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Game Boy is officially 30 today! Feel old yet?


GameDadGrant

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Wow. That's amazing and makes me feel old, lol. Loved that little thing but thank goodness for innovation over the years to gradually upgrade that little box to what we have now from Nintendo portable offerings. I've owned every Nintendo portable since the Game boy to now with the 3DSXL. Let Nintendo release the rumored, standalone Switch that doesn't dock, and I will have that as well.

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The console my mother bought for me when I was 3 and we started to go on longer car journey's.  In her words "I don't think I could handle you talking and asking questions the entire time we were driving".  I'm thankful and along with the Mega Drive, the Master System and the Commodore 64, set me on the path to loving games.

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3 hours ago, mikechorney said:

I had a bunch of the original Nintendo Game & Watch -- those were the original mobile gaming systems.

spacer.png

 

This is the one that makes me feel old, because it came out roughly 5 days after I was born (I actually own one now).

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I didn't remember the Gameboy coming out this early in the year. I thought I would have remembered asking for it for my Birthday in July that year. I defiantly remember asking for it for Xmas. I was walking around the house with a actual size photocopy of one. I never got one. I got an Atari Lynx a year later.

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Here's a weird nostalgic childhood story:

 

This was a few years after release but my sister's boyfriend at the time bought her a Game Boy. She tortured the shit out of me with it by not letting me touch it of course. About a week into it she begged me for money to buy cigarettes in a withdrawal fit and I told her only if she traded me the Game Boy for some packs. She agreed out of sheer terror my mother would find out she was regularly smoking so I promptly ran down to the store where they still sold them to really young kids, bought three packs with my allowance and had a Game Boy shortly after.

 

A week later my sister broke down, confessed to my mother and demanded her Game Boy back because of this "unfair, stupid" trade. My mother told her tough shit, you made the deal, think it through next time and that was that. What a life lesson that was.

 

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The GameBoy was the first Nintendo system I bought at launch.

 

My parents were very anti-gaming and I had to buy everything myself. I saved for like 2 years to buy an NES.

 

Was older when the GB launched (14) and able to mow lawns and do more so it took less time. I remember being so excited. I had my cash ready to go for day one.

 

I still remember being somewhat let down by how simplistic most of the games were at the time. It eventually just became a Tetris machine... but that was okay, because Tetris is one of the best games of all time.

 

I'm sure that there are many many many people way better than Tetris than I, but back in the day... man was I good at that shit. I could school anyone. I was a Tetris machine.

 

I lost my Gameboy at some point and that makes me sad. I still have a Gameboy pocket(and color), but my original is lost to the ages.

 

 

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10 hours ago, Rodimus said:

I didn't remember the Gameboy coming out this early in the year. 

You wouldn't be wrong for thinking this...April 21 is the Japanese release date. It didn't hit North America until July or August of 1989. And even later for PAL regions. I just wanted to celebrate the original release date. Maybe I'll revive this thread once the North American release date rolls around later this year...

9 hours ago, Bloodporne said:

A week later my sister broke down, confessed to my mother and demanded her Game Boy back because of this "unfair, stupid" trade. My mother told her tough shit, you made the deal, think it through next time and that was that. What a life lesson that was.

I enjoyed this story, and I respect the lesson your sister was taught. Good on ya. Tobacco is a hell of a drug. 

8 hours ago, ort said:

I lost my Gameboy at some point and that makes me sad. I still have a Gameboy pocket(and color), but my original is lost to the ages.

:rose:

 

I had a similar story about acquiring the Gameboy. My parents were also anti-gaming, so I had to buy the handheld with my own money. 

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I got a Gameboy when I was probably... 10-11 years old? It was my introduction to Zelda, which was just a magical experience. I had no reference point for the series, knew nothing about it and just came into it with no expectations. It remains one of my favorite games ever. 

 

Mario Land 2, Kirby’s Dream Land 2, the Wario Land games (supremely overlooked), that Mario vs DK puzzle game are some of my other faves. And of course it had an incredible version of Zelda. 

 

My unit still works, too. 

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I mean I dunno what you define as "first true mobile video game system," but I'd assume the defining characteristic would be that you can play different games and it wouldn't just be Mattel's original LCD sports games systems where it was just one game.

 

In that case, we're talking Microvision.


Milton-Bradley-Microvision-Handheld-FL.jpg

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microvision

 

Quote

According to Satoru Okada, the former head of Nintendo's R&D1 Department, the Microvision gave birth to the Game & Watch after Nintendo designed around Microvision's limitations.

 

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Oh man, dont remember getting the gameboy, but I do remember the story how it was stolen. I was at my grandmas and we needed to make a trip out of the house. I begged and begged to let me take my gameboy with me. She convinced/told me to leave it at the house. Well in the small amount of time to get back it was stolen (whole house was robbed). She felt super bad, so since she lived in canada, I got the canadian gameboy set for my birthday! Which wasnt the same sadly (different case, not the same games). Still have it and tetris though!  

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6 hours ago, Xbob42 said:

In that case, we're talking Microvision.

God damn it @Xbob42. Don't come in here shitting on my Gameboy thread with your facts and history! 

 

....but wow, seriously...Microvision? Never heard of it! But pretty cool bit of video game trivia. Neat, thanks for sharing! 

 

6 hours ago, Stickey said:

I got the canadian gameboy set for my birthday! Which wasnt the same sadly (different case, not the same games). Still have it and tetris though!  

Whoa, didn't realize the Canadian Gameboy was different! I'm learning a lot today. 

 

 

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