The Game Boy is a handheld game console created and sold by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on April 21, 1989, in North America on July 31, 1989, and in Europe on September 28, 1990. It was Nintendo’s first handheld console to use ROM cartridges. The Game Boy replaced the Game & Watch line of handheld games and competed with other consoles like Sega’s Game Gear, Atari’s Lynx, and NEC’s TurboExpress during the fourth generation of video game consoles.
Nintendo Research & Development 1, led by Gunpei Yokoi and Satoru Okada, designed the Game Boy. To improve on the single-game Game & Watch, Nintendo used a dot-matrix display and game cartridges that could be swapped between devices. They focused on making the console affordable, long-lasting, and durable instead of using faster processors or color graphics found in other consoles. Following Yokoi’s idea of using simple, low-cost technology, the Game Boy had a black-and-white screen and an 8-bit processor. It kept the Game & Watch’s directional pad and the Game Link Cable, created by Okada, which allowed players to connect multiple consoles and share data.
In North America and Europe, the Game Boy was promoted heavily and often came with the game Tetris, which helped attract more players. Even though its black-and-white screen and limited technology were criticized, the Game Boy sold well because of its low cost, long battery life, and many available games. The popularity of Nintendo’s Pokémon series helped keep the console popular through the late 1990s. Nintendo later released redesigned versions, including the smaller Game Boy Pocket (1996) and the Japan-only, backlit Game Boy Light (1998).
After the Game Boy Color (GBC) was released in 1998, Nintendo continued to support the original Game Boy. The original Game Boy could play many GBC games, while the GBC and its 2001 successor, the Game Boy Advance, could play Game Boy games. Together, the Game Boy and GBC sold about 118.69 million units. At the time they were discontinued in 2003, they were the best-selling console, and they remain the fourth-best-selling console as of 2025. Reporters say the Game Boy helped make handheld gaming popular and introduced many people to video games.
History and development
The Game Boy was created by Nintendo Research & Development 1 (R&D1), the team that made popular games like Mario Bros. and Donkey Kong, as well as the Game & Watch series of handheld devices. These handhelds helped Nintendo improve its financial situation. By 1983, Game & Watch was still popular worldwide, but sales in Japan started to drop. This pushed R&D1 to find new ideas. At the same time, R&D1 faced competition from Nintendo Research & Development 2 (R&D2), a team created by Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi. In 1983, R&D2 launched the Family Computer, which added more pressure on R&D1 to improve Game & Watch. To upgrade Game & Watch, R&D1 studied new screens from Sharp, including dot-matrix displays that could support multiple games. Unlike Game & Watch, which used pre-printed segmented LCDs (limiting each device to one game), these new screens offered more flexibility.
On June 10, 1987, division director Gunpei Yokoi told R&D1 that Yamauchi wanted a Game & Watch successor priced under ¥10,000 (equivalent to ¥12,840 in 2024). From the start, the team wanted to use a dot-matrix display and named the project "Dot Matrix Game" (DMG), later used as the Game Boy's model number: DMG-01.
Within R&D1, Yokoi promoted "lateral thinking with withered technology," a design approach that avoided cutting-edge technology and instead focused on using older, more affordable, and reliable technologies in creative ways. This idea caused disagreements between Yokoi and his assistant director, Satoru Okada. Yokoi wanted a simple toy similar to Game & Watch, while Okada pushed for a more powerful system with interchangeable cartridges, like a portable version of the NES. Some in R&D1 believed Yokoi resisted this idea to avoid linking the project to the NES, which was being developed by R&D2. After a heated meeting, Yokoi agreed to Okada's plan and gave him full control of the project.
Early in development, R&D1 considered using a Ricoh CPU, like the one in the NES, for possible compatibility. However, R&D2, which was working on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), blocked this, claiming it would strain Ricoh's resources. R&D1 suspected this was an attempt to slow their project. Instead, they chose a Sharp CPU. A key benefit of this choice was the CPU's built-in communication feature. Earlier, Okada had worked on a Nintendo project called Computer Mah-jong Yakuman, which allowed multiplayer gaming over a cable. He saw an opportunity to use this idea again. Despite doubts from his team, Okada developed the Game Link Cable technology, which later enabled features like "battle" and "trade" in Pokémon. The Game Boy also kept a key innovation from Game & Watch: the D-pad. Yokoi designed it as a compact alternative to joysticks, making it ideal for handheld devices. Its use on the NES controller also helped players transition smoothly between systems.
Early in development, R&D1 tested dot-matrix displays from Sharp but found them unsuitable due to severe ghosting. They then approached Citizen, Epson, Hosiden, Matsushita, and Seiko. Most declined, but Citizen, which already made LCDs for portable TVs, was eager to work with them. The team was impressed by Citizen's chip-on-glass technology, which integrated the screen controller into the display, reducing costs and production time. Citizen offered Nintendo a monochrome screen for ¥1,300 or a color version for ¥3,900. However, following Yokoi's philosophy, the team chose the monochrome screen to avoid higher power use and cost. This decision proved wise, as competing color handhelds later struggled with poor battery life, giving the Game Boy an advantage.
