10 Things You Didn't Know About The Nintendo Game Boy

Some fascinating facts!

#10 It Was Incredibly Durable

The 'Gulf War Game Boy', as it is known to some

The 'Gulf War Game Boy', as it is known to some, once belonged to an army medic named Stephan Scoggins.

Stephen was stationed in the Middle East during the Gulf War and was unfortunate enough to be caught up in a bombing run.

Although Stephen thankfully survived the attack, his Game Boy was not so lucky.

#9 It Was The First Console To Visit Space

Players could take it anywhere and play their favorite games on the go

Nintendo had probably envisaged it being used on road trips and visits to Grandma and Grandpa's house, but one Nintendo fan took the concept much, much further.

In 1993, Russian Cosmonaut Aleksandr A. Serebrov took his Game Boy into space. The machine accompanied him to the Mir space station and the pair remained there for a total of 196 days.

#8 It Wasn't Nintendo's First Handheld

That honor goes to the Microvision

There's no doubt that the Game Boy is both the most successful and the most iconic handheld console ever made, but it was far from being the first.

That honor goes to the Microvision, a cartridge-based system produced by Milton Bradley and released in 1979.

Although the console was fairly successful, only 12 games were ever released for it and it was discontinued after just two years.

#7 Its Iconic 'Nintendo' Boot Screen Logo Was Actually Loaded From The Cart

Boot screens have been present when powering up consoles for as long as most gamers can remember.

Although this was also the case with the Game Boy, it worked a little differently.

Upon powering on the console, a Nintendo logo would fall slowly from the top of the screen before settling in the middle.

What many might not realize though is that this logo wasn't actually stored on the Game Boy itself.

#6 It Could Take Selfies

Long Before The Word 'Selfie' Was Ever Coined

The photographs taken using the Game Boy Camera may have been of poor quality, but that didn't stop them from being used by professionals.

The most notable example of this can be found in the form of the Neil Young album, Silver & Gold.

The album's artwork uses a Game Boy Camera photograph of Young taken by his daughter, Amber.

You'd never tell just by looking at it though.

#6 It Could Take Selfies

Long Before The Word 'Selfie' Was Ever Coined

The photographs taken using the Game Boy Camera may have been of poor quality, but that didn't stop them from being used by professionals.

The most notable example of this can be found in the form of the Neil Young album, Silver & Gold.

The album's artwork uses a Game Boy Camera photograph of Young taken by his daughter, Amber.

You'd never tell just by looking at it though.

#5 It Allowed For Up To 16 Person Local Multiplayer

It may not have been used too often, but the Game Boy allowed for local multiplayer through the use of a special link cable.

Most Game Boy games typically accommodated for between one and four players, but there was one which took full advantage of the cable's capabilities.

Spaceball 2000 holds the Guinness World Record for being the first and only Game Boy game to allow for 16-person multiplayer.

#4 It Was One Of Only Two Nintendo Handhelds Not To Have A Pokémon Game

As Its Best Seller

Due to them releasing so late in the Game Boy's life-cycle, Pokémon Red and Blue just missed out on the number one spot on the list of best-selling Game Boy games.

That honor went instead to Tetris, which sold a staggering 35 million units.

The only other Nintendo handheld not to have a Pokémon game as its best-seller was the DS.

#3 It Was Sold Under A Different Name In Korea

Tension has existed between Japan and Korea for hundreds of years, but the relationship between the two countries was particularly bad back in the early '90s.

As such, Nintendo believed that many Koreans would be unlikely to purchase a product manufactured by a Japanese company. To get around this, they licensed the Game Boy to Hyundai, who sold it under the name Mini Comboy.

#2 It Had Incredible Battery Life

Able to get around 30 hours of playtime

The Game Boy was able to get around 30 hours of playtime out of four AA batteries and this could be further extended with the use of third party battery packs.

It's widely accepted that the system's incredible battery life was one of the key features that helped it to stave off competition from Sega's Game Gear.

#1 It Could Be Used To Catch Fish

Perhaps the most bizarre of the bunch was the Game Boy Pocket Sonar.

The Game Boy had a plethora of strange accessories, but perhaps the most bizarre of the bunch was the Game Boy Pocket Sonar.

Anglers plugged one end of the device into their Game Boy's cartridge slot and then dropped the other into the water.

It used sonar waves to detect fish in the immediate area and was supposed to help the user to improve their catch.

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