Impressing for years; but how?
Pros:
Simplicity, cost, backward compatibility
Cons:
Lack of new features
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Overall Rating:
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Author's Review
I bought the original Game Boy in 1990 for about $100 and with the hope that I could extend the reach from my Nintendo/Super Nintendo away from home. How can such ancient technology beat out all of its competition? Through the decade it has put up with and put down several companies in the hand held console business. I attribute this to the fact that it is so simple yet so versatile. What do I mean by this?
First, and most obvious, it has such a famous name. Im sure when people first saw the Game Boy they thought of it as a handheld version of the successful Nintendo. After all, it was the same color, had some of the same famous titles, and even the buttons looked similar to the controller of the Nintendo. I think from there it began to grow on us.
It was so simple that it even broadened the audience that would be interested in this device. Containing just an A, B, Start, Select, and the directional pad, it made for excellent simplicity while keeping excellent games.
Later with the release of the Game Boy Pocket it improved on Game Boys features by adding a slimmer more eye friendly figure and larger and sharper screen while maintaining its superb battery life. By this time the Game Boy had hundreds of titles and unavoidably the general public was stuck to Game Boy.
Logically the next Game Boy in line had to include color. I eagerly purchased the Game Boy Color in hopes of major improvements (and not a bad cost only costing around $70), though I was a little disappointed that it was not an active matrix screen (be able to see in the dark) but it was obvious that it was not because of the low price and still maintaining decent battery life; which would not be the case with active matrix. Overall I wasnt disappointed; it kept what I like most: its simplicity and great games that continued to be pumped out almost everyday from great third party developers.
Also, since thirty percent of Nintendos profits come directly from Game Boy sales, it is doubtful that they will ignore the demands of Game Boy customers. Now with the upcoming debut of the Game Boy Advance I should think that Game Boys list of accomplishments will continue to grow.
