Gameboy – Graphic
Few devices are packed with nostalgia quite like Nintendo’s Game Boy: For a generation of kids raised in the ’90s and 2000s, the Game Boy has become synonymous with countless hours of Pokemon, Super Mario Bros., and Tetris.
Originally released in its first blocky, black and white incarnation in Japan in April 1989 and coming to the United States that August, the Game Boy has undergone changes over the years, evolving into the Game Boy Color (see-through purple case, anybody?), the Game Boy Advance and the SP before giving way to the two-screened DS.
But even now, when Flappy Bird and Tetris are available on every smartphone, the Game Boy still holds a powerful pull: Twitch Plays Pokémon, an online cooperative playthrough of the classic Pokémon game, became a phenomenon several months ago, and remakes and simulators of old school Game Boy games are still greeted with excitement by rabid gamers and casual fans alike.
In celebration of the Game Boy officially becoming a Game Man (we like to imagine it’s working as a graphic designer somewhere in Portland, like everyone else still living the dream of the ’90s), our writers talk their favorite handheld memories, from the vast differences between Pokémon Red and Blue, to the joyful innovation of the Rumble Pak and the technological leaps of the modern DS.
So go ahead. Press start:
[ READ MORE: LASTING IMPACT: Pokémon Red and Blue ]
[ READ MORE: Why Game Boy Color games with the built-in rumble feature were the coolest ]
[ READ MORE: The evolution of Nintendo’s handheld gaming ]