Sharp remained an important partner, so Nintendo asked if Sharp could match Citizen's technology and price. Sharp gave vague answers and quoted a price of ¥2,500 to ¥3,000 per screen. In response, Citizen lowered its price to ¥1,000. With Yamauchi's approval, R&D1 finalized a deal with Citizen on September 1, 1987. However, as Citizen's representatives left Nintendo's offices, they saw Sharp's team arriving for a meeting with Yamauchi. Without explanation, Yamauchi canceled the Citizen deal and gave the contract to Sharp. To soften the blow, R&D1 told Citizen they were interested in buying color screens the next year, even creating fake project documents. Citizen later supplied color screens for Sega's Game Gear, which had a design similar to Nintendo's fake project. Citizen never admitted to sharing the design.
R&D1 soon discovered Sharp was unprepared to make the screens they needed, causing months of delays. Early prototypes with low-quality twisted nematic (TN) screens sparked skepticism, with some employees jokingly calling the project "DameGame" (dame meaning "hopeless" in Japanese). In the summer of 1988, R&D1 showed a prototype to Yamauchi, who canceled the project, citing poor display visibility. Team members argued that small adjustments or a slightly higher budget could fix the issue, but Yamauchi refused, leading them to suspect other teams had convinced him the device would fail. With the NES still popular and the SNES on the horizon, a Game & Watch successor was no longer seen as essential.
Most of R&D1, including Okada, was reassigned. However, Yokoi stayed committed to the project. Defying Yamauchi's decision, he continued improving the display. During discussions with a Sharp director, the team learned of a secret super-twisted nematic (STN) display in development. Though it had a green tint and lower contrast, it improved the viewing angle. Yokoi devised a plan to pressure Sharp into revealing the STN display. R&D1 secured a prototype and installed it in a Game Boy.
Three months after canceling the project, Yamauchi saw the STN prototype. Though still unimpressed by the screen, he approved the console for sale, possibly influenced by delays in SNES development, which was now two years from launch.
Using the STN display increased production costs. To save money, the team reduced the screen's size, though it was too late to shrink the console's overall size. The target price of ¥10,000 was not met due to the display's cost, and the Game Boy sold for ¥12,500 (equivalent to ¥15,594 in 2024). To make the product seem more valuable, Yamauchi decided to include headphones and four AA batteries in the box, which
Hardware
The Game Boy uses a custom system on a chip (SoC) to hold most of its components. This chip is called the DMG-CPU by Nintendo and the LR35902 by its maker, Sharp Corporation.
Inside the DMG-CPU, the main processor is the Sharp SM83. This processor combines parts from two other processors: the Intel 8080 and the Zilog Z80. It uses seven 8-bit registers from the 8080 and adds programming instructions from the Z80. The SM83 also includes special instructions for the Game Boy’s hardware. It runs at a speed of 4.194304 MHz.
The DMG-CPU also includes the Picture Processing Unit, which acts like a basic GPU. It uses 8 KB of Video RAM on the motherboard to create images. The screen is a 2.5-inch (diagonal) reflective super-twisted nematic (STN) monochrome liquid-crystal display (LCD). It measures 47 millimeters (1.9 inches) wide by 43 millimeters (1.7 inches) high and has a resolution of 160 pixels wide by 144 pixels high in a 10:9 aspect ratio. The screen shows four shades of grey/green.
The SoC also includes a 256-byte "bootstrap" ROM to start the device, 127 bytes of High RAM for faster access, and an Audio Processing Unit. This unit has four sound channels: two pulse wave channels (one with frequency and volume changes, the other only volume changes), a wave channel that can play any waveform stored in RAM, and a white noise channel with volume changes. The motherboard also has an 8 KB "work RAM" chip for general operations.
The Game Boy has physical controls, including a D-pad, four action buttons labeled 'A', 'B', 'SELECT', and 'START', a sliding power switch with a cartridge lock, and volume and contrast dials on either side.
The original Game Boy used four AA batteries. For longer use, an optional AC adapter or rechargeable battery pack could be connected via a coaxial power port on the left side. The right side has a Game Link Cable port for multiplayer games or data transfer with up to four devices. It also has a single monaural speaker and a 3.5 mm headphone jack for stereo sound.
The Game Boy sold strongly in the 1990s, especially with popular games like Pokémon. Around 1992, it sold about 10 million units. However, Nintendo hesitated to replace the hardware because of its success.
At a press conference in 1994, Nintendo’s vice president of marketing, Peter Main, said the company would delay a color handheld system because the Game Boy was still selling well. Instead, Nintendo planned updates to keep the system relevant.
The first update came in 1995 with the "Play It Loud!" campaign, which offered colored cases in red, yellow, green, blue, black, white, and transparent. This change was only cosmetic, with a darker screen bezel compared to the original model.
A major update in 1996 introduced the Game Boy Pocket, a smaller unit using two AAA batteries. It had a better film compensated super-twisted nematic (FSTN) LCD screen with improved visibility and no ghosting. The screen showed true black and white instead of green hues. The Pocket also had a smaller Game Link Cable port, requiring an adapter for older models. Internally, it used a new SoC called the CPU MGB, moving Video RAM to the chip.
