The 8-bit Game Boy (ゲームボーイ) is a handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo and first released in 1989. It is the first handheld console in the Game Boy line, and was created by Gunpei Yokoi and Nintendo's Research and Development 1, the same staff who had designed the Game & Watch series as well as several popular games for the Nintendo Entertainment System.
The Game Boy is Nintendo's second handheld system following the Game & Watch series introduced in 1980, and it combined features from both the Nintendo Entertainment System and Game & Watch. It was originally bundled with the puzzle game Tetris.
Despite many other, technologically superior handheld consoles introduced during its lifetime, the Game Boy was a tremendous success. The Game Boy and Game Boy Color combined have sold 118.69 million units worldwide. Upon its release in the United States, it sold its entire shipment of one million units within weeks.
Data & Technical specifications
- Manufacturer
- Nintendo
- Release Dates
- Japan: April 21, 1989
- North America: August 1989
- Europe: September 28, 1990
- Media
- Game Boy cartridges
- Predecessor
- Game & Watch
- Successor
- Game Boy Pocket (redesign) (1996)
- Game Boy Light (redesign) (1998, Japan only)
- Game Boy Color (successor) (1998)
- Units sold
- 118.69 million (all Game Boy systems including Pocket and Color)1
- Best-selling Games
- Tetris, 30.26 million1
- Pokémon Red and Blue, 23.64 million
- CPU: Custom 8-bit Sharp LR35902 core at 4.19 MHz which is similar to an Intel 8080 in that all of the registers introduced in the Z80 are not present. However, some of the Z80's instruction set enhancements over the stock 8080, particularly bit manipulation, are present. Still other instructions are unique to this particular flavor of Z80 CPU. The core also contains integrated sound generation.
- RAM: 8 kB internal S-RAM
- Video RAM: 8 kB internal
- ROM: On-CPU-Die 256-byte bootstrap; 256 kb, 512 kb, 1 Mb, 2 Mb, 4 Mb and 8 Mb cartridges
- Sound: 2 square waves, 1 programmable 32-sample 4-bit PCM wave, 1 white noise, and one audio input from the cartridge. The unit only has one speaker, but headphones provide stereo sound.
- Display: Reflective LCD 160 × 144 pixels
- Frame Rate: Approx. 59.7 frames per second on a regular Game Boy, 61.1 on a Super Game Boy
- Vertical Blank Rate: Approx 1.1ms [24]
- Screen size: 66 mm (2.6 in) diagonal
- Color Palette: 2-bit (4 shades of "grey" [light to very dark olive green])
- Communication: Up to 2 Game Boys can be linked together via built-in serial ports, up to 4 with a DMG-07 4-player adapter. More than 4 players is possible by chaining adapters.
- Power: 6 V, 0.7 W (4 AA batteries provide ~14–35 hours)
- Dimensions: 90 mm (W) x 148 mm (H) x 32 mm (D) / 3.5" x 5.8" 1.3" (in)
