Talk:Game Boy

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Contents

[edit] Move to Game Boy

This article about the original Game Boy should be at Game Boy, not Game Boy (original). Dread Lord CyberSkull ✎☠ 06:02, 18 June 2006 (UTC)

No, it shouldn't, because people sometimes refer to other products of the line as Game Boys. Besides, that page exists. You can't move a page to a page that exists. You have to use copy and paste GangstaEB EA 12:37, 18 June 2006 (UTC) (Not bad thinking, it could happen if not for lazy speakers)

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the same is true of the PlayStation line of consoles, and the article about the first PlayStation is simply named PlayStation, not "PlayStation (original)" or "PlayStation 1". If you're worried about confusion, just place a disambig link pointing to Game Boy line at the top of the article. --Lumina83 02:48, 19 June 2006 (UTC)
  • Support move. Also note that copy-and-paste is unnecessary; if consensus is achieved for this move, an administrator can delete the redirect "Game Boy". — Knowledge Seeker দ 04:24, 19 June 2006 (UTC)
  • Support move also, as per PlayStation precedent outlined above. --Lumina83 09:58, 19 June 2006 (UTC)
  • Support move as well. Game Boy merely redirects to Game Boy line right now as it is. --SevereTireDamage 06:37, 21 June 2006 (UTC)
  • Support my own statement. You are not supposed to copy & paste to move articles. Ever. Dread Lord CyberSkull ✎☠ 04:44, 27 June 2006 (UTC)
Move done, I will make a copy of this discussion at Gam Boy. -- Kim van der Linde at venus 02:40, 5 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] 70 million source

Where is a source that the original Game Boy (and GBP) has only sold 70 million? McDonaldsGuy 02:32, 25 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] How expensive at launch?

Can somebody add the price of the Game Boy at launch? SamuraiFez 20:52, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

It was $109 USD according to http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/03/a-brief-history-of-handheld-video-games/ and few other places I checked out-- I added it in. I Jethrobot 05:42, 15 August 2006 (UTC)
I don't know where engadget adn the few other places you checked got their figures, but it wasn't $109.
http://www.islandnet.com/~kpolsson/vidgame/vid1989.htm
"June 4
* At the Consumer Electronics Show in Chicago, Nintendo introduces the Game Boy portable hand-held video game system, with monochrome display. Price is US$89.95, including the Tetris game cartridge."
The $89.95 price point matches my memories of what the system retailed for, and I did happen to get one at that price when it was introduced.
REMOVE THE $89.95 FIGURE. It ABSOLUTELY WAS A $109 SYSTEM, because I bought the system in April 1990, and I remember for a fact that it was $109 and change, including the Tetris cartridge as noted. I got $100 for my birthday that year, and I distinctly remember asking my dad if I could borrow money for the remainer of the cost (I was about 10 years old). Wikipedia's a joke.

I was getting bored with this debate so I looked up the NYT story and added it as a reference for the $89.95 figure. Rees11 23:27, 22 July 2007 (UTC)

Someone restored the $109 price and removed the NYT reference. I reverted that change. Please do not revert again without discussing here first. If someone can provide a reference for $109, maybe we can just note that there is disagreement on this point and include both refs. Note that reference [1] also gives $89.95, so we do not have a reference for $109 at all. Please do not remove the NYT reference again. Rees11 01:36, 25 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Nintendo Corporate Website

Nintendo Corporate (http://www.nintendo.com/corp/history.jsp) has a timeline of events, some of them regarding data from their sales of Game Boy. I put in a reference for Game Boy being "the first portable, hand-held game system with interchangeable game paks," but there's a whole slew of other information on there. Check it out, and see if we can use it. I'd do it myself, but I'm a bit tuckered out tonight. I Jethrobot 06:19, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

It's not the first portable, hand-held game system with interchangeable game cartridges- that was the Milton Bradley Microvision, no matter what Nintendo's marketing says. Ex-Nintendo Employee 06:24, 15 August 2006 (UTC)
Well, I could argue this it was the first successful hand-held game system with interchangeable game cartriges? Microvision went out in 1981, how's that sound? I Jethrobot 06:38, 15 August 2006 (UTC)
That's already stated in the article. Ex-Nintendo Employee 06:43, 15 August 2006 (UTC)
Well, it's stated as a "handheld game console." I know I'm probably getting too specific, but does that, in itself, imply that it has interchangable cartridges? I Jethrobot 06:48, 15 August 2006 (UTC)
You're right- it does seem kind of vague. Good find. Ex-Nintendo Employee 06:53, 15 August 2006 (UTC)
Actually, I think it's okay as is-- now that I look at it, handheld game console is already defined seperately from handheld electronic game, which were games that played one game only. What did you mean by "vague?" I Jethrobot 07:00, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Input/Output

It seems likely that the power connector is an input, not an output, is not used to charge the batteries but just to run the system, and that the external device is just an adapter, not a battery pack. But I can't find any references so I'll leave it alone for now.

Thanks for noticing that! I have no idea who the heck wrote that little paragraph, but it's completely wrong. The power connector is an input, allowing the "Potato" (the GB's external battery pack) to power the system. It's not an output. Ex-Nintendo Employee 20:06, 26 October 2006 (UTC)

It's actually called an "output" in one of the cited sources, but that's obviously wrong. Another source calls it a "female phone plug," which is impossible, as phone plugs are always male and phone jacks are always female.

