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78-642: Announced to the public in August 1995, the Analog Joystick was released to the public in Japan in early April 1996. The Analog Joystick used potentiometer technology previously used on consoles such as the Vectrex ; instead of relying on binary eight-way switches, the controller can detect minute angular changes through the entire range of motion. The stick also features a thumb-operated digital hat switch on

156-460: A Game Boy Printer . The Game Boy continued to experience strong sales well into the 1990s, as popular games continued to increase interest in the handheld. This commercial success was something of a double-edged sword for Nintendo; the device was seen as aged, but the company was unwilling to abandon it. Instead, the company embarked on a series of improvements to the Game Boy in an effort to keep

234-592: A twisted nematic (TN) display, but after seeing a prototype Game Boy, Yamauchi rejected the TN technology as too hard to see. Sharp then suggested super-twisted nematic (STN) technology, which had better viewing angles and contrast but was more expensive. To reduce cost, the team reduced the screen size, however, it was too late in the development process to shrink the console's overall size. Within R&;D1, Yokoi had long promoted " lateral thinking with withered technology",

312-490: A 10:9 aspect ratio . The SoC also contains a 256 B "bootstrap" ROM which is used to start up the device, 127 B of High RAM that can be accessed faster (similar to a CPU cache ), and the Audio Processing Unit , a programmable sound generator with four channels: a pulse wave generation channel with frequency and volume variation, a second pulse wave generation channel with only volume variation,

390-479: A March 14, 1994, press conference in San Francisco, Nintendo vice president of marketing Peter Main answered queries about when Nintendo was coming out with a color handheld system by stating that sales of the Game Boy were strong enough that it had decided to hold off on developing a successor handheld for the near future. In 1995, Nintendo of America announced that 46% of Game Boy players were female, which

468-628: A Memory Bank Controller (MBC) inside the cartridge. This chip sits between the processor and the ROM chips. The CPU can only access 32 KB at a time, but the MBC can switch between several banks of 32 KB ROM. Using this technology, Nintendo created Game Boy games that used up to 1  megabyte of ROM. Game Paks could also provide additional functionality to the Game Boy system. Some cartridges included up to 128 KB of RAM to increase performance, which could also be battery-backed to save progress when

546-409: A Viewmaster. The disc spins freely and is driven by a motor. The Vectrex software generates its own frame-rate and compares it to an index signal from the glasses once per revolution. Score is kept of how many wheel rotations are early compared to the software frame rate, and how many are late. The software tries to keep these two trends equal by adjusting the power being delivered to the motor that spins

624-457: A costly mistake, even despite reducing its price by 25% and then later 50% in desperation to sell units. In February 1984, after losing $ 31.6 million on the Vectrex, Milton Bradley announced the discontinuation of the console and cancelled development of new games. The company's entire inventory of consoles and accessories was sold off to mass-market discount houses, where they were liquidated at

702-407: A design philosophy which eschewed cutting-edge technology in favor of using mature technologies, which tended to be more affordable and reliable, in innovative ways. As a result of this philosophy, to keep costs low and extend battery life, the Game Boy was designed without a backlight and used a simple grayscale screen, despite potential concerns about visibility and the lack of color. The approach

780-561: A device would be feasible. Some employees even gave the project the derogatory nickname " Dame Game" ( dame (だめ) meaning "hopeless" in Japanese). The codename for this nascent project was "Dot Matrix Game" (DMG), reflecting its intended display technology , a stark contrast to the Game & Watch series, which had segmented LCDs pre-printed with an overlay, limiting each model to only play one game . The initials DMG came to be featured on

858-421: A fraction of the console's introductory price. By May 1984, Milton Bradley merged with Hasbro and after-market support ended. Prior to the Vectrex's discontinuation, a successor console with a color screen had been planned. After the rights reverted to Smith Engineering, the company made plans to revive the Vectrex as a handheld, but the imminent arrival of Nintendo's Game Boy put an end to those plans. In

