25 years ago today the Game Boy launched in North America. Daaaaaaamn. Show of hands if you still have yours!
::cue rocking chair:: I remember when my very own Game Boy came into my life. It was Christmas morning and I couldn’t have been older than, man, six or seven. (Come to think of it, I was probably even younger.) Anyway, like I said it was Christmas morning and the details are REALLY fuzzy, but as my parents and I were gathered around the artificial tree (mom hates spiders with a fiery passion) my mommy dearest suddenly stood up, picked up a box that seemingly came out of nowhere, and as she handed it to me, said, “Santa told me there’s another present for you in here.”
It was an open and run-down pink box that once served as packaging for a doll that likely required me to change its diapers or some shit. (It was probably called “Baby PoopsHerPants!” and all the girls probably loved her.)
I looked into the box, expecting to see nothing more than blonde, tousled and curly hair indicating the head of a doll but BLAMMO! Within it lurked NOT a diaper-shitting baby, but a Game Boy! Even though I was a bit puzzled as to why Santa would put such awesomeness in a doll box, it mattered not. I. Had. A. Game. Boy.
And I’d take that thing everywhere. Car rides (before my mom introduced me to the concept of motion sickness and ruined me forever, that is), camping, vacations, the bathroom (not even going to deny it) and anywhere else I could take it. Hell, I even carried a purse, and mind you I was still in elementary school, so I could keep my Game Boy within reach at all times.
So, Game Boy, tonight I will raise a glass of something alcoholic and toast to you. Thank you for the wonderful times, memories, and hundreds of dollars I spent on batteries. <3
Pull out your own rocking chair! Share a tale or two about your relationship with the Game Boy. <333
It was my first gaming system!! I remember playing SO many games on it, Super Mario Land, Kirby, Star wars, star trek, mortal kombat. I remember never being able to make it passed level 10 on Mario, until I got a game genie many years later. Hehe my favorite was probably TMNT, Mario land 2, and Kirby blockball.
1. Anyone passionate about the GameBoy needs to read David Sheff’s “Game Over.” Steven Kent’s “Ultimate History of Video Games” is also worth reading. The former goes into great detail on the bizarre history of “Tetris.”
2. My GameBoy got left in the garage one day when my friend and I ran off to play and got run over by the family car. It still worked…well, sorta. We had to get it repaired.
3. The first time I played a GameBoy, it was with a fellow student in the third grade. I knew that in “Tetris,” you were supposed to make lines…so I did. And kept losing. I didn’t understand that the lines were supposed to be HORIZONTAL, not VERTICAL. I was not very bright.
Steven Kent’s Ultimate History of Video Games is fantastic. It’s a book everybody should read (and a book that needs to be updated for the past 15 years’ worth of history).
Aww that pic of little you is so cute Britt! No lie my older brother received a game boy for Christmas. I was sitting right next to him when he unwrapped it and it was without a doubt it was the coolest gift I’ve ever seen. Tetris was the shit wasn’t it? Back in the day that game never got it.
OOO I remember a time when the Pokemon only numbered to 150, and my brother had a Pokemon Red to play on his Gameboy Color. For the longest time, I wanted a Pokemon Blue, so badly, I even dreamt about it. And lo and behold, my Birthday, and it was handed to me, Pokemon Blue! I was ecstatic beyond words. And even to this day, I remember the adventures that cartridge and I had, leveling up, getting Mew, battling with my other friends and UTTERLY DESTROYING THEIR SORRY EXCUSES FOR POKEMON…. ahhh… good times.
This is perfect for those who love their old 360 controllers,
or had a real expensive modded 360 controller and now don’t have to
worry about buying another, or want to use a PS4 Dual shock 4 controller
or want that extra edge by playing with a keyboard and mouse. Naturally
you have full access to all of the mod packs too so you can now play
with a fully modded controller on your Xbox One Modded Controllers –
including our latest addition to the mudpack range, CALL OF DUTY
GHOSTS V1.0 – again supplied free of charge and will be out very soon
(Until it is released you can use the Call of Duty Series v1.7 Game Pack
to work with COD Ghosts on the Xbox One) cat mario online
Okay, wow, I took my GameBoy into the bathroom as well. I got distracted lots, and my mom must’ve been so confused when I was on the bathroom for over an hour!
I remember when I got my GameBoy. My mom had attended my grandfather’s funeral (she didn’t want me going b/c she’d be crying too much and I’d end up crying with her), and I missed her a TON! I was six years old, and separation anxiety was still a thing for me. So when my mom got back, I saw something funny in her luggage. She said my grandfather’s last gift to me was the GameBoy.
I know that’s the intention, but he was long dead before my mom bought the thing. I was just so happy, though! I could barely contain myself! (to be honest, though, I was more happy my mom was home than I got the GameBoy, but I was happy I got that, too).
I filled up my Pokedex to 150, played every last Mega Man game, collected all the items in Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3, and played Yoshi’s Cookie forever! It was just so much fun to pop a copy of Mega Man IV into my GameBoy and just go through the levels, starting with Toad Man, collecting P-Chips for all the best items and extra E-Tanks!
And then omg Donkey Kong! Remember that game? Holy crap, it was one of the hardest games I ever played! I had to call up the Nintendo hotline, but accidentally dialed a 1-800 instead of 1-900 and accidentally called a sex hotline at the age of 11.
I’m pretty sure all those GameBoy games are lying around the house or the storage area somewhere… I wonder if I should find them?