphabetical list of GameBoy and GameBoy Color games that utilize enhancements, color palettes, or other features provided by the Super GameBoy. For additional...
devices released for the Super NES, GameBoy, Genesis, and Game Gear. All Game Genie devices temporarily modify game data, allowing the player to do things...
Global Information
