In qualified wrestling, the act of blading (deliberately cutting one’s self open) is also identified as “getting colour,” which is utilized to assistance produce additional interest from the audience towards a match. So in a way, as the Game Boy approached a complete decade on the marketplace, it is amusing that the way for Nintendo to produce additional interest in the aging solution line was also to “get colour,” albeit in a tiny additional literal of a style.
All through the 90’s, by means of battery-draining competitors and teases of the idea, 1 query surrounding the Game Boy remained continuous: “When are we obtaining a colour Game Boy?” Rumors of such a device have been kicked up a notch in early 1996 as buzz started to circulate about a new handheld titled “Project Atlantis,” stated to be a 32-bit colour successor to the company’s colorless money cow.
Even so, numerous components kept any such device from reaching the marketplace. For 1 factor, the original Game Boy (in all its numerous permutations) was nonetheless just as well dang well-liked, in particular with Pokémon supplying a considerably-necessary shot in the arm. For one more, probably additional important purpose, it just wasn’t sensible: It was cumbersome, guzzled batteries, and price as well considerably to manufacture — efficiently generating it the antithesis of the Game Boy in all the worst methods.
Even though the Game Boy Advance would come along to sooner or later fulfill the guarantee of Project Atlantis, Nintendo necessary one thing to respond to developers’ demands for one thing additional capable. Enter: The Game Boy Colour.
Released in about the planet more than the latter aspect of 1998, the Game Boy Colour upped the system’s specs to incorporate a colour show with graphics that have been roughly on par with these of the Nintendo Entertainment Program, minus the smaller sized 160×144 screen resolution. At 133.5mm tall, 78mm wide, and 27.four mm thick, it was slightly beefier than the Game Boy Pocket which preceded it, but not by considerably.
The Game Boy Colour ran 3 forms of games: Original Game Boy cartridges, ordinarily released in the common grey Game Boy Colour cartridges, which have been clear and would only run on the Game Boy Colour hardware and backwards compatible games, which came on black cartridges and would run on each Game Boy Colour hardware with complete pallets, as effectively as original Game Boy models with monochromatic visuals. For original Game Boy titles, distinct button combinations could be utilized to initiate a restricted colour palette, even though some titles had their personal custom palettes constructed into the hardware itself.
Nintendo also attempted to introduce the planet to wireless linking with the Game Boy Colour, by way of the introduction of an infrared communications port, but it didn’t definitely catch on.
The hardware came in a wide variety of colors and types, initially launching in North America with Grape (purple) and Atomic Purple (transparent purple). Japan had a wider variety at launch, lots of of which followed in North America the following year, as effectively as a quantity of restricted edition and Pokémon variants.
Even though the original Game Boy hardware would have a lifetime of 14 years, operating from 1989 to 2003, the Game Boy Color’s life would be significantly less than half of it, acting additional as a bookend to the line’s eight-bit legacy as it as well came to an finish in 2003. Nonetheless, it helped to nicely bridge the gap amongst the monochrome transportable titles of yesteryear and the additional sophisticated games of the 21st century.
David Oxford (105 Posts)
Lover of fine foods and felines, as effectively as comics, toys, and… oh yeah, video games. David Oxford has written about the latter for years, such as for Nintendo Energy, Nintendo Force, Mega Visions, and he even wrote the book on Mega Man!