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86-457: The first release, a yellow unit resembling a Game Boy , features a black and white LCD screen used to display animations of Pikachu's activities. Gameplay differs slightly from other portable virtual pets in that Pikachu does not need to be fed, watered, or cleaned up after. Instead, the Pokémon Pikachu unit can be strapped to a belt and used as a pedometer . With every twenty steps it counts,

172-455: A Game Boy Printer . The Game Boy continued to experience strong sales well into the 1990s, as popular games continued to increase interest in the handheld. This commercial success was something of a double-edged sword for Nintendo; the device was seen as aged, but the company was unwilling to abandon it. Instead, the company embarked on a series of improvements to the Game Boy in an effort to keep

258-525: A Game Boy Printer . The port used on the Game Boy Color is of a smaller design first introduced on the Game Boy Pocket, and requires an adapter to link with the original Game Boy. The Game Boy Color also offered a "high-speed" mode that could operate up 64 times faster than the original Game Boy. The Game Boy Color added an infrared communications port for wireless data transfer, which was supported by

344-483: 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

430-585: A twisted nematic (TN) display, but after seeing a prototype Game Boy, Yamauchi rejected the TN technology as too hard to see. Sharp then suggested super-twisted nematic (STN) technology, which had better viewing angles and contrast but was more expensive. To reduce cost, the team reduced the screen size, however, it was too late in the development process to shrink the console's overall size. Within R&;D1, Yokoi had long promoted " lateral thinking with withered technology",

516-412: A "unique" and "previously unheard of" line of successful third-party games, including Dragon Warrior Monsters , Metal Gear Solid and Yu-Gi-Oh! Dark Duel Stories . Ashley Day of Retro Gamer noted that the handheld had an "overlooked" status, stating "the Game Boy Color (has) an unfair reputation as the one Nintendo handheld with few worthwhile titles, but this simply isn't the case...returning to

602-481: A 10:9 aspect ratio . The SoC also contains a 256 B "bootstrap" ROM which is used to start up the device, 127 B of High RAM that can be accessed faster (similar to a CPU cache ), and the Audio Processing Unit , a programmable sound generator with four channels: a pulse wave generation channel with frequency and volume variation, a second pulse wave generation channel with only volume variation,

688-472: A March 14, 1994, press conference in San Francisco, Nintendo vice president of marketing Peter Main answered queries about when Nintendo was coming out with a color handheld system by stating that sales of the Game Boy were strong enough that it had decided to hold off on developing a successor handheld for the near future. In 1995, Nintendo of America announced that 46% of Game Boy players were female, which

774-622: A Memory Bank Controller (MBC) inside the cartridge. This chip sits between the processor and the ROM chips. The CPU can only access 32 KB at a time, but the MBC can switch between several banks of 32 KB ROM. Using this technology, Nintendo created Game Boy games that used up to 1  megabyte of ROM. Game Paks could also provide additional functionality to the Game Boy system. Some cartridges included up to 128 KB of RAM to increase performance, which could also be battery-backed to save progress when

860-564: A budget-friendly alternative. The last units were reportedly sold by March 2003. The Game Boy Color uses a custom system on a chip (SoC), integrating the CPU and other major components into a single package, named the CPU ;CGB by Nintendo and manufactured by the Sharp Corporation . While the CPU CGB was a new design for the Game Boy Color, the technology inside was largely an evolution of

946-473: A color screen and a powerful 32-bit processor from Sharp. However, the team was not satisfied with the outcome and shelved further development. Despite the lack of color, consumer interest in the Game Boy remained strong. In 1996, Nintendo released the slimmer Game Boy Pocket and the launch of the Pokémon series that same year further boosted sales. But developers were losing interest in creating new games for

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1032-407: A design philosophy which eschewed cutting-edge technology in favor of using mature technologies, which tended to be more affordable and reliable, in innovative ways. As a result of this philosophy, to keep costs low and extend battery life, the Game Boy was designed without a backlight and used a simple grayscale screen, despite potential concerns about visibility and the lack of color. The approach

