Through good times and bad, Nintendo’s handhelds have been the company’s most consistent gift to gamers.
However, the Game & Watch devices were each only programmed to play a single game.
Nintendo wanted to create a portable system comparable to its globallysuccessful Nintendo Entertainment Systemwith interchangeable game cartridges.
Game Boy Goes Color
By the 90s, gaming technology had improved substantially.
So, Nintendo began development on a smaller, color display variant of the Game Boyby 1992.
Games published in 1998 onwards were developed specifically for the Game Boy Color.
1998 saw updated versions ofTetrisandThe Legend of Zelda: Links Awakeningfor the Game Boy Color.
Each included additional content to justify the re-release.
The idea was for the consoles to interface with one another intuitively.
The GBA featured a 32-bit processor and was completely backward compatible with Game Boy and Game Boy Color games.
It was also more efficient.
Compared to the original Game Boy, which required four AA batteries, the GBA only required two.
Similarly, CapcomsStreet Fighter IIandAlpha 3, SquaresFinal Fantasy, and NamcosPac-Manwere all successfully updated for the GBA.
It also utilized a landscape presentation compared to its predecessors vertical display.
The GBA would go on to sellover 81 million units worldwidethrough all its various models combined.
The N64 had only sold 32 million units.
Thats lower than thePS1s 102 million unitsand even the SNES, which sold over 49 million units.
The idea was to diversify the companys standing.
However, the high cost of the planned peripheral led it to being dropped.
Without the Game Boy and its successors, the Nintendo we know today would never exist.