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936-622: A handheld platform convinced Nintendo president Minoru Arakawa to port and bundle it with the Game Boy. As a result, Tetris was bundled with the Game Boy in every region except Japan on its release. The Game Boy launched in the Japanese market in April 1989, followed by North America in July, and Europe in September of the following year, backed by a $ 10 million marketing effort. Sales of

1014-465: A key design element developed by Yokoi and his team at R&D1 for its Game & Watch predecessor: the directional control pad, often referred to as the " D-pad ." Yokoi had recognized that traditional joysticks might hinder the portability of handheld devices. As a result, he designed the D-pad – a flat controller that extends just slightly beyond the device's casing. A similar layout had been used on

1092-492: A more powerful device with interchangeable cartridges, like a portable version of the successful Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). Their differing visions for the project led to frequent clashes, heated meetings and high tensions, with Okada ultimately convincing Yokoi of his vision. The team was encouraged to pursue the project by Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi . However within Nintendo, many were skeptical that such

1170-524: A pair of 3D goggles known as the "3D Imager" and a light pen for drawing directly on the screen. The Asteroids -inspired Mine Storm was built into the system. The console was conceived by John Ross, of Smith Engineering, in late 1980 as a handheld called the "Mini Arcade". As development progressed, it morphed into a tabletop system that was manufactured by General Consumer Electronics. Strong initial sales caused General Consumer Electronics to be acquired by Milton Bradley. However, just mere months later

1248-534: A power LED, different case colors (red, green, yellow, black, gold metal, clear, and blue) and dropped the price to US$ 54.95 (equivalent to $ 104 in 2023). By mid-1998, just months before the Game Boy Color went on sale, prices had fallen to US$ 49.95 (equivalent to $ 93 in 2023). The Game Boy Light was a Japan-only revision released on April 14, 1998. Like the Game Boy Pocket, the system

1326-583: A shortcoming of the launch of the NES. R&D1 also developed Super Mario Land , a portable adaptation of the Super Mario Bros. game, intending it to be the flagship title for the Game Boy. However, Henk Rogers brought the Soviet Union-made game, Tetris , to the attention of Nintendo of America . Despite its simple graphics and lack of a well-known brand, Tetris' s suitability for

1404-419: 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

1482-578: A switch to select either analog or digital mode. When in the digital mode, both sticks function as the gamepad on a regular PS1 controller. Older PS1 games that do not support the PS1 DualShock sticks can work with the Analog Joystick. PlayStation PlayStation 2 There are other PS2 games that also can use the PS1 analog joystick, but only in digital mode. Metal Slug Anthology , Gradius III , Gradius IV and other games that normally use just

1560-469: A vector-drawing cathode-ray tube display was made by connecting the deflection yoke in a standard television to the channels of a stereo amplifier fed with music program material. An auxiliary yoke was used to keep the raster television's horizontal fly-back high-voltage system running. The demo led to a system originally conceived as a handheld called the Mini Arcade but, as Smith Engineering shopped

1638-493: A wave channel than can reproduce any waveform recorded in RAM, and a white noise channel with volume variation. The motherboard also contains a 8 KB "working RAM " chip. The Game Boy features a D-pad (directional pad), four buttons labeled 'A', 'B', 'SELECT', 'START', and a sliding power switch with a cartridge lock to prevent removal. The volume and contrast are adjusted by dials on either side. The original Game Boy

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1716-555: Is a vector display -based home video game console - the only one ever designed and released for the home market, that was developed by Smith Engineering and manufactured and sold by General Consumer Electronics. It was first released for the North America market in October 1982 and then Europe and Japan in 1983. Originally produced by General Consumer Electronics, it was later licensed to Milton Bradley after they acquired

