Game Boy

''This article is about the game console. For information about the gamebook series of the same name, see'' Game Boy (book series)

The Game Boy was Nintendo's first portable console. The Gameboy was one of the best selling game systems of all time, selling around 118,690,000 units world wide. It was so popular that Nintendo actually pushed back the Game Boy Color because the sales for the Gameboy were so good. The Game Boy Advance SP was very similar to the Game Boy saleswise.

Hardware Specifications
CPU: Z80 8-bit CMOS

CPU Speed: 4.19 Mhz

RAM: 8 Kbyte

Maximum Resolution: 160 x 144 pixels

Colors: Grayscale

Maximum number of colors: 4

Maximum sprite size: 8 x 16 pixels

Maximum number of sprites: 40 sprites

Minimum/Maximum cart size: 256 Kbit - 16 Mbit

Sound: 4 Channel

Game Boy Pocket


The Game Boy Pocket was the second system in the Game Boy line. It had the same specifications as the original Game Boy, but it was smaller, lighter, and had a longer battery life and required less batteries (two AAA's as opposed to it's predecessors four AA's).

Game Boy Light
Game Boy Light was an only-released-in-Japan Game Boy. Nintendo decided that United States consumers wanted "color, not light" so they came up with the Game Boy Color for America. The Light is about the same size as the Pocket and has a backlit screen for improved vision.

The Light used to be the rarest Game Boy variant outside of Japan at one time, but due to websites such as eBay, the system has become more widely available. It was the only handheld Nintendo produced with an independently lit (backlit or frontlit) screen until the release of the Game Boy Advance SP.