The Nintendo Game Boy



Ah, yes. The birth of the handheld video game system. Who didn't covet this thing when it came out in the late 80s? I remember wanting one badly (I wouldn't get one until 1997 when the Game Boy Pocket came out and I paid for it with my own money.)

It was initially packed with Tetris, a game that was lighting the world on fire at the time. I got the NES version, and got hooked on it like everyone else. I think that Star Trek: TNG episode "The Most Dangerous Game" was inspired by Tetris, but I digress.

Those lucky little bastards who got this thing for Christmas loved to brag about it. Meanwhile, I got GI Joes. Seems fair, eh?

There are hundreds of games available to suit every taste, and pretty much all of them can be played on the Game Boy Advance SP, which is awesome. (Game Boy Micro can play Advance SP games, but can't play any games from previous generations.)

I remember bumming my friend's Game Boy for a trip once. I was playing Super Mario Land, and I became aware of the Game Boy's inherent limitations. First, it had a green screen. That was easy to ignore. But once you played a side-scroller, it was hard to see what was going on. The screen was never very clear to start with, plus the LED display wasn't very dark.

These problems got a little better with the Game Boy Pocket. For starters, it was smaller, required half as many batteries, and had longer battery life. I own this one, and while Nintendo said you get 10 hours of battery life, I've had significantly longer battery life.

Game Boy games aren't very cheap, since the backwards compatibility of the recent systems keeps demand high. I've never bought a vintage GB game for cheaper than $10. Even my local video game stores charge an arm and a leg. I was eyeing Metroid II: Return of Samus, and they wanted $10 for that. (Don't even get me started on the Mega Man games.)
Games are cheaper on ebay, but after shipping, they're about the same price as they would be anywhere else.

In an age of PSP (with its dead pixels) and the DS (with that goofy "Touching is Good" pitchline and weird controls) it's refreshing to just plug in Tetris, flip the 'on' switch, and play an entertaining game without bother. I see several used original GBs for about $15 at my aforementioned video game stores, and it's tempting to buy one just shits and giggles since it's a neat piece of video game history.
If you're looking to buy one, I boldly suggest getting the Advance SP since you'll have more games to play.

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