The Game Boy Pocket launched in Japan in July 1996 and in North America in September 1996 for $69.99 (equivalent to $144 in 2025). It helped boost sales, especially with the release of Pokémon. While praised for its size and display, it faced criticism for its short battery life and lack of a power LED.
In early 1997, a revised version added a power LED, more case colors, and a lower price of $54.95 (equivalent to $110 in 2025). By mid-1998, the price dropped further to $49.95 (equivalent to $99 in 2025).
The Game Boy Light, released in Japan in April 1998, kept the Pocket’s improvements and added an electroluminescent backlight for low-light play. It used two AA batteries for longer battery life and had a blue-green glow. It was larger and heavier than the Pocket but still smaller than the original Game Boy. The Light came in gold and silver colors and sold for ¥6,800 (equivalent to ¥7,502 in 2024).
Games
More than 1,000 games were released for the Game Boy, not counting games that were canceled or not officially approved. Also, more than 300 games made for the Game Boy Color could work with the earlier, black-and-white Game Boy models.
Games are stored on cartridges called Game Boy Game Pak, which use read-only memory (ROM) chips. At first, the Game Boy’s 8-bit design limited ROM size to 32 KB. To solve this, Nintendo added a Memory Bank Controller (MBC) inside the cartridge. This chip is placed between the processor and the ROM chips. The CPU can only access 32 KB of data at a time, but the MBC can switch between different 32 KB sections of ROM. This allowed Nintendo to create Game Boy games that used up to 1 megabyte of ROM. Game Paks could also add extra features to the Game Boy. Some cartridges included up to 128 KB of RAM to improve performance, which could be battery-backed to save progress when the device was turned off. Others had real-time clock chips to track time even when the device was off, and some included Rumble Pak cartridges that added vibration feedback to improve gameplay.
The most popular game series for the Game Boy was Pokémon Red, Blue, and Yellow, the first games in the Pokémon series. These games sold more than 46 million copies. The best-selling single game was Tetris, which sold over 35 million copies. Tetris was included with many original Game Boy devices when they were purchased.
Besides official games, as of 2025, people in online communities continue to make new games for the Game Boy and Game Boy Color using tools like GB Studio, a free and easy-to-use program that helps create games without needing to write complex code.
When the Game Boy was first sold in Japan in April 1989, it had four games: Alleyway (a version of Breakout), Baseball (a copy of an NES game), Super Mario Land (a handheld version of the Mario series), and Yakuman (a Japanese mahjong game). When the console was released in North America, two more games were added: Tetris and Tennis (another NES copy). Yakuman was not widely released outside Japan.
Reception
The Game Boy was not as advanced as some of its competitors, such as the Game Gear, Atari Lynx, and NEC TurboExpress, especially because it did not support color. However, its lower cost and longer battery life helped it become a popular console.
Critics had mixed opinions about the Game Boy. In a 1997 review, four editors from Electronic Gaming Monthly gave it scores of 7.5, 7.0, 8.0, and 2.0. The reviewer who scored it 2.0 criticized the black-and-white screen and motion blur, while the others praised its long battery life, strong game collection, and the compact design of the new Game Boy Pocket model.
The Game Boy was first sold in Japan on April 21, 1989, with 300,000 units shipped. These sold out quickly. In the United States, 40,000 units were sold on its release day, July 31, 1989, and sales reached one million units within weeks. By 1995, 46% of Game Boy players in the U.S. were female, a higher percentage than for other Nintendo consoles.
Before the Game Boy Color was released, over 59.89 million monochrome Game Boy models had been sold worldwide by September 30, 1997. Nintendo later combined sales figures for the Game Boy and Game Boy Color. By 2003, when the system was discontinued, the combined total of monochrome Game Boy models and Game Boy Color units sold globally reached 118.69 million: 32.47 million in Japan, 44.06 million in the Americas, and 42.16 million in other regions.
At the time it was discontinued, the Game Boy was the best-selling game console ever. It was later overtaken by the Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, and Nintendo Switch, making it the fourth-best-selling console by 2025.
By 1997, the Game Boy and Game Boy Pocket had sold over 64 million units worldwide. Combined sales of all Game Boy and Game Boy Color models reached about 118.69 million units globally by the time the system was discontinued.
The Game Boy’s success extended beyond sales. It helped make handheld gaming popular by offering an affordable, durable design that made video games part of daily life. It is often mentioned in retrospectives as a way for many people to first experience gaming.
Smithsonian Magazine calls the Game Boy a lasting part of American cultural history, noting its economic importance and lasting appeal. The Guardian describes it as "a portal to other magical worlds," with players remembering important gaming experiences.
An original Game Boy from 1989 is displayed at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History as part of the "American Enterprise" exhibition, next to early mobile devices. It is also shown at the Nintendo Museum in Kyoto, Japan. In 2009, the Game Boy was added to the U.S. National Toy Hall of Fame.
The Game Boy is used in the chiptune music scene, where people create music using homebrew software on the device. Lego partnered with Nintendo to make a Game Boy-themed set, which was released in October 2025.