The Game Boy is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released in 1989. Nintendo's first handheld to use ROM cartridges, it succeeded the Game & Watch line of handheld electronic games and competed with Sega's Game Gear, Atari's Lynx, and NEC's TurboExpress in the fourth generation of video game consoles.
Nintendo adopted a dot-matrix display and interchangeable game cartridges and prioritized affordability, battery life, and durability over the faster processors and color graphics of its competitors - the Game Boy has a monochromatic display and an 8-bit processor.
In North America and Europe, the Game Boy was backed by a large marketing campaign and bundled with Tetris, which increased its appeal beyond traditional video game audiences. Although its monochromatic display and technical limitations drew criticism, the Game Boy's low price, long battery life, and extensive game library drove strong sales worldwide. The success of Nintendo's Pokémon series helped maintain its popularity late into the 1990s.
The Game Boy and later Game Boy Color sold an estimated 118.69 million combined. They were the bestselling console at the time of their discontinuation in 2003, and remain the fourth-bestselling console as of 2025. Original price in 1989 was US$89.99 (equivalent to $240 in 2026). Journalists credit the Game Boy with establishing handheld gaming as a mass-market category and for introducing video games to a generation of players.
Pokémon Generation I Game Freak February 27, 1996
Tetris Nintendo June 14, 1989
Super Mario Land Nintendo April 21, 1989
The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages Nintendo February 27, 2001
Donkey Kong Land Nintendo June 26, 1995
Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge Konami July 12, 1991
Kirby's Dream Land 2 HAL Laboratory March 21, 1995
CPU: Sharp SM83 @ 4.2 MHz
Memory: 8 KB RAM, 8 KB Video RAM
Display: STN LCD (black and white) 160 × 144 px
Media: ROM Cartridges