1794-451: Is also a compound of MESS (included in MAME , so RetroArch too via libretro ), DVE, lr-vex, Vecx, with a Wii version called VectrexWii. Schematics for a "Vectrex Multicart" cartridge is available, allowing several games to be packed on one cartridge. There are also several people manufacturing and selling newly made games, some complete as cartridges with packing and overlays in

1872-488: Is unusual and refreshing to see a product appearing on the market with its software ready to run". David H. Ahl stated in Creative Computing Video & Arcade Games in 1983 that "Vector graphics really do make a difference, and the strong line-up of games helps immensely". Since late 1995, there has been a Usenet community of hobbyists writing games for ParaJVE, a Vectrex emulator. Its emulation

1950-552: The LCD technology, which was a critical component. The team considered buying displays from the Citizen Watch Company which was already using LCD screens to build portable TVs. However, talks continued with Sharp, with Yokoi and Okada showing the company a Game Boy mockup. After seeing the device and wanting to keep Nintendo as a client, Sharp offered competitive pricing and secured the contract. Sharp originally proposed

2028-526: The Picture Processing Unit , essentially a basic GPU , that renders visuals using an 8 KB bank of Video RAM located on the motherboard. The display itself is a 2.5-inch (diagonal) reflective super-twisted nematic (STN) monochrome liquid-crystal display (LCD), measuring 47 millimeters (1.9 in) wide by 43 millimeters (1.7 in) high. The screen can render four shades with a resolution of 160 pixels wide by 144 pixels high in

2106-668: 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 Game Boy Light (1998). Sales of Game Boy variants continued until 2003. The Game Boy

2184-576: The Zilog Z80 . The SM83 has the seven 8-bit registers of the 8080 (lacking the alternate registers of the Z80), but uses the Z80's programming syntax and extra bit manipulation instructions, it also adds new instructions to optimize the processor for certain operations related to the way the hardware was arranged. The Sharp SM83 operates at a clock rate of 4.194304 MHz. The DMG-CPU also incorporates

2262-435: The 2.0 panned the system due to its black-and-white display and motion blur , while his three co-reviewers praised its long battery life and strong games library, as well as the sleek, conveniently-sized design of the new Game Boy Pocket model. The Game Boy, Game Boy Pocket and Game Boy Color were commercially successful, selling a combined 118.69 million units worldwide: 32.47 million in Japan, 44.06 million in

2340-449: The CRT is controlled using a circular knob on the back of the display. A vector CRT display such as the one in the Vectrex does not require a special tube, and differs from standard raster-based television sets only in the control circuits. Rather than use sawtooth waves to direct the internal electron beam in a raster pattern, computer-controlled integrators feed linear amplifiers to drive

2418-695: The Game Boy and its successor variants (including the Game Boy Color ) continued until March 2003. The Game Boy uses a custom system on a chip (SoC), to house most of the components, 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 between two other 8-bit processors: the Intel 8080 and

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2496-466: 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 and early 2000s. 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,

2574-517: The Game Boy, excluding cancelled and unlicensed games. Additionally, more than 300 games developed for the Game Boy Color were forward compatible with the monochrome Game Boy models. Games are stored on cartridges called the Game Boy Game Pak , using read-only memory (ROM) chips. Initially, due to the limitations of the 8-bit architecture of the device, ROM size was limited to 32 KB. However, Nintendo overcame this limitation with

2652-462: The NES, making it easier for owners to transition to the handheld. Yamauchi estimated that the console would achieve sales exceeding 25 million units in its initial three years, a claim that was regarded as bold at the time. Nintendo's philosophy centered on the belief that the appeal of a gaming system was primarily determined by the quality of its games. With this in mind, Okada pushed to make development tools available for third-party developers ,

2730-522: The United States within weeks. More than 118.69 million units of the Game Boy and Game Boy Color combined have been sold worldwide, with 32.47 million units in Japan, 44.06 million in the Americas, and 42.16 million in other regions. By Japanese fiscal year 1997, before Game Boy Color's release in late 1998, 64.42 million units of the Game Boy had been sold worldwide. At

