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ARTICLES IN THE BOOK

  1. Action game
  2. Advergaming
  3. Arcade machine
  4. Artificial intelligence
  5. Atari Games
  6. Atari Lynx
  7. Audio game
  8. Board games
  9. Browser game
  10. Casual game
  11. Christian video games
  12. Comparison of handheld gaming consoles
  13. Computer and video games
  14. Computer animation
  15. Computer-assisted role-playing game
  16. Computer graphics
  17. Computer role-playing game
  18. Console game
  19. Dr. Mario
  20. Famicom
  21. First person shooter
  22. Game
  23. Game balance
  24. Game Boy
  25. Game Boy Advance
  26. Game Boy Color
  27. Game Boy line
  28. Game Boy Micro
  29. Game classification
  30. Game controller
  31. Game design
  32. Game designer
  33. Game developer
  34. Game Developer Magazine
  35. Game development
  36. Game development tool
  37. Game mechanic
  38. Gameplay
  39. Game programmer
  40. Game programming
  41. Gamer
  42. Game server browser
  43. Game studies
  44. Gaming convention
  45. Golden Age of Arcade Games
  46. Handheld game console
  47. History of computer and video games
  48. History of video game consoles
  49. History of video games
  50. Hotseat
  51. Internet gaming
  52. Joystick
  53. LAN gaming center
  54. List of books about computer and video games
  55. List of commercial failures in computer and video gaming
  56. List of gaming topics
  57. Mobile game
  58. Multiplayer game
  59. N-Gage
  60. Nintendo 64
  61. Nintendo DS
  62. Nintendo GameCube
  63. Personal computer game
  64. Pinball
  65. Play-by-mail game
  66. Play-by-post game
  67. PlayStation 3
  68. PlayStation Portable
  69. Pong
  70. Programming game
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  72. Real-time strategy
  73. Sega Dreamcast
  74. Sega Saturn
  75. Serious game
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  77. Single player
  78. Sony PlayStation
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  80. Strategy game
  81. Strategy guide
  82. Super Nintendo Entertainment System
  83. Synthespian
  84. Tabletop role-playing game
  85. Teamspeak
  86. Tetris
  87. Tokyo Game Show
  88. Video game center
  89. Video game console
  90. Video game crash of 1983
  91. Video game industry
  92. Video game publisher
  93. Wargame
  94. Wii
  95. Xbox 360

 



VIDEO & COMPUTER GAMES
This article is from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_Boy

All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Text_of_the_GNU_Free_Documentation_License 

Game Boy

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

The Game Boy is a handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo, released in 1989 at $89.95 USD[1]. The Game Boy was the first successful handheld console, and was the predecessor of all other iterations of the Game Boy line.

The Game Boy was originally bundled with the puzzle game Tetris, since Nintendo thought that an addictive puzzle game would get consumers' attention.

Features

Games

A screenshot from Tetris (1989) for Game Boy.
A screenshot from Tetris (1989) for Game Boy.
Main article: List of games for the original Game Boy

One of the top-selling games for the Game Boy was Tetris, which sold about 3 million copies[2] and is an example of a killer game. Tetris was packaged with the Game Boy, and often, consumers were buying the Game Boy so as to play Tetris[3].

Controls

The Game Boy's main controls are located on the lower half of its front frame.

Like the NES controller, the Game Boy has four face buttons labelled "A," "B," "SELECT," and "START." The functions of these face buttons vary from game to game, though generally, the START button is used as a "pause" function to temporarily stop gameplay. The Game Boy also features a Directional Pad, allowing up to eight directions of movement in its games.

Outside of buttons used in gameplay, there is a volume control knob on the right side of the console, and a similar knob to change the contrast on the left side. The ON/OFF switch is located at the top of the Game Boy[4].

Input/output

The right side of the Game Boy, showing the volume control and the link cable port.
The right side of the Game Boy, showing the volume control and the link cable port.

The Game Boy contains the following input/output connectors:

  • A power input, located on the left side of the handheld console. This is used primarily with the Game Boy Battery Pack / AC Adapter to allow the Game Boy to run off either the pack, or standard AC power. The adapter input varies according to region due to differences in mains power standards; for example a North American adapter (being 120 volts AC at 60 hertz, and 4 watts of power) would not work correctly if used with European supplies, which are typically 230 volts. The output however is always 6 volts DC at 250mA[4].
  • A link cable port, located on the right side. It connects two Game Boy handheld consoles, and transfers information between two games of the same type or same series. This was widely used in games such as Pokémon.
  • A 3.5mm stereo headphone jack output is located on the bottom side of the console.
  • An input for Game Boy cartridges (also called Game Paks) is situated on top of the Game Boy.

Sales and competition

The success of the Game Boy is exhibited in one way by its expansive and successful line of consoles. For instance, the Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance have reached worldwide sales figures of 49 million (as of December 2004) and 75 million (as of June 2006), respectively. The original Game Boy sold roughly 70 million units worldwide.

