Happy birthday Game Boy: Nintendo's portable console turns 35 today

Today marks thirty-fifth anniversary since the launch of Game BoyNintendo's unforgettable portable console that has given players so much satisfaction and years of fun.

The console was launched in Japan way back in the day April 21, 1989. It was published in North America on July 31st of the same year bundled with Tetris, a real killer app that managed to attract many players. Finally, it arrived on European store shelves on 28 September 1990 with Super Mario Land, Alleyway, Baseball and the aforementioned Tetris among the launch titles.

The console boasts a truly enviable playground. In addition to the aforementioned Tetris, the Game Boy catalog includes titles such as The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3, Pokémon Red, Blue and Yellow and Metroid 2: Return of Samus, just to name a few.

The birth and incredible numbers of the Game Boy

The console was born thanks to the Nintendo Research & Development 1 department, led by Gunpei Yokoi and Satoru Okada, as the successor to the Game & Watch. Yokoi, following his philosophy of always finding new ways to use known and economical technologies, convinced the company to set aside the idea of ​​a color screen, present in rival products of the time, for a much cheaper liquid crystal display 2.6 inch with four shades of grey/green, to keep costs low and at the same time ensure long battery life.

The idea gave the desired results, given that, despite its limitations, the Game Boy managed to defeat the competition of Sega's Game Gear and the Atari Lynx, much more powerful and technologically advanced, but also much more expensive and one with a less long-lasting battery.

In the autumn of 1998 the direct successor arrived Game Boy Color, which as the name suggests boasts a color screen. In total, the two devices have totaled 118.69 million units sold worldwide and represent the fourth best-selling console ever, behind Nintendo Switch (139.36 million) and ahead of PS4 (117.2 million).

In addition to this brief summary of the console's history, we have dedicated a special to the thirty-fifth anniversary of the Game Boy in which we retrace the genesis and impact of Nintendo's unforgettable portable on the medium.