Game Boy

Game Boy

An original Game Boy
Also known as	DMG-01 KR: Mini Comboy
Developer	Nintendo R&D1
Manufacturer	Nintendo
Product family	Game Boy
Type	Handheld game console
Generation	Fourth
Release date	JP: April 21, 1989[2] NA: July 31, 1989[1] EU: September 28, 1990 KR: May 2, 1991
Lifespan	14 years
Introductory price	¥12,500 (equivalent to ¥14,327 in 2019)[3] US$89.99 (equivalent to $221 in 2023)[4] £99 (equivalent to £284 in 2023)[5]
Discontinued	March 31, 2003
Units sold	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.