The Game Boy was Nintendo's second handheld console. It was released on April 21, 1989 in Japan and in August 1989 in North America. Tetris was packaged with North America's released of the Game Boy. It was released in Europe on September 28, 1990.

     The system has features from the NES as well as Nintendo's first handheld system, Game & Watch. The system featured the same buttons found on the NES controller.

     The system took 4 AA batteries or an AC adapter which was sold separately. Gamers could also plug in an external rechargeable battery pack. Gamers could play 15-30 hours on just 4 batteries.

     The Game Boy featured a link cable which allowed it to hook up with another Game Boy. Tetris allowed gamers to compete with each other. It was also used in Pokemon games. It also allowed a Game Boy Printer to be hooked up.

     Nintendo released different colored Game Boys on January 1, 1995. These included red, green, black, yellow, white, blue, and clear. These new colors were accompanied by an ad campaign "Play it Loud!"

     Nintendo also made different variations. The Game Boy Pocket was a smaller and lighter version. This version only needed 2 AAA batteries and provided the same amount of game play.

     The Game Boy Light was only introduced in Japan. It featured a backlight for playing in low-light conditions. It used 2 AA batteries and that would provide 12-20 hours of gaming.

     The Game Boy and Game Boy Color sold over 118.69 units together in their lifespan. Gamers in North America purchased 44.06 million units. Game Boy games now live on in the Nintendo 3DS Nintendo eShop.

Specifications

CPU: 8-bit Sharp LR35902 core at 4.19 MHz
RAM: 8Kb internal S-RAM
Video RAM: 8Kb internal
Screen Size: 66mm (2.6 inch) diagonal
Color Palette: 2-bit