Object of the Month

Game Boy

This Game Boy was made by Nintendo in Japan in 1993, and was released with the games Tetris and Super Mario Land. It is on display in The Wizard's Attic at Hove Museum & Art Gallery. The Game Boy is a handheld electronic video game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. Created by Gunpei Yokoi and Nintendo’s Research and Development 1 team, it was first released in Japan and North America in 1989, and in Europe on 28 September 1990.

Yokoi had been working for Nintendo from 1965, and Game Boy, whilst the most successful of his creations, was by no means his only: he worked with Shigeru Miyamoto on Donkey Kong and Mario Bros., and his other credits include the Game & Watch games systems, and the long-running Metroid series.

With Game Boy, Yokoi’s aim was to create an affordable console accompanied by high-quality interchangeable games. To keep the units economical, Yokoi insisted on monochrome graphics to preserve battery life. This strategy worked well, for while flashier versions with colour graphics produced by other companies flopped because of their shortened battery life and higher price tag, the Game Boy was a huge success. Game Boy Color wasn’t released by Nintendo until 1998, and, according to Nintendo's latest annual report, Game Boy and Game Boy Color’s combined sales total 118.69 million units worldwide.

When the Game Boy was launched, the classic game Tetris, created by Alexey Pajitnov, was packaged with it. Super Mario Land, produced by Yokoi himself, was Nintendo’s original choice for accompanying game, but Tetris emerged as the better option because of its wider audience appeal. Other popular games over the years include Pokémon Red/Blue, Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, and Kirby's Dream Land.

In 2009, the Game Boy was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame in the US, 20 years after its introduction in Japan and North America. September 2010 marks the 20 year anniversary of its release in Europe.