Nintendo Game Boy

The original handheld gaming console that was developed as well as manufactured by the Nintendo Corporation was known as the Nintendo Game Boy. This handheld gaming console was considered one of the most successful as well as most popular portable devices ever marketed in the video gaming industry. This unit was officially released at a price of $90 back in 1989. The Nintendo Game Boy was a third generation gaming console and had reached a sales total of almost $70 million worldwide by 2004.

Nintendo Game Boy was released with the game Tetris, as it was seen by the Nintendo Corporation as an addictive puzzle game. The Nintendo Corporation was hoping that by releasing the Game Boy with the addictive game that they would be able to increase sales. They were correct, as over 3 million copies of Tetris were sold within the US alone.

1989 saw the release of the Nintendo game originally featuring a monochrome screen, as well as its main controls, which were located near the lower half of the casing of the handheld unit itself. The controllers themselves were similar in action to the Nintendo Entertainment System, in which they offered an A, B, Start and Select button for the gameplay. The controller pad located to the left of the A and B buttons at the same time it was located above the start, select buttons.

The right side of this handheld game console included the data link that would allow different gameplay consoles to be connected together for transfer of information between the two consoles, assuming that they were of the same exact series. On the bottom side of this handheld device, one could find a headphone jack, which would allow them to listen to their game in stereo. The left side of this handheld gaming device features the plug-in for the power adapter. The top of the Game Boy is the location in which to insert your various game cartridges.

The original Game Boy has sold over 150 million units throughout the world. Until the release of the Nintendo Game Boy DS, the original Nintendo Game Boy was also considered to be the most popular handheld gaming console on the market. The only competition at the time of release of the Nintendo Game Boy was the Atari Lynx that featured a colour graphics LCD screen. However its expensive price was unable to compete against the Nintendo Game Boy.

Three years after the release of the Nintendo Game Boy, the Sega Corporation decided to release their Sega Game Gear. The Sega Game Gear was an attempt by the Sega Corporation to promote their new Sega Genesis game console. Even though the Sega Game Gear, much like the Atari Lynx, featured a colour screen, it was still unable to compete against the Nintendo Game Boy's lower-cost and monochrome screen.

The Nintendo Game Boy came with several accessories to choose from including a special battery pack that had sold for about $30 and would allow a lot longer playtime than what could achieved using the standard battery set up in the handheld unit itself. This battery pack also came with a belt clip so that you were able to walk around anywhere playing the game. The batteries used in this battery pack were rechargeable batteries, which meant that you were able to recharge the batteries without having to buy more like you would if you had to play with the standard battery plug in the back of the Nintendo Game Boy.

In 1998, a great addition to the aftermarket components on the Nintendo Game Boy series handhelds, was the Game Boy Camera. This camera would allow one to take photos, and then later print them out on an optional Game Boy Printer. This was a great addition, especially to the younger generation; however, the photos could only be printed in black and white.

The game Link cable allowed two Nintendo Game Boys to link together to play games simultaneously. There was also an added light attachment so that you can play games at night. The final major expansion for the Nintendo Game Boy was the Nintendo Work Boy. This expansion included a keyboard that can be plugged into the unit and allow programs like measurements, conversions, counters, clock as well as a phone book in the Nintendo Game Boy system.