HANDHELD ERA

GAME BOY

The gray brick that started the handheld revolution — July 31, 1989, Tetris in the box, four AA batteries in the back, and a pea-soup screen that somehow ate 15 hours of your bus ride. 118 million Game Boys later, the world still hasn't put it down.

NA LaunchJul 31, 1989Price$89.99CPU8-bit · 4.19 MHzRAM8 KBNA Library506 games

01HARDWARETHE MACHINE

Specs and official accessories for the Nintendo Game Boy.

SYSTEM SPECS

CPUSharp LR35902 (custom 8-bit, 8080/Z80 hybrid) @ 4.19 MHz
Screen160×144 dot-matrix LCD · 4 shades of gray-green
BacklightNone — play near a lamp like a true pioneer
RAM8 KB work RAM + 8 KB video RAM
Audio4 channels — 2 square, 1 wave, 1 noise
Power4× AA batteries · ~15 hours of play
MediaCartridges up to 8 Mbit (1 MB) · save batteries inside
Lifespan1989–1998 · 118M+ Game Boy family sold

OFFICIAL ACCESSORIES

Link Cable1989

2-player Tetris. Friendship destroyer

Rechargeable Pack1989

Skip the AA aisle with the battery pack

Game Boy Camera1998

The 0.014-megapixel digital camera

Game Boy Printer1998

Thermal prints of your pixel face

Game Boy Pocket1996

The slim redesign with the crisp screen

02GAMESNORTH AMERICAN RELEASES

Every licensed Game Boy game officially released in North America — from 4-in-1 Fun Pak to Zoop.

TITLEPUBLISHERYEAR