2808-406: The Vectrex into a color 3-D experience. The imager works by spinning a disk in front of the viewer's eyes. The disk is black for 180 degrees and in some cases has 60 degree wedges of transparent red, green, and blue filters. The user looks through this to the Vectrex screen. The Vectrex synchronizes the rotation of the disk to the software frame rate as it draws 6 screens: with the right eye covered:

2886-565: The Vectrex was conceived in the late 1980s, but was shelved because of its manufacturing cost and the success of the Nintendo Game Boy . The Vectrex was conceived by John Ross of Smith Engineering. He, Mike Purvis, Tom Sloper, and Steve Marking had gone to Electro-Mavin, a surplus warehouse in Los Angeles. They found a 1-inch cathode-ray tube (CRT) and wondered if a small electronic game could be made of it. A demonstration of

2964-422: The Vectrex would succumb as a victim of the video game crash of 1983 and was discontinued in early 1984. Despite its commercial failure, the Vectrex was praised for its software library, unique graphical capabilities, and built-in monitor. Several publications lauded it as one of the best consoles available at the time. The Vectrex was the first console to have a 3D-based peripheral. A color handheld version of

3042-404: The appearance of a flat screen. They also allowed changes in brightness intensity of vector graphics to be more visually distinctive. In some cases game designers created pseudo color cycling effects, for a sense of movement, by using alternating colored patterns. In addition to players' score areas, some overlays also contained additional artwork and patterns, to add to the game's play field. Across

3120-403: The bottom of each overlay are game-specific joystick and button functions as a guide for the player. Each overlay also displayed the title and logo of each game, along with a colored border or design, to add cosmetic flair to the Vectrex (much like an arcade machine with its marquee or side art). Overlays were not required, but added to the experience in terms of the visual look of game graphics and

3198-538: The cartridge (a concept first seen with the Magnavox Odyssey , as well as some early arcade machines). Instead of physically touching the CRT screen, four tabs on the Vectrex console securely held them in place in front of it, with a small gap between the actual screen and the overlay. Made up of one to three colors for the play field area, these overlays simulate simple color graphics (on an otherwise black and white screen), helped reduced glare, flicker and gave

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3276-424: The company. Bandai released the system in Japan. The Vectrex, in contrast to other video game systems at the time, did not need to be hooked up to a television set; it had an integrated (vertically orientated) monochrome CRT monitor . A detachable wired control pad could be folded into the lower base of the console. Games came with translucent color overlays to place over the screen. Optional peripherals included

3354-416: The console relevant. The first revision to the Game Boy came on March 20, 1995, when Nintendo released several special edition Game Boy models with colored cases, advertising them in the "Play It Loud!" campaign, known in Japan as Game Boy Bros. Play It Loud! units were manufactured in red, yellow, green, blue black, white, and clear (transparent). The Play It Loud's screens also have a darker border than

3432-419: The deflection yoke. This yoke has similar, if not identical inductances, unlike a TV deflection yoke. The yoke uses a standard TV core. The high-voltage transformer also uses a standard core and bobbin. There is special circuitry to turn off the electron beam if the vector generator stops or fails. This prevents burning of the screen's phosphors . This design is a great deal smaller than the electronics found in

3510-482: The device's small size, and said that the screen's visibility and pixel response-time had been improved, mostly eliminating ghosting . However, other reviewers were dismissive of the device, with the Los Angeles Times saying Nintendo was "repacking the same old black-and-white stuff and selling it as new." The first version came only in silver and did not have a power LED. A revision in early 1997 added

3588-417: The disk at a high enough speed will fool the viewer's eyes/brain into thinking that the multiple images it is seeing are two different views of the same object due to the persistence of vision. This creates the impression of 3-D and color. The same 3-D effect is in fact possible with raster or film-projection images, and the shutter glasses used in some 3-D theaters and virtual reality theme park rides work on

