The Game Boy (Japanese: ゲームボーイ, Game Boy), Nintendo's flagship handheld console, was first released in 1989, and even today is the best selling handheld console of all time. Gunpei Yokoi is credited with playing a key role in its development and release.

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The logo to the Game Boy.

Versions

Game Boy

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The first Game Boy

The first Game Boy was released in 1989. The first Game Boy was large and gray, with a monotone dot matrix screen and monaural sound. It was playable for an average of 35 hours with four AA batteries. Many peripherals were released for it through its time, the more popular ones being the Game Boy Printer and Game Boy Camera. The Game Boy was also later released with five differently colored bodies.

Game Boy Pocket

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The Game Boy Pocket.

The Game Boy Pocket was released in 1996 as a replacement for the original Game Boy. The Game Boy Pocket had a smaller frame, a larger screen, and a higher resolution display. Despite its screen improvements, the Game Boy Pocket display was still in monotone and the sound remained the same as it was in the original Game Boy. Another somewhat minor improvement was that the system took two AAA batteries instead of four AA, effectively helping to lighten its weight.

Game Boy Light

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The Game Boy Light.

The Game Boy Light was a system released exclusively in Japan in 1997. It was similar in all ways to the Game Boy Pocket with the main difference being an indigo back-lit screen. The Game Boy light uses 2 AA batteries, which give it approximately 20 hours with the light off and 12 hours with the light on. It seems that the Game Boy Advance SP got its idea from the Game Boy Light.

Game Boy Color

Similar to the original Game Boy but with a color screen.

Main article: Game Boy Color

Game Boy Advance

An improved version of the Game Boy Color with atrapezoidal design and better graphics. It is also compatible with the Game Cube.

Main article: Game Boy Advance

Game Boy Advance SP

It features a clamshell design and boasts the ability to be played in the dark without an external light source.

Main article: Game Boy Advance SP

Game Boy Micro

An unpopular 2nd redesign of the Game Boy Advance.

Main article: Game Boy Micro

Pokémon and the Game Boy

The Pokémon game franchise is widely considered to be one of the driving forces behind Game Boy sales, especially in the late 1990s and early 21st century.

Pokémon games for Game Boy

Pokémon Specials

Game systems with Pokémon games
Nintendo handheld consoles
GB (Pocket · GBL · SGB · SGB2) • GBCminiGBA (SP · GBm · GBP)
DS (Lite · DSi · DSi XL) • 3DS (XL · 2DS · New 3DS · New 3DS XL · New 2DS XL)
Switch (Lite · OLED)
Nintendo home consoles
SNES (BS-X · SGB · NP · SGB2) • N64 (DD) • GCN (GBP)
Wii (Family Edition · mini) • Wii U
Switch (OLED)
Sega consoles
PicoCoCoPadBeena