1118-552: A device would be feasible. Some employees even gave the project the derogatory nickname " Dame Game" ( dame (だめ) meaning "hopeless" in Japanese). The codename for this nascent project was "Dot Matrix Game" (DMG), reflecting its intended display technology , a stark contrast to the Game & Watch series, which had segmented LCDs pre-printed with an overlay, limiting each model to only play one game . The initials DMG came to be featured on

1204-604: A handheld platform convinced Nintendo president Minoru Arakawa to port and bundle it with the Game Boy. As a result, Tetris was bundled with the Game Boy in every region except Japan on its release. The Game Boy launched in the Japanese market in April 1989, followed by North America in July, and Europe in September of the following year, backed by a $ 10 million marketing effort. Sales of

1290-461: A key design element developed by Yokoi and his team at R&D1 for its Game & Watch predecessor: the directional control pad, often referred to as the " D-pad ." Yokoi had recognized that traditional joysticks might hinder the portability of handheld devices. As a result, he designed the D-pad – a flat controller that extends just slightly beyond the device's casing. A similar layout had been used on

1376-470: A limited color palette (often dark green) using four to ten colors to enhance games originally intended to be presented in four shades of gray. Many games were programmed to call for a default color palette. For games without a default, users can choose from 12 different palettes using button combinations. A dedicated palette option replicates the original Game Boy's grayscale experience. Color enhanced Game Boy Game Pak (Black Case): These cartridges can use

1462-487: A more powerful device with interchangeable cartridges, like a portable version of the successful Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). Their differing visions for the project led to frequent clashes, heated meetings and high tensions, with Okada ultimately convincing Yokoi of his vision. The team was encouraged to pursue the project by Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi . However within Nintendo, many were skeptical that such

1548-405: A power LED, different case colors (red, green, yellow, black, gold metal, clear, and blue) and dropped the price to US$ 54.95 (equivalent to $ 104 in 2023). By mid-1998, just months before the Game Boy Color went on sale, prices had fallen to US$ 49.95 (equivalent to $ 93 in 2023). The Game Boy Light was a Japan-only revision released on April 14, 1998. Like the Game Boy Pocket, the system

1634-533: A quicker launch and maintain compatibility with the existing library of Game Boy games. The Game Boy Color was announced in March 1998 and released in Japan that October. It received an international rollout throughout November (amid the busy Christmas holiday shopping season), reaching North America on the 18th, Europe on the 23rd, and Australasia on the 27th. Launching at a price of US$ 79.95 (equivalent to $ 150 in 2023),

1720-564: A shortcoming of the launch of the NES. R&D1 also developed Super Mario Land , a portable adaptation of the Super Mario Bros. game, intending it to be the flagship title for the Game Boy. However, Henk Rogers brought the Soviet Union-made game, Tetris , to the attention of Nintendo of America . Despite its simple graphics and lack of a well-known brand, Tetris' s suitability for

1806-431: A small number of games; the infrared port was not included on the later Game Boy Advance line. Games are stored on cartridges called Game Boy Game Paks , using read-only memory (ROM) chips. Initially, due to the limitations of the 8-bit architecture of the device, ROM size was limited to 32 KB. Nintendo overcame this limitation with a Memory Bank Controller  (MBC) inside the cartridge. This chip sits between

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1892-539: A stir, with investors dumping Nintendo stock, forcing a temporary halt on trading at the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Yokoi was killed in a roadside accident in 1997 before the WonderSwan's release. Faced with mounting pressure, Okada revisited Project Atlantis. Prioritizing speed to market over processing power, he dropped the 32-bit chip for a faster version of the existing Game Boy's 8-bit processor that would allow for

1978-490: A wave channel than can reproduce any waveform recorded in RAM, and a white noise channel with volume variation. The motherboard also contains a 8 KB "working RAM " chip. The Game Boy features a D-pad (directional pad), four buttons labeled 'A', 'B', 'SELECT', 'START', and a sliding power switch with a cartridge lock to prevent removal. The volume and contrast are adjusted by dials on either side. The original Game Boy