3666-404: The filter and mask wheel. Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) is used to control the motor speed: the ratio of the "on" time versus the "off" time of a rapid stream of power pulses to the motor. In this way the software synchronizes the rotation of the wheel to the software's frame rate, or drawing time, for the combined and repeating group of up to 6 evolving images. A single object that does not lie on

3744-514: The final product's model number: "DMG-01." Originally, a Ricoh -manufactured CPU, similar to the one used in the NES, was considered for compatibility. However, due to resource constraints amid the ongoing development of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System , the Game Boy team chose a less powerful CPU from the Sharp Corporation . Sharp initially showed reluctance to engage in the project, particularly for

3822-408: The first quarter of 1983. The launch sales were strong enough that Milton Bradley bought out General Consumer Electronics in early 1983. Milton Bradley's greater resources allowed the Vectrex to be released in parts of Europe by mid-1983 and, through a co-branding agreement with Bandai , in Japan as well. However, the video game crash of 1983 turned Milton Bradley's support of the Vectrex into

3900-410: The free-standing, full-sized Asteroids arcade machine. During development, for a short period of time, the possibility of using the 6502 processor was considered, but later its performance was considered insufficient. Early units have a very audible "buzzing" from the built-in speaker that reacts to the graphics generated on screen. This is due to improper production grounding of signal lines of

3978-464: The gamepad and buttons for controls. The following games support the controller's "analog" mode, but force the player to use the digital "hat switch" instead of the analog sticks: And the following games are fully supported, but have issues that can affect gameplay: GamePro ' s The Rat Baron praised the controller for its comfort, tight control, button layout, and analog movement, though he expressed doubt that most players would go for it given

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4056-470: The green hues of the original Game Boy. The Pocket also has a smaller Game Link Cable port, which requires an adapter to link with the original Game Boy. This smaller port design would be used on all subsequent Game Boy models. Internally, the Game Boy Pocket had a new SoC, the Nintendo CPU ;MGB, an improved version of the DMG-CPU. A major change was that the device's 8 KB of Video RAM

4134-511: The handheld was off, real-time clock chips could keep track of time even when the device was off and Rumble Pak cartridges added vibration feedback to enhance gameplay. The top-selling franchise for the Game Boy were Pokémon Red , Blue , and Yellow , the first installments of the Pokémon video game series , which sold more than 46 million copies. The best-selling single game was Tetris , with more than 35 million copies shipped, it

4212-480: The high price tag. The Analog Joystick did not sell well in Japan, reportedly due to its high cost and bulky size. The Analog Joystick can be connected to a PC via a USB adapter and also via a DirectPad-Pro-style parallel port interface which can be accessed under Windows using the DirectPad or other drivers. The Allegro library provides the same functionality for developers. Vectrex The Vectrex

4290-581: The idea around to developers, it evolved into a tabletop with nine-inch screen. The system was licensed to General Consumer Electronics in 1981. After a brief hardware and software development period, the Vectrex was unveiled on 7 June 1982 at the Summer Consumer Electronics Show in Chicago. It was publicly released in seven select introductory markets in October at a retail price of US$ 199 before being distributed nationally in

4368-406: The left eye red image, then green, and then the blue image is drawn, and then, while the left eye is covered by the black 180-degree sector: the right eye red, green, and then the blue image is drawn. Only one eye will see the Vectrex screen and its 3 associated images (or colors) at any one time while the other will be blocked by the 180-degree mask. The prototype was made in the plastic casework of

4446-401: The low-level audio circuitry, and was eventually resolved in later production models. A " ground loop " had been created by a grounding strap added in production to meet U.S. Federal Communications Commission signal radiation requirements. This idiosyncrasy has become a familiar characteristic of the machine. The 3-D Imager, invented by John Ross, turns the 2-D black-and-white images drawn by

