The Handheld Revolution · 1989–present

Nintendo Game Boy

CompanyNintendo

Lifespan1989–2003 (spanning original Game Boy through Game Boy Color)

LibraryOver 1,000 games across the Game Boy family

Sought After?

Very. Complete rare titles and the various special-edition colored units (especially Japan-only colors) are actively collected.

Downsides

Monochrome, unlit screen was nearly unusable in dim light without an external light attachment.

Why It Faded

Naturally superseded by the Game Boy Color (1998) and Game Boy Advance (2001) as technology improved.

Trivia

Tetris, packed in with the Game Boy, is widely credited as the reason the system beat far more powerful rivals like the Atari Lynx and Sega Game Gear — a simple, endlessly replayable game mattered more than horsepower or a color screen.