Game Boy Color

• • Manufacturer : Nintendo

  • Designer: Gunpei Yokoi

  • Generation: Fifth Generation

  • Bits: 8

  • Year Released: 1998

  • Units sold: 118.69 million (this number is a combination of Game Boy and Game Boy Color units)

  • Media: Cartridges

  • Summary: The Game Boy Color was the successor to the Game Boy, which was released 11 year earlier. It was among the first hand-held consoles that could display multiple colors on screen at the same time. It was also backwards compatible with the Game Boy.

History

The Game Boy Color was created partially in response to demands from game designers for a newer and more sophisticated portable system. All similarities aside, they were convinced that the Game Boy and Game Boy Pocket were simply insufficient. The result product was a handheld console that was backwards compatible (a first for portable systems) and thrived on the software library of its predecessors.

Hardware

• • Processor: 8 MHz Z80 work alike by Sharp with two processor modes: Single (4MHz) and double (8MHz)

  • Power: 13 hours on 2 AA batteries or power from AC adapter

  • Video RAM:

    • 16 KB

  • System RAM:

    • 32 KB

Game format

• • Cartridge capacity:

    • 2 MB

  • Backward compatible:

    • 1 generations

Display

• • Screen resolution:

    • 160 x 144 x 56 colors

  • Screen type:

    • LCD (Color)

Sound

• • Speakers:

    • Mono

  • Audio jack:

    • 3.5mm

Controls / accessories

• • D-pad

External Hardware

Handy Plug - Cigarette lighter adapter

Power Boy - A snap-on battery to extend battery life

Game Light - A magnifying glass/light unit that snaps over the Game Boy Color screen

Game Boy Amplifier - A set of speakers

Handy Boy - A unit that snaps over the Game Boy Color. It includes a magnifying glass, a light, a speaker system, larger buttons that cover the GBC buttons and a joystick.

Game Genie - A device that can alter mechanics and values in the game, effectively a device that facilitates cheating.

Game Shark - Another device that facilitates cheating.

Game Boy X-changer - The X-Changer and the Doctor GB Cards are used to transfer ROM images from a PC to the Doctor GB Card FlashROM carts, which can then be played on the Game Boy color.

4-Player Adapter - Allowed four players to connect their Game Boy Colors together.

Game Boy Camera - A camera of sorts that can store up to 30 black and white images.

Game Boy Printer - For use with the Game Boy Camera. It prints images and uses Print Seal thermal paper.

Game Boy Radio - An FM radio attachment.

Game Link - Allowed two Game Boy Colors to be connected to play competitive games head-to-head.

Pocket Sonar - A Japanese attachment that uses sonar to find fish.

Notable Qualities

The Game Boy Color was able to connect to other units via infrared wireless linking. The GBC was also capable of displaying up to 56 different colors on the screen at the same time. Its full palette consisted 32,768 colors that it could pull from at any moment. It was also backwards compatible, able to add very basic, four-color shading to original Game Boy games.

Notable Titles

(Includes Game Boy titles)

• • Tetris (35 million)

  • Pokemon Red, Blue and Green (20.68 million)

  • Pokemon Gold and Silver (15.2 million)

  • Super Mario Land (14 million)

  • Super Mario land 2: 6 Golden Coins (11 million)

  • Pokemon Yellow: Special Pikachu Edition (8.86 million)

  • Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (6.05 million)

  • Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages (3.96 million)

  • Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons (3.96 million)

  • Pokemon Crystal (3.85 million)

References

Works Cited

• • "Game Boy Color - The Age of Experimentation." Nintendo Game Boy. Web. 31 Mar. 2010. <http://gameboy.about.com/od/historyandculture/p/GBCExperamental.htm>.

  • "Game Boy Color -." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 31 Mar. 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_Boy_Color>.

  • "List of Best-selling Game Boy Video Games -." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 31 Mar. 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_Game_Boy_video_games>.

  • "Nintendo Game Boy Color Specs -." Gdgt. Web. 31 Mar. 2010. <http://gdgt.com/nintendo/game-boy/color/specs/>.