2064-480: Is Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets , released on November 15, 2002. In Europe, the last game released for the system is Hamtaro: Ham-Hams Unite! , on January 10, 2003. Beyond officially released games for the platform, there is an active online community creating new games for the Game Boy and Game Boy Color through the use of tools like GB Studio. One such example is Dragonhym (originally Dragonborne) which

2150-465: Is a 2.3-inch (diagonal) thin-film transistor (TFT) color liquid-crystal display (LCD), measuring 44 millimeters (1.7 in) wide by 40 millimeters (1.6 in) high. The screen aspect ratio and resolution remain identical to the original Game Boy at 160 pixels wide by 144 pixels high in a 10:9 format. Like the original Game Boy and Game Boy Pocket before it and the Game Boy Advance after it,

2236-440: Is an 8-bit handheld game console , manufactured by Nintendo , which was released in Japan on October 21, 1998, and to international markets that November. Compared to the original Game Boy , the Game Boy Color features a color TFT screen rather than monochrome , a processor that can operate twice as fast, and four times as much memory. It retains backward compatibility with games initially developed for its predecessor. While

2322-455: Is the best-selling game compatible with Game Boy Color, and Pokémon Gold and Silver are the best-selling games developed primarily for it. The best-selling Game Boy Color exclusive game is Pokémon Crystal . The last Game Boy Color game ever released is the Japanese exclusive Doraemon no Study Boy: Kanji Yomikaki Master , on July 18, 2003. The last game released in North America

2408-439: The Audio Processing Unit , a programmable sound generator with four channels: a pulse wave generation channel with frequency and volume variation, a second pulse wave generation channel with only volume variation, a wave channel than can reproduce any waveform recorded in RAM, and a white noise channel with volume variation. The motherboard of the Game Boy Color contains a 32 KB "work" RAM chip, four times more than

2494-631: The Hello Kitty franchise, licensed to Nintendo the development of the Pocket Hello Kitty. This featured a similar design to the first Pokémon Pikachu, with a game based on Hello Kitty and her friends, available in a pink-colored case. Pocket Hello Kitty was released in Japan on August 21, 1998. In 2009, a device similar to the Pokémon Pikachu called the Pokéwalker , came packaged with Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver which communicates directly with

2580-540: The LCD technology, which was a critical component. The team considered buying displays from the Citizen Watch Company which was already using LCD screens to build portable TVs. However, talks continued with Sharp, with Yokoi and Okada showing the company a Game Boy mockup. After seeing the device and wanting to keep Nintendo as a client, Sharp offered competitive pricing and secured the contract. Sharp originally proposed

2666-516: The Picture Processing Unit , essentially a basic GPU , that renders visuals using an 8 KB bank of Video RAM located on the motherboard. The display itself is a 2.5-inch (diagonal) reflective super-twisted nematic (STN) monochrome liquid-crystal display (LCD), measuring 47 millimeters (1.9 in) wide by 43 millimeters (1.7 in) high. The screen can render four shades with a resolution of 160 pixels wide by 144 pixels high in

Pokémon Pikachu - Misplaced Pages Continue

2752-647: 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 Game Boy Light (1998). Sales of Game Boy variants continued until 2003. The Game Boy

2838-565: The Zilog Z80 . The SM83 has the seven 8-bit registers of the 8080 (lacking the alternate registers of the Z80), but uses the Z80's programming syntax and extra bit manipulation instructions, it also adds new instructions to optimize the processor for certain operations related to the way the hardware was arranged. The Sharp SM83 operates at a clock rate of 4.194304 MHz. The DMG-CPU also incorporates