At the time of its release in 1989, the Atari Lynx, also known as the "Handy," was also just being introduced to the market. This system featured color graphics, a backlit screen, and networking capabilities.[5] Nevertheless, its release price of $179, substantial requirement of 6 AA batteries that would provide roughly four hours of gameplay (compared to 10-12 on the Game Boy), physical bulkiness, and other factors doomed it to a second-rate status[6].

In the 1990s, Nintendo experienced heavier competition from Sega's Game Gear. To promote its new, color console, Sega aired a number of negative but unsuccessful ad campaigns in the United States that criticized the Game Boy's monochrome color palette. Nonetheless, the Game Gear suffered from generally the same problems that the Lynx did.

Variations

The Game Boy Battery Pack / AC Adapter
The Game Boy Battery Pack / AC Adapter

Several variations of the original Game Boy were produced:

  • Super Game Boy (compatibility adapter to accommodate showing the screen on a TV via the Super NES)
  • Game Boy Pocket (a smaller version of the Game Boy)
  • Game Boy Light (first backlight in the Game Boy line)

Accessories

Several accessories compatible with the Game Boy were also produced:

  • The Game Boy Battery Pack (or AC Adapter), sold for about $30 USD, was roughly 3 in. long, 2 in. wide, and 0.5 in. thick. One end of it had a 2 inch-long cord, ending in a 3.5 mm phone plug, while the other end had a standard two-pin plug. The first version of it was gray with purple lettering, to match the colors used on the Game Boy. It also featured a belt clip. The battery pack was good for several hours of gameplay per charge, providing an alternative to purchasing more AA batteries once their power was exhausted. The product used nickel-cadmium batteries, lasted about 4-5 hours per charge, and could be charged roughly 1000 times before a significant loss in effectiveness. A major drawback of the battery pack was its weight, as well as the way the phone plug sticks out prominently.[7]
  • Game Boy Camera (Japan: Pocket Camera)
Main article: Game Boy Camera
Released in 1998, the Game Boy Camera was able to take pictures that could be printed out using the Game Boy Printer. The photos were in black and white only, and the resolution of the pictures was 128 x 123. Both the Game Boy Camera and Game Boy Printer products were marketed together in Japan, the U.S., and Europe, primarily towards children. It is no longer in production by Nintendo.
  • Game Boy Printer
Main article: Game Boy Printer
Released at the same time as the Game Boy Camera, the Game Boy Printer was a thermal printer. It ran off of six AA batteries. In addition to printing out Game Boy Camera photos, it also ran in conjunction with several Game Boy games, such as Pokémon Yellow and The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX.
  • Game Boy Link Cable
Main article: Game Link cable
An accessory that established a data connection between two Game Boys using the same game or game from the same series. It is generally associated with its uses in the Pokémon series, which included versus battle and an exchanging of Pokédex data.

Popular Culture

  • In the Metal Slug series, sometimes a trooper will take out his Gameboy and start to play (however, he invariably throws it on the ground with enough force to destroy the device after he cannot win).

Technical information

CPU
Custom 8-bit Sharp Z80 at 4.194304 MHz (has a slightly different instruction set than a standard Z80, and integrated sound generation)
RAM
8 kByte internal S-RAM
Video RAM
8 kByte internal
ROM
256 kbit, 512 kbit, 1 Mbit, 2 Mbit and 4 Mbit and 8 Mbit cartridges
Sound
4 channel stereo sound. The unit only has one speaker, but headphones provide stereo sound
Display
Reflective LCD 160 × 144 pixels
Screen Size
66 mm (2.6 in) diagonal
Color Palette
4 shades of "gray" (green to black)
Communication
Up to 16 Game Boys can be linked together via serial ports
Power
6 V, 0.7 W (4 AA batteries provide ~35 hours)
Dimensions
90mm(W) × 148mm(H) × 32mm(D)/3.5 × 5.8 × 1.3 (inch)

See also

  • Game Boy music

References

  1. ^ Ken Polsson (2006-11-20). Chronology of Video Game Systems. Retrieved on 2006-11-21.
  2. ^ Tetris: A History (12-26-2005). Retrieved on 2006-08-22.
  3. ^ Tetris Makes Game Boy a Must-Have (7/23/2003). Retrieved on 2006-08-22.
  4. ^ a b Nintendo Game Boy (DMG-001). Vidgame.net (2006). Retrieved on 2006-08-22.
  5. ^ The Atari Lynx (2006). Retrieved on 2006-08-20.
  6. ^ The Atari Lynx: The Handheld System that Time Forgot! (2006). Retrieved on 2006-08-20.
  7. ^ Game Boy Battery / AC Adapter. The Nintendo Repository (2005-12-11). Retrieved on 2006-08-18.


 

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_Boy"