It's pretty obvious from the photos that it's really a barrel connector, which makes a lot more sense, as a phone plug would short out the battery as it is being plugged in and possibly start a fire. But I think this constitutes Original Research, and contradicts the cited sources, so I'm reluctant to correct the article. Opinions? Rees11 21:03, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Origin of name

I can't find any info in any Wikipedia article about the origin of the name. Anyone have any info?? Georgia guy 01:42, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Barcode Boy

Does anyone want to add about the Barcode Boy add on for the Game Boy or have enough information to do so (I don't mind adding somethinf if someone else has the info).

Thanks--xensyriaT 18:07, 8 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Generation Cycles

Why is the Gameboy stated to be a part of the Fourth Generation? Not only was it introduced during the third generation cycle (1989...) generation cycles are traditionally used to categorise consoles, not handhelds. Not only that, but the handheld spanned across the third, fourth and fifth generations in the west, and assumably supported a bit during the sixth in Japan (my assumptions are based on the fact that the latest sales come from 2004). Do you think this needs to be fixed or even ultimately removed from the Wikipedia entry?

[edit] Gameboy Classic

Isn't it also referred to as a Gameboy Classic to distinguish from the Gameboy Color and Gameboy Advance? 67.188.172.165 03:13, 14 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Trivia

The Trivia section keeps coming back. It should either be restored or killed. I'm going to kill it. If someone prefers to bring it back, you can find it in the history around the middle of December 2006. Rees11 18:30, 18 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Power Consumption and Battery Life

The input/output section says the Gameboy consumes 250 mA at 6v, which would be 1.5 watts. The Power section says it consumes .7 watts. The battery life seems to be a subject for debate. An alkaline AA cell delivers around 1-2 amp-hours which gives us a battery life of 4-17 hours depending on which power figure you like. Some good references would help. Rees11 03:37, 22 May 2007 (UTC)

it's a bit messed up really, because someone has written that the batteries can give 35 hours (the part where it is compared to the atari lynx). not that i doubt this. infact i always though 17 hours was a bit on the low side. i remember my batteries lasting weeks, when i used to play the gameboy maybe 5 hours a day. but yeah, like you say, i think we need a bit more science here... 86.135.161.71 16:32, 8 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Controls Section

"The Bob's main butts are located on the upper half of its head." I'm no wikipedia expert, but I didn't fix it because it wasn't in the recent changes that I could see. Unless of course it's meant to be there. MrMabs 00:03, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

It was done about two hours ago. I consider that recent enough. This page isn't watched that closely, as far as I can tell. Dancter 00:57, 13 June 2007 (UTC)
Just in case, I'm sending you a welcome message with some links to pages that may be useful. Dancter 01:03, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Proper Placement of Citations

To whomever placed all of the citations in this article, this is a friendly reminder that citations are supposed to appear after the punctiation marks.

Please refer to Where to place reference tags for more information. talk toSailorAlphaCentauri 16:36, 2 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Sales Question

How come the Game Boy and Game Boy Color sales figures are combined? They are two different handhelds, and each of them should have their own individual sales listed in their respective articles. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Italianpimp546 (talk • contribs) 01:23, 14 September 2007 (UTC)

They are combined because the only reliable sources for the Game Boy and Game Boy Color sales numbers are those that have them combined. The sources used are Nintendo's 2005 sales report and BusinessWeek. The prior individual sales numbers in the GB and GBC articles had no sources to verify the numbers, so unless someone can find a reliable source to GB and GBC's individual sales numbers, they will remain as is. --Silver Edge 04:34, 14 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Color screenshots and in-house emulator

I recall that several magazines, especially Nintendo Power, published crystal-clear and often colorized Gameboy screenshots back in the early 90s, way before shareware/freeware emulators were available, and way before the Game Boy Color was released. Is there any background on how these screen shots were obtained? Were they simulated/enhanced photos or taken from a special development & testing platform? I had once read that Nintendo developers had an in-house emulator for testing, can anyone provide any info on that? EpiVictor 14:27, 19 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Pokemon Yellow

Pokemon yellow was realeased for game boy colour. Though it was compatible with game boy one of it's selling points was that it had, unlike blue and red which only had 2 colours, numerous colour sets which changed in different locations. Pokemon red and blue could use these colour sets aswell as the default blue + red and red + green but only if changed when the game was switched on. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Veggieburgerfish (talk • contribs)

[edit] Game Boy Region Compatibility

Is the Game Boy a universal console? Does it allow me to play Japanese games on an American model? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.195.141.44 (talk) 02:25, 9 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Game Boy CPU name

According to Jeff Frohwein's game boy schematic, the DMG CPU is really a Sharp LR35902. I'm not actually sure where he got that number from, and I can't find any reference to it which doesn't point somehow back to his site. It may well be correct though, perhaps the number is written on the BOTTOM of the chip. The top of the chip clearly says "DMG CPU B" or some other letter after DMG CPU, the letter being the mask/stepping revision of the CPU. (There are minor differences between steppings, mostly bugs fixed in the sound generator and LCD controller.) Lord Nightmare (talk) 03:55, 14 May 2008 (UTC)