The Evolution of Game Boy

For those people born in the 90’s, especially the gamers, here’s a quick history of something that pretty much made our childhood. Before the androids came, the line of this hand-held console was the ruler of the children (and some adults) world.

The console series that made our childhood legendary, it is none other than, the Game Boy Line.

As we are all familiar with, the Game Boy line is a series of handheld consoles that uses batteries for power produced by the famous game manufacturer, Nintendo.

Here's a brief summary in GIF form of the evolution of Game Boy, though it is not complete, try and guess each console!

Got all of 'em? If you did not, well this is the lucky day for you for I will introduce each console briefly!

The first console in the Game Boy line was, of course, the original Game Boy. The idea of the Game Boy was based from the handheld console Game and Watch. The original Game Boy has a black and green reflective LCD screen, directional pad (D-Pad), two action buttons known as A and B and start and select buttons and it lets you play different games through ROM-based detachable media called cartridges or Game Paks, in Philippines, "Bala."

Next is the Game Boy Pocket, almost the same as the original Game Boy, only a couple of differences such as instead of the "pea soup" monochromatic display from the previous model, it includes black and white display screen and also, as the name says, it is smaller and lighter fit for gamers' pockets.

Most of the people do not know this but there is actually another console after the Pocket and the Color (last console). It is called the Game Boy Light. It was exclusively released in Japan only so most of the people do not know about this console. The highlight of this console is its backlit screen allowing the players to use it in dark areas.

The last console from the Game Boy family is the Game Boy Color (GBC). I was pretty attached to this console as this model is my first game console. As the name says, it features a screen that lets you play colored games. It has a processor with two times the speed and a memory three times compared to the previous model. Also, the major component of the GBC is its backward compatibility, meaning it can read older Game Boy cartridges and even play them in a selectable color palette.

The GIF above is a Game Boy Pocket. On the other hand, the image below is a Game Boy Color with the cartridge Pokemon, one of the top most famous Game Boy games together with Tetris and Super Mario.

                

That is the end of the Game Boy family. But wait, there's more!

Another family of consoles was manufactured by Nintendo known as the Game Boy Advance family.

The Game Boy Advance (GBA) is the first console of the family. You can distinguish from the previous models as it was designed horizontally, rather than vertically.

               

In addition, its controls were slightly altered through the addition of the Left and Right buttons commonly known as "L" and "R". Also, the screen was larger and has a higher resolution compared to the previous models.

It also has the backward compatibility of the first models though the cartridges of this console was roughly half of the older ones and so older Game Paks would stick out the console when playing. The only downside of this console is that it does not have the backlight feature making it hard for gamers to use it in a dark environment. Which is why Nintendo produced another console solving the backlight issue of the GBA.

                

The famous Game Boy Advance SP were the rich kids' console during my time. (Because we only have Color and Advance and they were trampled by the SP when it was first released.) The Game Boy Advance SP resolved some of the problems with the first models. First, it no longer requires AA or AAA batteries like the previous consoles, instead it features a rechargeable battery saving players from their number one handheld gaming problem, sudden battery drains (As you can charge it while playing though it's not healthy for your console they say). Next, as you can see from Nintendo's witty advertisement, the frontlight feature which can be turned on and off through a small button below the screen. It resolved the GBA's issue as players can now use it in dark areas. Also, the design compared to the GBA was hugely altered as it now resembles a clam shell (foldable) featuring a flip-up screen.

The last console of the Advance family is the Game Boy Micro famous for its unusually small design. It is 10 centimeters wide and 5 centimeters tall weighing 80 grams only, making it by far the smallest Game Boy created. Because of its extra portable design, backward compatibility is not possible, meaning you cannot insert Game Boy or Game Boy Color cartridges and can only play the smaller, Game Boy Advance's Game Paks. An image of Game Boy Micro is shown below.

                   

This is the Game Boy Line. You might think that Nintendo DS is included in the console series but actually, it is not. It belongs to another console line, of course also produced by Nintendo.

                           

Although it does not belong in the Game Boy line, you can say that it is actually connected to it because of its backward compatibility feature enabling players to use older Game Paks. Nintendo DS has a different form of Game Paks, resembling a memory card. Saying that, it also features the use of memory card making it possible for players to download games from the internet, though I think that it is not legal.

So our stroll down the memory lane has ended, my fellow gamers. The production of the Game Boy was a huge success to Nintendo and the gaming industry. Not only to them, but also, to us who patronize their products. It surely made our childhood legendary! Thanks a lot, Nintendo! Our gaming memories with these consoles will never be "overwritten."

Sources: Wikipedia. 2014. Game Boy line. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_Boy_line accessed on March 8, 2014.

 *Images and GIFs were gathered from 9gag, tumblr and Google images.