4524-428: The mid-1990s, Jay Smith, then head of Smith Engineering, allowed new hardware and software development on a fee- and royalty-free basis. Smith has also allowed duplication of the original Vectrex software on a not-for-profit basis to allow Vectrex owners to obtain the original titles at low cost or for free. The computer and vector generator were designed by Gerry Karr. The computer runs the game's computer code, watches

4602-429: The monitor uses to steer the electron beam over the face of the phosphor screen of the cathode-ray tube. Another signal is generated that controls the brightness of the line. The cathode-ray tube is a Samsung model 240RB40 monochrome unit measuring 9 × 11 inches, displaying a picture of 240 mm diagonal; it is an off-the-shelf picture tube manufactured for small black/white television sets. The brightness of

4680-441: The normal Game Boy. A major revision to the Game Boy came in 1996 with the introduction of the Game Boy Pocket, a slimmed-down unit that required just two smaller AAA batteries , albeit at the expense of providing just 10 hours of gameplay. The other major change was that the screen was changed to a film compensated super-twisted nematic (FSTN) LCD. This film compensation layer produced a true black-and-white display, rather than

4758-481: The original audio circuitry on the power board in favor of a module installed elsewhere within the cabinet). Game Boy 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 later that year and other territories from 1990 onwards. Following the success of the Game & Watch single-game handhelds, Nintendo developed

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4836-549: The overall display appearance of the console. Some of the Vectrex's library consisted of ports of arcade hits, most of them brought to the console through a licensing deal with Cinematronics . The liquor company Old Mr. Boston gave out a limited number of customized Clean Sweep cartridges, with a Mr. Boston sticker on the box. The overlay was the regular Clean Sweep overlay with the Mr. Boston name, logo, and copyright info running up either side. The game itself had custom text, and

4914-401: The plane of the monitor ( i.e. , in front of or into the monitor) is drawn at least twice to provide information for each eye. The distance between the duplicate images and the angles from which they are drawn will determine where the object will appear to "be" in 3-D space. The 3-D illusion is also enhanced by adjusting the brightness of the object (dimming objects in the background). Spinning

4992-482: The player controlled a top hat rather than a vacuum . Clean Sweep was written by Richard Moszkowski. Byte in 1982 called Vectrex "one of the greatest game machines we have seen this year ... [Vectrex] is a good bet to score big with the consumer". The magazine praised the screen, stating that "it almost has to be seen to be believed; imagine playing games at home (or in the office) using vector graphics with three-dimensional rotation and zoom", and noted that "It

5070-488: The right joystick, corresponding to the traditional D-pad, and used for instances when simple digital movements were necessary. A compatibility mode for the Analog Joystick was included in the Dual Analog Controller , Sony's first analog revision of its original gamepad design. PS1 games that support the Analog Joystick have an "Analog Joystick Compatible" icon on the back cover. The Analog Joystick has

5148-412: The same principle. The light pen allows the user to "draw", to create images and to indicate, on the screen. It has a photo-detector that can see the bright spot of the vector-drawing display monitor when it goes by under the light pen's position where it is being held to the screen. The photo-detector feeds internal pulse-catching circuits that tell the Vectrex and its software of the event. The prototype

5226-420: The style of the original commercially released games, others with varying degrees of packaging. New hardware has also been developed for the Vectrex in recent years, including a light pen that addressed the limitation of the original version by including buttons that replace the second controller required on the original version, and a daughterboard that addresses the well-known buzz in the system's audio (bypassing

5304-534: The team that the feature would be too difficult to use and thus a waste of resources, Okada pushed forward and developed the Game Link Cable technology himself. This effort led to the creation of the "battle" and "trade" gameplay features in the Pokémon series , first released in 1996. A prototype Game Boy was unveiled in 1987 and later exhibited at multiple industry trade shows. The device incorporated