2924-700: The best selling-video games of all time . Sales of the Game Boy Color were strong at launch. Nintendo of America reported a sale of one million units from launch to December 1998, and two million by July 1999. Retail chains in the United States reported unexpectedly high demand for the console, with executives of FuncoLand reporting "very pleasant and unpredicted" sales and Electronics Boutique stating "the entire Game Boy Color line just exploded, including accessories" upon release. Faced with high worldwide demand and competitive retail pricing, retailers such as CompUSA sold out of Game Boy Color stock in

3010-478: The best-selling game console of all time . In later years, its sales were surpassed by the Nintendo DS , PlayStation 2 and Nintendo Switch , making it the fourth-best-selling console the second-best-selling handheld of all time, as of 2024 . Sales of the device were in part driven by the success of Pokémon Gold and Silver and Pokémon Crystal , with combined sales of 29.5 million units, making them one of

3096-435: The 2.0 panned the system due to its black-and-white display and motion blur , while his three co-reviewers praised its long battery life and strong games library, as well as the sleek, conveniently-sized design of the new Game Boy Pocket model. The Game Boy, Game Boy Pocket and Game Boy Color were commercially successful, selling a combined 118.69 million units worldwide: 32.47 million in Japan, 44.06 million in

3182-488: The Americas, and 42.16 million in all other regions. At the time of its discontinuation in 2003, the combined sales of the Game Boy made it the best-selling game console of all time . In later years, its sales were surpassed by the Nintendo DS , PlayStation 2 and Nintendo Switch , making it the fourth-best-selling console of all time, as of 2024 . XGP Game Boy Color The Game Boy Color ( GBC or CGB )

3268-496: The Color in several case variations. The logo for Game Boy Color spells out the word "COLOR" in the five original colors in which the unit was manufactured: Berry (C), Grape (O), Kiwi (L), Dandelion (O), and Teal (R). Another color released at the same time was "Atomic Purple", made of a translucent purple plastic. Other colors were sold as limited editions or in specific countries. Due to its backward compatibility with Game Boy games,

3354-550: The Game Boy Color could take full advantage of the additional memory to add more effects and display up to 56 colors simultaneously out of a selection of 32,768 colors. When an Original Game Boy Game Pak is inserted into the device, the additional memory is disabled. Certain games such as The Fish Files , The New Addams Family Series and Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare use a programming trick to display more than 2,000 colors on-screen at once. The display itself

3440-406: The Game Boy Color for making the Game Boy library of games "look better than ever – everything is crystal clear, bright and in [color]". Writing for GameSpot , Chris Johnston stated that the display was "crystal clear" and free of motion blur, stating that Tetris DX was the "killer app" of the launch titles on the platform. Milder reviews included those by Arcade , who said that while that

3526-509: The Game Boy Color had a reputation as a "legacy machine" that found success mostly due to its backward compatibility, as "few wanted to lose all the Dr. Mario and Pokémon cartridges they had amassed over the years." Quoted in Retro Gamer , Blitz Games Studios developer Bob Pape acknowledged that although "backwards compatibility more or less defined (the) Game Boy Color", the handheld "ticked all

Pokémon Pikachu - Misplaced Pages Continue

3612-420: The Game Boy Color launched with a large playable library. The system amassed a library of 576 Game Boy Color games over a four-year period. While the majority of the games are Game Boy Color exclusive, approximately 30% of the games released are compatible with the original Game Boy. Most Game Boy Color games released after 1999 are not compatible with the original Game Boy. Tetris for the original Game Boy

3698-536: The Game Boy Color ultimately outsold the WonderSwan, which went on sale in March 1999. The Game Boy Color had a relatively short lifespan, being on the market for only two and a half years before being succeeded by the Game Boy Advance in 2001. The successor finally brought the 32-bit processing power envisioned in Project Atlantis. Despite the new arrival, the Game Boy Color remained in production, serving as

3784-430: The Game Boy Color was seen as more of a transitional upgrade of the original Game Boy rather than a completely new device. It would have a relatively brief lifespan, being supplanted by the Game Boy Advance after less than three years on the market. The Game Boy Color is part of the fifth generation of video game consoles . The Game Boy and the Game Boy Color combined have sold 118.69 million units worldwide, making them

