A Salute to Nintendo: Part II: Game Boy line

So...A handheld console by Nintendo? Not a small console, one screen,
big cartridges...at first it seems kinda cruddy. But then you find out that it's a Game Boy...you immediately think of good things. Why? Maybe because it was popular, or the only good handheld, because the Atari Lynx sucked like a baby on a pacifier. But the Game Gear provided healthy competition. The Game Boy is a success...too bad it's discontinued now. Well, that's what you get for competing against the DS!

Anyway, The Game Boy's controls for playing games are located on the lower half of its front frame. The Game Boy has four buttons called A, B, Select, and Start as well as a d-pad. The functions of these buttons vary from game to game. There is a volume control dial on the right side of the handheld. The on-off switch is located at the top of the Game Boy in which the player can slide to turn the system on or off. The slot for the Game Boy cartridges (called Game Paks by Nintendo) is located on top of the system. To play a game, the person puts the cartridge into the Game Boy and then turns the power on. Normally,the cartridge is left in the system when the system is off as recommended by Nintendo to prevent dust and dirt from entering the system. On the right side is an external connector port that allows a user to connect to another Game Boy system with a link cable, but only if both people are playing the same game. The port can also be used to connect a Game Boy Printer. The link cable was originally designed for players to play head to head two–player games like in Tetris.

When it was released in 1989, the Atari Lynx was also just being introduced. This system featured color graphics, a backlit screen, and networking capabilities. But its release price of $179.99 and the requirement of 6 AA batteries that would provide about only four or five hours of gameplay doomed it. Nintendo also experienced heavy competition from Sega's Game Gear. To promote its new color console, Sega aired a number of negative but unsuccessful ad campaigns in the United States that criticized the Game Boy. Like the Lynx, it required six AA batteries that only lasted about 4-6 hours and was much more expensive than the Game Boy. The Game Gear had the advantage of being fully compatible (with an adapter) with all Sega Master System games and, while not as successful as the Game Boy, it sold from 1991 until 1997.

The Game Boy Color was a response to pressure from game developers for a new and much more complex system of playing, as they felt that the Game Boy, even in its latest version, the Game Boy Pocket, was not good enough. The result product was backward compatible, a first for a handheld console system, and played the large library of games of the Game Boy. This became an awesome feature of the Game Boy line, since it allowed each new launch to begin with a larger library than any of its competition.

Transparent cartridges are designed for and only work with the Game Boy Color or the Game Boy Advance. Black cartridges are designed for the Game Boy Color and will also work on previous systems, because they have a similar design to the original gray Game Boy cartridges. The black cartridges can be easily identified from the gray ones. The European and American releases of the Pokémon games have different color cartridges.

The Game Boy Advance handheld video game console was developed, manufactured and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color.
"Allowing similar to SNES standard games-playing to be played in the palm of your hand"—a description that more closely matches the Game Boy Advance.

In early 2003, Nintendo introduced a new Game Boy Advance, with an internal front-light that can be turned on or off, a rechargeable battery, as well as a folding case about half the original size. It was designed to address some common complaints with the original Game Boy Advance which was criticized for being uncomfortable, especially due to an overly dark screen. The Game Boy Advance SP also came with a new and much brighter screen for improved gameplay.
Around the same time as the release of the Game Boy Micro, Nintendo released a new version of the SP in North America, which was called the Game Boy Advance SP Plus. The switch that controls the light now goes between "normal" and "bright," an intense brightness level similar to a TV.

In 2005, Nintendo released a second redesign of the Game Boy Advance. This model, called the Game Boy Micro, is similar in style to the original Game Boy Advance's horizontal orientation, but is much smaller and sleeker. The Game Boy Micro also allows the user an ability to switch between several colored faceplates to allow customization, a feature which Nintendo advertised heavily around the Game Boy Micro's launch. Nintendo also hoped that this "fashion" feature will help target audiences outside of typical video game players, much like its new Wii. Unlike the previous Game Boy Advance models, Game Boy Micro can't support Game Boy and Game Boy Color titles, which sucks. The Game Boy Micro did not make much of an impact in the video game market, as it was beaten by Nintendo's other portable, the Nintendo DS, as well as Sony's portable system, the PSP. So, wah, wah, boo hoo, discontinuation! FART!

Well, now that you know about the *cough*boring*cough* Game Boy, Stay tuned! coming tomorrow: Console of the Week and A Salute to Nintendo Part III: The Original Nintendo!