[Épisode 6/6] Launched in 1989 in Japan, and a year later in Europe, Nintendo’s first portable console left its mark on more than one generation of gamers. Above all, it was the console that allowed the Japanese manufacturer to fit into everyone’s pockets.
The Game Boy, the debate is still ongoing 35 years after its launch, but there is one subject on which Nintendo’s first portable console makes everyone agree: it succeeded in imposing the Japanese manufacturer in pockets around the world. In total, with its color version, the Game Boy has totaled 118 million international sales.
It must be said that at 590 francs at launch – or 150 euros taking inflation into account – the Game Boy is a console accessible to the greatest number of people. In France, the success is total. Despite launching later than in other territories, it sold 1.4 million units in just twelve months.
“Nintendo wanted to diversify its offering with a product that you could take anywhere, and which would cost players less than a home console,” says Guillaume Leviach, aka Antistar, journalist and streamer, a keen Nintendo connoisseur. “The console is only there because the designer of Game & Watch had a genius idea quite by chance.”
A console that is not very powerful but accessible
Designed by Gunpei Yokoi in the early 1980s, the Game Boy was imagined as a console that would support the NES, with exclusive games, but which nevertheless took advantage of Nintendo’s historic licenses such as Zelda et Mario. The choice was nevertheless made to only offer a monochrome and non-backlit screen, in particular to avoid making the mistake of its competitors at the time, the Game Gear and the Lynx, which were far too expensive. This ensures the Game Boy has good autonomy, a particularly low price and technical specifications closer to the NES than one might think, which allows it the support of developers.
“No attempt to create a portable console had met with real success before. And besides, the competitors of the time did not really succeed in keeping up with the comparison,” says Antistar.
Tetris is one of those games that allowed the console to become a huge hit. It is then sold with the console – an unusual practice, but one that Nintendo will repeat with the Wii in 2005 with Wii Sports in the United States and Europe.
The story is also partly told in the film covering the creation of Tetrisavailable on the Apple TV+ platform.
Even the games will be offered at knockdown prices, not exceeding 195 francs (50 euros today). We can therefore count on arcade classics, such as Asteroids, alongside Battletoadspassing through The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakeninget Wario Land. Pokémon will definitely anchor the console in history with a concept that leads to exchange and sociability, and what could be better than a portable console for that?
“The Game Boy made me dream, and I had to wait for the GBA to come out when I got to high school so that… it made me buy an original Game Boy at a flea market right away, and I “taken with me on my vacation,” recalls Antistar with nostalgia. “My parents were afraid I would damage my eyes on that little screen, or that I would lose it or break it.”
An XXL lifespan
With its 220 grams, its 2.6-inch LCD screen and its four batteries necessary to operate up to 30 hours straight, the Game Boy is certainly THE ideal gift under Christmas trees around the world – whether real or plastic.
“The factors justifying the success are so numerous! There is the attractive price, rather high quality games for such a small machine, the handling and ease of use have also clearly played a role,” explains Antistar.
Nintendo smells the right thing and will multiply the accessories, such as a camera which can take photos of 128×112 pixels, which can then be printed using the Game Boy Printer. You can also buy a cable to play with others and exchange data, as well as a magnifying glass which can also illuminate the very dark screen of the console.
Can we say that the Game Boy has had a quiet life of success? Not quite. In 1995, when Nintendo failed to impose virtual reality with its Virtual Boy, and the then Game Boy had no designated successor, the manufacturer had to quickly find a solution. This is how the Game Boy Pocket was released in 1996, whose technical specifications did not change compared to the original model.
But Nintendo has nevertheless revised its copy and offers a 30% reduced size, which makes it even more portable. Above all, it now only requires two batteries to operate, with a better quality non-colored LCD screen.
The Pokémon box
We will have to wait two more years to finally see color arrive… with the Game Boy Color. It almost retains the dimensions of the Pocket, but is nevertheless more powerful, and is backwards compatible with the rest of the catalog. You can choose the colors you want to have on the screen. Enough to take full advantage of Pokémon Red and Bluewhich are sold by the millions all over the world.
“The Game Boy was given a second lease of life as providential as it was unforeseen seven years after its release, thanks to the explosion of the phenomenon Pokémon,” adds Antistar. “We will say that it is a mixture of good strategic decisions, but also of stars which aligned well.”
All these little people will therefore stand up to the PlayStation, try to save the furniture of the Nintendo 64, which is having a little difficulty establishing itself, and above all put aside all its competitors to become the central point of the portable market . Nintendo nevertheless knows that it cannot rely on its foundations forever and is launching a more substantial project: that of the Game Boy Advance.
The portable console market, now gone in favor of more hybrid concepts, such as the Switch, is certainly no longer what it was, which however did not prevent Nintendo from supporting it for many years, and continues to do so in a certain way, reveals Antistar: “By marketing the Switch Lite in 2019 (which is exclusively portable and cannot be connected to a television, Editor’s note), Nintendo wanted to show its support for an exclusively nomadic market. For me, they still believe in it, even if it’s less noticeable.”
The same year, however, Nintendo ended production of the 3DS, its last true portable console. Quite a symbol.