3870-609: The Game Boy and its successor variants (including the Game Boy Color ) continued until March 2003. The Game Boy uses a custom system on a chip (SoC), to house most of the components, named the DMG-CPU by Nintendo and the LR35902 by its manufacturer, the Sharp Corporation . Within the DMG-CPU, the main processor is a Sharp SM83 , a hybrid between two other 8-bit processors: the Intel 8080 and

3956-509: The Game Boy, excluding cancelled and unlicensed games. Additionally, more than 300 games developed for the Game Boy Color were forward compatible with the monochrome Game Boy models. Games are stored on cartridges called the Game Boy Game Pak , using read-only memory (ROM) chips. Initially, due to the limitations of the 8-bit architecture of the device, ROM size was limited to 32 KB. However, Nintendo overcame this limitation with

4042-517: The Mystery Gift option, which utilizes the Game Boy Color 's built-in infrared communication port. This allows players to trade watts for items in the Game Boy games. Although there is a limitation on how much the Mystery Gift mode can be used between Game Boy cartridges, Pokémon Pikachu's only limit is that of available watts (and it is region locked). Watts can also be sent to other Pokémon Pikachu 2 units. Pokémon and its character Pikachu are not

4128-462: The NES, making it easier for owners to transition to the handheld. Yamauchi estimated that the console would achieve sales exceeding 25 million units in its initial three years, a claim that was regarded as bold at the time. Nintendo's philosophy centered on the belief that the appeal of a gaming system was primarily determined by the quality of its games. With this in mind, Okada pushed to make development tools available for third-party developers ,

4214-500: The Nintendo DS game cards via infrared. It allowed the player to transfer one Pokémon at a time from their HeartGold or SoulSilver . The user is able to catch Pokémon and find items by spending watts. Game Boy 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 later that year and other territories from 1990 onwards. Following

4300-518: The Pokémon Pikachu credits its user with one watt, a virtual currency used to buy Pikachu presents. Additional activities become available as the player spends more time with their virtual Pikachu. If neglected, Pikachu will express anger and eventually refuse to recognize the player. The second release, Pokémon Pikachu 2 GS, is available in clear and silver casing with a color display featuring more animations. It features an infrared port for interacting with Pokémon Gold , Silver , and Crystal via

4386-459: The United States within weeks. More than 118.69 million units of the Game Boy and Game Boy Color combined have been sold worldwide, with 32.47 million units in Japan, 44.06 million in the Americas, and 42.16 million in other regions. By Japanese fiscal year 1997, before Game Boy Color's release in late 1998, 64.42 million units of the Game Boy had been sold worldwide. At

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4472-612: The aging platform. Additional market pressure for Nintendo came in October 1997 when news broke about Bandai's new handheld, the WonderSwan . The project was led by Gunpei Yokoi , the engineer who led the development of the Game & Watch series and the original Game Boy. Yokoi had left Nintendo in 1996 following the commercial failure of his final project, the Virtual Boy . His departure caused

4558-442: The backlit screen required that the user be in a well lit area. Commentary on the legacy of the Game Boy Color has been shaped by the perception that the handheld was as an incremental and transitional upgrade of the Game Boy rather than a completely new device, and had a relatively brief lifespan, being supplanted by the Game Boy Advance after two years, five months on the market. In a history of Nintendo, author Jeff Ryan noted

4644-536: The colors were "very impressive" they were "not as eyeball-popping as you might have hoped for [...] it's mostly seaweed greens, rusty browns, timid yellows and the like". They concluded that "nothing about [the Game Boy Color] is very radical" but said the device was "Game Boy as it always should have been". Reviewers pointed out other drawbacks including that the system was still using an 8-bit architecture when competitors had moved onto 16-bit handheld systems and that

