Game Boy’s 35th Anniversary: Celebrating a Timeless Classic

Today marks a significant milestone in the world of gaming: the Nintendo Game Boy’s 35th anniversary.

Launched in Japan on April 21, 1989, this basic yet revolutionary handheld quickly captured the market, becoming a defining gadget of the early 1990s. An amusing story from the era recounts a frustrated Sony executive berating his team, lamenting that Nintendo, not Sony, had pioneered such a trend-setting device, especially considering Sony’s command of the portable music market with its Walkman series.

The Game Boy was a brainchild of Nintendo’s lead engineer Gunpei Yokoi and the innovative R&D1 team. Choosing simplicity over flair, they opted for a basic monochrome display to keep power consumption low, a move that aligned with Yokoi’s principle of using mature technology in new ways. This strategy was evident as Nintendo’s device outlasted more technically advanced rivals like the Atari Lynx and Sega Game Gear, which suffered from poor battery life.

Thanks to the launch of Pokémon in 1996, the Game Boy enjoyed an extended product life. This series not only boosted the handheld’s appeal but also prompted the release of the Game Boy Pocket, a more compact version.

With the introduction of the Game Boy Color, Nintendo continued to innovate without abandoning its roots, ensuring compatibility with the classic monochrome games and introducing enhanced ‘DX’ versions of some titles.

Although Nintendo has not provided specific sales figures for each version of the Game Boy, the total sales for the Game Boy and its successors — including the Pocket, Light, and Color models — have reached an impressive 118.69 million units. This figure is particularly remarkable compared to other Nintendo consoles like the NES and SNES.

The Game Boy family expanded with the GBA in 2001, which was the line’s final extension before the Game Boy Micro’s release marked the end of the era. While the Game Boy name has been retired, the legacy of this iconic brand continues to resonate in the gaming community.