bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Agence France-Presse

Nintendo's trailblazing Game Boy marks its 25th anniversary today with the portable device's legacy living on in cutting-edge smartphone games and among legions of nostalgic fans.
The Japanese firm released its 8-bit Game Boy on April 21, 1989 - the same year Soviet troops pulled out of Afghanistan, the Chinese army cracked down on protesters in Tiananmen Square and the Berlin Wall fell.
Few knew it would turn the console-based industry on its head, starting a revolution that did for portable gaming what Sony's Walkman had done for mobile music.
It also helped turn Super Mario and Donkey Kong into global franchises, allowing users to change their favourite games on the go just by inserting small cartridges into the device.
Kyoto-based Nintendo, which started life as a games card maker that morphed into a global videogame giant, did not invent portable gaming.
But Game Boy's discount price and popular software blew away the competition at the time and pushed mobile gaming into the mainstream.
"At one point, portable gaming was synonymous with the Game Boy," said Serkan Toto, a Tokyo-based games industry consultant.
"It laid the foundation for what we call portable gaming today, regardless of whether it is console or smartphone games, because the basic concept is the same ... That's the legacy of Game Boy."
The device also allowed users to connect with another gamer through a link cable, setting off the beginnings of online gaming networks that now number in the millions of users.
"It made gaming portable, but what's great was it was built on the concept of networking, enabling users to connect and battle each other," said Hirokazu Hamamura, managing director at games research firm and magazine publisher Kadokawa Corporation in Tokyo.
A quarter century later, the company's financial fortunes have suffered to a considerable extent.
Nintendo has no commemorative events planned for the Game Boy, which ironically foreshadowed the creation of portable smartphone and tablet computer games that have offered stiff competition to stationary consoles such as Nintendo's Wii, the Sony PlayStation and Microsoft's Xbox.
The Game Boy was discontinued years ago. But in its heyday, Nintendo sold almost 119 million original Game Boy consoles and shifted another 81.5 million units of the next-generation Game Boy Advance series, which first became available to the gaming public in 2001.


2016 trends, from Pokemon Go to poke bowls, as looking back 10 years goes viral in 2026

Marvel Cosmic Invasion review: Iron Man, Wolverine et al unite for modern beat ’em up

Japanese concerts cancelled in China as diplomatic row takes cultural toll

Saudi video gaming giant Savvy eyes China after success of Delta Force, Black Myth: Wukong

Nintendo

Happy birthday Game Boy: Nintendo's trailblazing console turns 25 

A large mock-up of a Game Boy at a shop in Tokyo. The console celebrates its 25th anniversary on Monday. Photo: AP

News

Asia

Lifestyle

Tech

Console released same year the Chinese army violently cracked down on protesters in Tiananmen Square and the Berlin Wall fell


Nintendo's trailblazing Game Boy marks its 25th anniversary today with the portable device's legacy living on in cutting-edge smartphone games and among legions of nostalgic fans.


Happy birthday Game Boy: Nintendo's trailblazing console turns 25

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Console released same year the Chinese army violently cracked down on protesters in Tiananmen Square and the Berlin Wall fell

Console released same year the Chinese army violently cracked down on protesters in Tiananmen Square and the Berlin Wall fell