4730-416: The console relevant. The first revision to the Game Boy came on March 20, 1995, when Nintendo released several special edition Game Boy models with colored cases, advertising them in the "Play It Loud!" campaign, known in Japan as Game Boy Bros. Play It Loud! units were manufactured in red, yellow, green, blue black, white, and clear (transparent). The Play It Loud's screens also have a darker border than

4816-474: The device's small size, and said that the screen's visibility and pixel response-time had been improved, mostly eliminating ghosting . However, other reviewers were dismissive of the device, with the Los Angeles Times saying Nintendo was "repacking the same old black-and-white stuff and selling it as new." The first version came only in silver and did not have a power LED. A revision in early 1997 added

4902-500: The final product's model number: "DMG-01." Originally, a Ricoh -manufactured CPU, similar to the one used in the NES, was considered for compatibility. However, due to resource constraints amid the ongoing development of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System , the Game Boy team chose a less powerful CPU from the Sharp Corporation . Sharp initially showed reluctance to engage in the project, particularly for

4988-509: The fourth best-selling system of all time . Its best-selling games are Pokémon Gold and Silver , which shipped 23 million units worldwide. When the original Game Boy was first introduced in 1989, many questioned why Nintendo had chosen to develop a monochrome handheld, considering competitors like the Atari Lynx and Sega Game Gear boasted color screens. However, while these color displays were visually impressive, they led to criticism that

5074-436: The full-color capabilities of the console (56 colors simultaneously out of a palette of 32,768) while remaining compatible with the original Game Boy where they are presented in four shades of gray. This compatibility comes at the expense of not being able to utilize the handheld's increased processing speed and memory. Game Boy Color Game Pak (Clear Case): Designed specifically for the Game Boy Color, these cartridges feature

5160-463: The full-color range (56 colors simultaneously out of a palette of 32,768) and benefit from the increased processing speed and memory of the Game Boy Color. Because of this reliance on newer hardware, these games are incompatible with the older monochrome Game Boy models. Nintendo had seen success selling colored variations of the Play It Loud! Game Boy and the Game Boy Pocket, so the company released

5246-462: The green hues of the original Game Boy. The Pocket also has a smaller Game Link Cable port, which requires an adapter to link with the original Game Boy. This smaller port design would be used on all subsequent Game Boy models. Internally, the Game Boy Pocket had a new SoC, the Nintendo CPU ;MGB, an improved version of the DMG-CPU. A major change was that the device's 8 KB of Video RAM

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5332-476: The handheld is off, real-time clock chips can keep track of time even when the device is off, and Rumble Pak cartridges add vibration feedback to enhance gameplay. The Game Boy Color has backward compatibility with all original Game Boy games. Three main Game Pak cartridge types for the handheld were released: Original Game Boy Game Pak (Gray Case): The classic Game Boy cartridges. The Game Boy Color applies

5418-458: The handheld was off, real-time clock chips could keep track of time even when the device was off and Rumble Pak cartridges added vibration feedback to enhance gameplay. The top-selling franchise for the Game Boy were Pokémon Red , Blue , and Yellow , the first installments of the Pokémon video game series , which sold more than 46 million copies. The best-selling single game was Tetris , with more than 35 million copies shipped, it

5504-503: The handheld was slightly thicker, taller and had a smaller screen than its immediate predecessor, the Game Boy Pocket , the Color was significantly smaller than the original Game Boy. As with its predecessors, the Game Boy Color has a custom 8-bit processor made by Sharp . The American English spelling of the system's name, Game Boy Color , remains consistent throughout the world. While it received positive reviews upon its release,

5590-441: The normal Game Boy. A major revision to the Game Boy came in 1996 with the introduction of the Game Boy Pocket, a slimmed-down unit that required just two smaller AAA batteries , albeit at the expense of providing just 10 hours of gameplay. The other major change was that the screen was changed to a film compensated super-twisted nematic (FSTN) LCD. This film compensation layer produced a true black-and-white display, rather than

