Game Boy
- Manufacturer
- Nintendo
- Production
- 1989–2003
- Generation
- Gen 4
- Type
- Handheld
- Launch price
- $89
- Units sold
- 118.7M
About Game Boy
The Game Boy is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on April 21, 1989, in North America on July 31, 1989, and in Europe on September 28, 1990. Nintendo's first handheld to use ROM cartridges, it succeeded the Game & Watch line of handheld electronic games and competed with Sega's Game Gear, Atari's Lynx, and NEC's TurboExpress in the fourth generation of video game consoles.
Source: Wikipedia (text under CC BY-SA 4.0).
Lifetime sales
Official manufacturer-reported figures.
118.7Munits
501.1Mgames
4.2games / console
Worldwide; Nintendo combines Game Boy and Game Boy Color.
Source: Nintendo Co., Ltd. IR — Dedicated Video Game Sales Units, as of March 31, 2026.
Library & collector facts
1,057licensed games
- North America: 1,057
Lineage
Release timeline
- 🇯🇵 Japan
- April 21, 1989
- 🇺🇸 North America
- July 31, 1989
- 🇪🇺 Europe / PAL
- September 28, 1990
- Lifespan
- 14 years on market
Pricing
Launch price (1989)
- 🇺🇸 USD
- $89
- 🇯🇵 JPY
- ¥12,500
- 🇬🇧 GBP
- £70
Launch titles & exclusives
Tetris · Super Mario Land · Alleyway · Baseball · Yakuman (JP launch only) · Tennis
Tetris (NA / EU launch bundle) — credited as the system-seller
Tetris · Pokemon Red / Blue / Yellow · Super Mario Land 1 & 2 · The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening · Metroid II: Return of Samus · Kirby's Dream Land · Wario Land · Donkey Kong (1994, the puzzle remake)
Pokemon Yellow (1998, NA) was among the last major releases; some Japan-only titles released into 1999
Hello Kitty World (JP, very limited); Spud's Adventure (NA, low print run); sealed launch DMG-01 units
Variants of Game Boy
Hardware specs
- Cpu
- Sharp SM83
- Ram
- 8 KB RAM, 8 KB Video RAM
- Power
- Original: 4 × AA batteries (Up to 30 hours), Pocket: 2 × AAA batteries (Up to 10 hours), Light: 2 × AA batteries (Up to 12 hours w/ backlight on, 20 w/ backlight off)
- Display Output
- Original: STN display, STN LCD, Pocket/Light: FSTN LCD, 160 × 144 px
Hardware revisions
- Original DMG-01(1989)
launch hardware, reflective monochrome LCD, 4 AA batteries, ~10–15h life
- Game Boy Pocket MGB-001(1996)
~half the size, true black-and-white screen (vs. green-tinted DMG), 2 AAA batteries
- Game Boy Light MGB-101(1998)
JP-only, EL backlight, the only original-line Game Boy with a lit screen
Launch colorways & special editions
- Play It Loud! line — Red, Yellow, Green, Blue, Black, Transparent (1995)
- Pokemon Yellow Pikachu Edition (1999)
- Game Boy Light (JP-only, electroluminescent backlight, 1998)
Modding scene
- Difficulty
- soft-mod
- Custom firmware
- N/A (no OS); flashcarts — EZ-Flash Junior, Everdrive GB X3 / X5 / X7
Reception & legacy
Skeptical reception inside Nintendo — staff feared the monochrome screen would lose against the color Atari Lynx and Sega Game Gear, but battery life proved decisive
Tetris licensing battle with Atari/Tengen (settled in Nintendo's favor); low-contrast screen a chronic user complaint pre-Pocket revision
Defined handheld gaming for a decade; Yokoi's 'lateral thinking with withered technology' (cheap, proven parts) ethos shaped every later Nintendo handheld through the DS era
References
More from Nintendo
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Game Boy in the news
Recent coverage mentioning the Game Boy, gathered from 80+ gaming-news sources.
BitmoLab Tease Limited Edition Clear iPhone Case For Emulator Nerds With Taste
🤝 Like our website? Support us as an independent publisher by tipping, joining our paid community or checking out our accessories brand GAMENOOK! BitmoLab, the creative minds behind the popular case that bought GAME BOY like controls to the iPhone in a modular, and portable form-factor has just...
Epilogue Releases Smartphone App For Your GAME BOY Camera
Ever since Epilogue released their brand new SN Operator, a premium SNES cartridge reader for your PC & Mac, they've been busy releasing updates to an array of their products and applications. Firstly, their app Retrace got the SN Operator update it deserves, allowing you to authenticate your
Discover The Star Fox Game Boy Color Demake You Can Play In Your Browser
🤝 Like our website? Support us as an independent publisher by tipping, joining our paid community or checking out our accessories brand GAMENOOK! Whether you're sitting in a coffee shop like I am right now or pretending to work in a meeting, browser-based games are absolute lifesavers.
Pokémon Nova Fangame Releases This Weekend
🤝 Like our website? Support us as an independent publisher by tipping, joining our paid community or checking out our accessories brand GAMENOOK! Back when I was playing Pokémon Red on my Yellow Game Boy DMG, I would have never thought that I would be writing about a
Your new Analogue Pocket might not work with Everdrive carts, so here's the skinny on the Game Boy ROM ruckus
New Analogue Pocket owners are reporting issues with Everdrive GB Mini flash carts, and some believe ROMs won't run on the FPGA handheld due to RAM issues.
Pokemon Japanese Game Covers Turned Into Merchandise
The games covered range from the Game Boy generation all the way to the Switch generation.