The Game Boy was Nintendo’s first globally successful portable video-game system, launching in 1989 with monochrome graphics.
Nintendo designed the handheld around affordability, long battery life and interchangeable cartridges rather than color display technology. Its launch lineup included Tetris, whose simple rules and short play sessions made the system appealing to a much wider audience than dedicated console players.
The Game Boy’s screen displayed four shades of gray-green, and its processor was less powerful than those in some competing color handhelds. Even so, its compact design, strong software library and low power consumption gave it exceptional longevity.
The Game Boy is sometimes confused with the Game Boy Color, which launched in 1998. The original model and its later variants are commonly grouped together in sales histories, but the Color was a distinct follow-up system.