Gaming
 

Game Boy

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Game Boy
Manufacturer Nintendo
Type Handheld Video game console
Generation Fourth generation era
First available Japan April 21, 1989
USA/Canada August 1989
Europe/Australia 1990
CPU ARM7TDMI, 16.78 MHz
GPU Custom 2D core
Media Game Boy cartridges
Units sold Worldwide: 118.69 million, including Game Boy Color units[1]
Top-selling game Tetris, 33 million combined
Successor Game Boy Color
This article is written
from the Real Life
point of view

The Game Boy is Nintendo's second handheld video game system (following the Game & Watch series). It was first released on April 21, 1989 (1989-04-21). It is an 8-Bit, black & white system said to be "All the power of the NES, Pocket-Size." Despite other, technologically superior handheld consoles introduced during its lifetime, the Game Boy was a tremendous success with classics such as Tetris, Mario, and the second game of the Metroid series - Metroid II: Return of Samus. It also boasted new revolutionary titles such as the Pokémon series. In 1996 a second generation of Game Boys were released, the Game Boy Pocket, which was a smaller version of the original Game Boy, that played the same games.

[edit] Controls

The Game Boy's main controls are located on the lower half of its front frame. Like the NES controller, the Game Boy has four face buttons labelled "A", "B", "SELECT", and "START". The functions of these face buttons vary from game to game, though generally, the START button is used as a "pause" function to temporarily stop gameplay. The Game Boy also features a directional pad, allowing up to eight directions of movement in its games.

Outside of buttons used in gameplay, there is a volume control knob on the right side of the console, and a similar knob to change the contrast on the left side. The ON/OFF switch is located at the top of the Game Boy.

[edit] Technical Specifications

  • CPU: Custom 8-bit Sharp LR35902 core at 4.19 MHz.
  • RAM: 8 kB internal S-RAM
  • Video RAM: 8 kB internal
  • ROM: On-CPU-Die 256-byte bootstrap; 256 kB, 512 kb, 1 Mb, 2 Mb, 4 Mb and 8 Mb cartridges
  • Sound: 2 square waves, 1 programmable 32-sample 4-bit PCM wave, 1 white noise, and one audio input from the cartridge[22].
  • Display: Reflective LCD 160 × 144 pixels
  • Screen size: 66 mm diagonal
  • Color Palette: 2-bit
  • Communication: Game Boys can be linked together via built-in serial ports
  • Power: 6 V, 0.7 W
  • Dimensions: 90 mm (W) x 148 mm (H) x 32 mm (D)

[edit] Metroid games for the Game Boy

Metroid II: The Return of Samus.


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