5676-419: The only media franchises that are used by this Nintendo-made device. Sakura Taisen , a media franchise of SEGA and licensed by RED Entertainment released a virtual-pet with pedometer, in the same style as the Pokémon Pikachu 2 GS, called Pocket Sakura (ポケットサクラ) and Sakura Taisen GB, developed by Jupiter . Sega could not publish either, due to their rivalry with Nintendo. Similarly, Sanrio , responsible for

5762-528: The original Game Boy. The Game Boy features a D-pad (directional pad), four action buttons labeled 'A,' 'B,' 'SELECT,' and 'START,' and a sliding on-off switch on the right side of the device. The volume is adjusted by a potentiometer dial on the left side of the device. The left side offers a Game Link Cable port for connecting to up to four Game Boy devices for multiplayer games or, notably in Pokémon series games, sharing files. This port can be used with

5848-409: The processing power out of the device when creating games exclusively for the Game Boy Color while allowing the hardware to retain backward compatibility with existing games. The CPU CGB incorporates the Picture Processing Unit , a basic GPU that renders visuals using 16  kilobytes  (KB) banks of Video RAM , twice as much as the original Game Boy. Games developed exclusively for

5934-432: The processor and the ROM chips. The CPU can only access 32 KB at a time, but the MBC can switch between banks of 32 KB ROM. Using this technology, Nintendo created Game Boy Color games that use up to 8  megabytes of ROM. Game Paks can provide additional functionality to the Game Boy system. Some cartridges include up to 128 KB of RAM to increase performance, which can be battery-backed to save progress when

6020-415: The processor for certain operations related to the way the hardware was arranged. The Sharp SM83 also powered the original Game Boy, where it operates at a clock rate of 4.194304 megahertz  (MHz). Games on Game Boy Color exclusive cartridges can command the processor to operate in "dual-speed mode," doubling its frequency to run twice as fast at 8.388608 MHz. This allowed developers to get double

6106-470: The right boxes with regards to size, battery life, reliability and most importantly backwards compatibility". Positive assessments of the legacy of the Game Boy Color has focused on the merits of its game library, particularly for its third-party and import titles. Travis Fahs for IGN noted whilst "the Game Boy Color's life was relatively brief", it "built up a small library of excellent games", including Wario Land 3 and Pokémon Gold and Silver , and

6192-489: The rival devices had poor battery life and were bulky. The Game Boy, in contrast, offered superior portability and longevity, propelling it to immense popularity. Publicly, Nintendo pledged to develop a color Game Boy, but only when technology limitations could be addressed. Internally, a team led by Satoru Okada , who played a key role in the original Game Boy's design, was experimenting with color displays. Their early-1990s prototype, codenamed " Project Atlantis ," featured

6278-403: The screen is passively reflective, with a surface behind the screen that sends light back through the liquid crystal pixel elements to the viewer. Because there is no backlight , the device can be hard to use in dark environments. The SoC contains a 2 KB "bootstrap" ROM which is used to start up the device, 127 B of High RAM that can be accessed faster (similar to a CPU cache ), and

6364-474: 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 and early 2000s. The Game Boy was designed by the Nintendo Research & Development 1 team, led by Gunpei Yokoi and Satoru Okada . The device features

6450-473: The team that the feature would be too difficult to use and thus a waste of resources, Okada pushed forward and developed the Game Link Cable technology himself. This effort led to the creation of the "battle" and "trade" gameplay features in the Pokémon series , first released in 1996. A prototype Game Boy was unveiled in 1987 and later exhibited at multiple industry trade shows. The device incorporated

6536-445: The then ten-year-old DMG-CPU SoC used inside the original Game Boy. Within the CPU CGB, the main processor is a Sharp SM83 , a hybrid between two other 8-bit processors: the Intel 8080 and the Zilog Z80 . The SM83 has the seven 8-bit registers of the 8080 (lacking the alternate registers of the Z80) but uses the Z80's programming syntax and extra bit manipulation instructions, along with adding new instructions to optimize

