Game Boy
On the 10th of June 1987, division director Gunpei Yokoi informed R&D1 that Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi wanted a successor to the Game & Watch series priced under ¥10,000. The team knew from their first meeting that they needed a dot-matrix display and codenamed the project Dot Matrix Game. Internal conflict arose immediately between Yokoi and his assistant director Satoru Okada. Yokoi championed a design philosophy that eschewed cutting-edge technology in favor of finding innovative uses of mature technologies. He envisioned a simple toy akin to an advanced Game & Watch. Okada pushed for a more powerful system with interchangeable cartridges, essentially a portable NES. Some within R&D1 believed Yokoi resisted the idea simply to avoid links to the NES developed by their rivals at R&D2. In a heated meeting, Yokoi relented and approved Okada's vision, giving him full responsibility for the project. Early hardware choices sparked further tension when R&D2 blocked the use of a Ricoh CPU similar to the NES. They claimed it would strain Ricoh's resources while building the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. R&D1 suspected this was an attempt to hinder their project. Ultimately, they opted for a Sharp CPU which included a built-in communication feature. Okada had worked on an earlier project called Computer Mah-jong Yakuman featuring multiplayer gaming over a cable connection. He saw an opportunity to implement a similar feature despite skepticism from his team. He personally developed the Game Link Cable technology which later enabled Pokémon battle mechanics.
The Game Boy uses a custom system on a chip 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 of the Intel 8080 and Zilog Z80 processors. It operates at a clock rate of 4.194304 MHz. The display is a 2.5-inch reflective super-twisted nematic monochrome liquid-crystal display measuring 30 millimeters wide by 27 millimeters high with a resolution of 160 pixels wide by 144 pixels high. The screen displays four shades of grey or green. The SoC also incorporates the Picture Processing Unit that renders visuals using an 8 KB bank of Video RAM located on the motherboard. Additionally, the SoC includes a 256 byte bootstrap ROM used to start up the device and 127 bytes of High RAM accessible faster than standard memory. The Audio Processing Unit features four channels including pulse wave generation and white noise. The physical controls include a D-pad, four action buttons labeled A, B, SELECT, START, and a sliding power switch. The original Game Boy was powered internally by four AA batteries offering up to 30 hours of gameplay. For extended use, an optional AC adapter or rechargeable battery pack can be connected via a coaxial power connector on the left side.
At a press conference in San Francisco on the 14th of March 1994, Peter Main, Nintendo's vice president of marketing, stated that sales were strong enough for them to hold off on developing a successor handheld for the near future. Instead, Nintendo introduced several updates over the following years to extend the system's relevance. The first update came on the 20th of March 1995, when Nintendo introduced various colored cases as part of the Play It Loud campaign. Consoles became available in red, yellow, green, blue, black, white, and clear plastic cases with screens featuring a darker gray bezel. A major revision arrived in 1996 with the introduction of the Game Boy Pocket requiring just two smaller AAA batteries. This model offered approximately 10 hours of gameplay compared to the original's 30 hours. The screen changed to a much-improved film compensated super-twisted nematic LCD with a larger viewable area. The Pocket launched in Japan on the 20th of July 1996, and in North America on the 2nd of September 1996, for $69.95. In early 1997, a revision released featured the return of the power LED and a broader range of case colors including gold metal and clear variants. The price dropped to $54.95 by mid-1998. The Game Boy Light released exclusively in Japan on the 14th of April 1998, retained all of the Pocket's improvements while introducing an electroluminescent backlight enabling gameplay in low-light conditions.
More than 1,000 games were released for the Game Boy excluding cancelled and unlicensed titles. Games are stored on cartridges called the Game Boy Game Pak using read-only memory chips. Initially ROM size was limited to 32 KB due to the limitations of the 8-bit architecture. Nintendo overcame this limitation with a Memory Bank Controller inside the cartridge. This chip sits between the processor and the ROM chips allowing access to up to 1 megabyte of ROM. Some cartridges included up to 128 KB of RAM to increase performance which could be battery-backed to save progress when the handheld was off. Real-time clock chips kept track of time even when the device was off and Rumble Pak cartridges added vibration feedback. The top-selling franchise for the Game Boy were Pokémon Red, Blue, and Yellow selling more than 46 million copies. The best-selling single game was Tetris with more than 35 million copies shipped as a pack-in game included with many original devices. When the console launched in Japan in April 1989 it featured four launch titles including Alleyway, Baseball, Super Mario Land, and Yakuman. When the console debuted in North America two additional launch titles were added: Tetris and Tennis while Yakuman never saw wide international release.
The Game Boy launched in Japan on the 21st of April 1989, with an initial shipment of 300,000 units which sold out within two weeks. In the United States, 40,000 units were sold on its release day the 31st of July 1989, and sales reached one million within weeks. By 1995, Nintendo of America reported that 46% of Game Boy players were female, a higher proportion than for the Nintendo Entertainment System at 29%. Before the introduction of the Game Boy Color, over 59.89 million units of the various monochrome models had been sold worldwide. Combined lifetime sales of the Game Boy and Game Boy Color models reached approximately 118.69 million units globally by the time of discontinuation. The system was later surpassed by the Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, and Nintendo Switch making it the fourth-best-selling console. Though less technically advanced than competitors like the Sega Game Gear or Atari Lynx, the lower price along with longer battery life made it a success. A team of four Electronic Gaming Monthly editors gave the Game Boy scores ranging from 7.5 to 2.0 in a 1997 year-end review. One reviewer panned the system due to its monochrome display while his three co-reviewers praised its long battery life and strong games library.
Smithsonian Magazine describes the Game Boy as a permanent fixture of American cultural history citing its economic significance and enduring appeal. An original 1989 Game Boy is on display at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History as part of the American Enterprise exhibition alongside early mobile devices. It is also featured in the Nintendo Museum in Kyoto, Japan. In 2009, the Game Boy was inducted into the U.S. National Toy Hall of Fame. The system became a staple within the chiptune scene as hardware for composing music through trackers such as Little Sound DJ and Nanoloop. Reflections in The Guardian characterize it as a portal to other magical worlds with players recalling formative gaming experiences. Lego created a set based on the Game Boy in partnership with Nintendo releasing October 2025. The Game Boy remains a cultural icon frequently cited in retrospectives as a foundational device in portable gaming. Praise continues for its durability, long battery life, and affordability across decades of reviews.
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Common questions
When was the Game Boy first released in Japan?
The Game Boy launched in Japan on the 21st of April 1989. This initial shipment consisted of 300,000 units which sold out within two weeks.
Who designed the original Game Boy handheld console?
Gunpei Yokoi served as division director and championed the design philosophy for the Game Boy project. Satoru Okada took full responsibility for the project after Yokoi approved his vision for a portable system with interchangeable cartridges.
What processor powers the Game Boy hardware specifications?
The Game Boy uses a custom system on a chip named the DMG-CPU manufactured by Sharp Corporation. The main processor is a Sharp SM83 that operates at a clock rate of 4.194304 MHz.
How many units of the Game Boy were sold worldwide before discontinuation?
Over 59.89 million units of the various monochrome models had been sold worldwide before the introduction of the Game Boy Color. Combined lifetime sales of the Game Boy and Game Boy Color models reached approximately 118.69 million units globally.
Which game was the best-selling single title for the Game Boy?
Tetris was the best-selling single game with more than 35 million copies shipped as a pack-in game included with many original devices. Pokémon Red, Blue, and Yellow formed the top-selling franchise selling more than 46 million copies combined.