5382-446: The user's inputs, runs the sound generator, and controls the vector generator to make the screen drawings. The vector generator is an all-analog design using two integrators: X and Y. The computer sets the integration rates using a digital-to-analog converter. The computer controls the integration time by momentarily closing electronic analog switches within the operational-amplifier based integrator circuits. Voltage ramps are produced that

5460-634: Was a pack-in game included with the purchase of many original Game Boy devices. When the Game Boy was released in Japan in April 1989 alongside four launch titles : Alleyway (a Breakout clone ), Baseball (a port of the NES game), Super Mario Land (an adaptation of the Mario franchise for the handheld format) and Yakuman (a Mahjong game). When the console was introduced in North America, two more launch titles were added: Tetris and Tennis (another NES game port), while Yakuman

5538-487: Was designed by the team at Nintendo Research & Development 1 (R&D1), which had previously developed the Game & Watch handhelds and video games including Mario Bros. and Donkey Kong . However, early in the process, deep disagreements arose between Gunpei Yokoi , the R&D1 division director, and Satoru Okada , the assistant director. Yokoi's original vision was for a simpler device, akin to an advanced Game & Watch, while Okada strongly advocated for

5616-620: Was higher than the percentage of female players for both the Nintendo Entertainment System (29%) and Super Nintendo Entertainment System (14%). In 2009, the Game Boy was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame , 20 years after its introduction. The console received mixed reviews from critics. In a 1997 year-end review, a team of four Electronic Gaming Monthly editors gave the Game Boy scores of 7.5, 7.0, 8.0, and 2.0. The reviewer who contributed

5694-507: Was made in the plastic casework of a Marks-A-Lot felt-tipped marker pen. The Vectrex draws a spider-web-like search-pattern to track the pen's location. The software changes the pattern size as the pen changes motions and velocity in an attempt keep a continuous lock on the pen's position. The Vectrex light pen was invented by John Ross. In order to enhance the display visuals of the Vectrex, every commercially released game included its own unique translucent plastic screen overlay that accompanied

5772-509: Was moved from the motherboard to the SoC for faster access. The Game Boy Pocket was released in Japan on July 20, 1996, and in North America on September 2, 1996, for US$ 69.99 (equivalent to $ 136 in 2023). The Game Boy Pocket revitalized hardware sales and its release was ultimately well-timed as it coincided with the release of the first Pokémon game, which catapulted the Game Boy into uncharted realms of commercial triumph. Reviewers praised

5850-504: Was never released outside of Japan. Though it was less technically advanced than the Sega Game Gear , Atari Lynx , NEC TurboExpress and other competitors, notably by not supporting color, the Game Boy's lower price along with longer battery life made it a success. In its first two weeks in Japan, from its release on April 21, 1989, the entire stock of 300,000 units was sold; a few months later on July 31, 1989, 40,000 units were sold on its first release day. It sold one million units in

5928-454: Was powered internally by four AA batteries . For extended use, an optional AC adapter or rechargeable battery pack can be connected via a coaxial power connector on the left side. The Game Boy has a single monaural speaker and a 3.5 mm stereo headphone jack . The right side offers a Game Link Cable port for connecting to another Game Boy for two-player games or, notably in Pokémon , sharing files. This port can also be used with

6006-438: Was priced at ¥6,800 (equivalent to ¥6,892 in 2019). The Game Boy Light is slightly bigger than the Game Boy Pocket and features an electroluminescent backlight allowing it to be played in low-light conditions. It uses two AA batteries, which give it approximately 12 gameplay hours with the backlight on and 20 with it off. It was available in two standard colors: gold and silver. More than 1,000 games were released for

6084-436: Was ultimately vindicated as rival units with full-color, backlit screens were panned for their dismal battery life, making the Game Boy more appealing to consumers. In the early 1980s, Okada had worked on an electronic game from Nintendo called Computer Mah-jong Yakuman that allowed cable communication between two devices, he thought it would be possible to implement a similar feature in the Game Boy. Despite concerns within

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