6622-482: The weeks before the 1998 Christmas season. Reception of the Game Boy Color was positive, with critics praising the addition of color and improved clarity of the display. Affiliated publications such as Total Games praised the handheld for its "bright, colorful picture that can be viewed in direct light", backward compatibility features preserving the "vast catalogue of original Game Boy games", and improved technical performance. Computer and Video Games praised

6708-567: Was a pack-in game included with the purchase of many original Game Boy devices. When the Game Boy was released in Japan in April 1989 alongside four launch titles : Alleyway (a Breakout clone ), Baseball (a port of the NES game), Super Mario Land (an adaptation of the Mario franchise for the handheld format) and Yakuman (a Mahjong game). When the console was introduced in North America, two more launch titles were added: Tetris and Tennis (another NES game port), while Yakuman

6794-420: Was available for release on a physical cartridge which will be playable on the Game Boy Color. The Game Boy and Game Boy Color were both commercially successful, selling 118.69 million units worldwide: 32.47 million in Japan, 44.06 million in the Americas, and 42.16 million in all other regions. At the time of its discontinuation in 2003, the combined sales of all Game Boy variants made it

6880-487: Was designed by the team at Nintendo Research & Development 1 (R&D1), which had previously developed the Game & Watch handhelds and video games including Mario Bros. and Donkey Kong . However, early in the process, deep disagreements arose between Gunpei Yokoi , the R&D1 division director, and Satoru Okada , the assistant director. Yokoi's original vision was for a simpler device, akin to an advanced Game & Watch, while Okada strongly advocated for

6966-600: Was higher than the percentage of female players for both the Nintendo Entertainment System (29%) and Super Nintendo Entertainment System (14%). In 2009, the Game Boy was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame , 20 years after its introduction. The console received mixed reviews from critics. In a 1997 year-end review, a team of four Electronic Gaming Monthly editors gave the Game Boy scores of 7.5, 7.0, 8.0, and 2.0. The reviewer who contributed

7052-506: Was moved from the motherboard to the SoC for faster access. The Game Boy Pocket was released in Japan on July 20, 1996, and in North America on September 2, 1996, for US$ 69.99 (equivalent to $ 136 in 2023). The Game Boy Pocket revitalized hardware sales and its release was ultimately well-timed as it coincided with the release of the first Pokémon game, which catapulted the Game Boy into uncharted realms of commercial triumph. Reviewers praised

7138-504: Was never released outside of Japan. Though it was less technically advanced than the Sega Game Gear , Atari Lynx , NEC TurboExpress and other competitors, notably by not supporting color, the Game Boy's lower price along with longer battery life made it a success. In its first two weeks in Japan, from its release on April 21, 1989, the entire stock of 300,000 units was sold; a few months later on July 31, 1989, 40,000 units were sold on its first release day. It sold one million units in

7224-454: Was powered internally by four AA batteries . For extended use, an optional AC adapter or rechargeable battery pack can be connected via a coaxial power connector on the left side. The Game Boy has a single monaural speaker and a 3.5 mm stereo headphone jack . The right side offers a Game Link Cable port for connecting to another Game Boy for two-player games or, notably in Pokémon , sharing files. This port can also be used with

7310-438: Was priced at ¥6,800 (equivalent to ¥6,892 in 2019). The Game Boy Light is slightly bigger than the Game Boy Pocket and features an electroluminescent backlight allowing it to be played in low-light conditions. It uses two AA batteries, which give it approximately 12 gameplay hours with the backlight on and 20 with it off. It was available in two standard colors: gold and silver. More than 1,000 games were released for

7396-436: Was ultimately vindicated as rival units with full-color, backlit screens were panned for their dismal battery life, making the Game Boy more appealing to consumers. In the early 1980s, Okada had worked on an electronic game from Nintendo called Computer Mah-jong Yakuman that allowed cable communication between two devices, he thought it would be possible to implement a similar feature in the Game Boy. Despite concerns within

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