The Nintendo Game Boy Pocket is a redesigned, smaller version of the original Game Boy that was released in 1996. It was more portable and featured a superior black-and-white display, which helped revitalize the Game Boy line and prolong its dominance in the handheld market.
Development and launch
- Context: By the mid-1990s, the original Game Boy’s “pea soup” green screen and bulky size were showing their age, even though the device remained a bestseller. Nintendo sought to refresh the hardware to remain competitive.
- Release: The Game Boy Pocket launched in Japan on July 20, 1996, and in North America on September 2, 1996.
- Price: Its North American launch price was $69.99.
- Packaging: Initially, the first Game Boy Pocket was only available in a single silver color. Following a successful launch, Nintendo released a variety of new colors, including red, green, yellow, and black.
Improvements over the original Game Boy
The Game Boy Pocket was not a major technological overhaul, but rather a streamlined and modernized version of the original. Its main improvements were in its size, battery consumption, and screen quality.
- Size and weight: It was significantly smaller and lighter than the original Game Boy, making it much more pocket-friendly.
- Power: It ran on two AAA batteries, half the number of the original, for up to 10 hours of gameplay.
- Screen: The screen was a true black-and-white LCD, replacing the original’s green-tinted monochrome display. It also featured a faster refresh rate, which reduced the motion blur that was notoriously visible on the older model.
- Game Link Cable port: The Game Boy Pocket replaced the large, proprietary Game Link port with a smaller one.
- Initial flaw and revision: The first run of the Game Boy Pocket controversially omitted the LED light that indicated low battery life. In early 1997, a revised model was released that restored the indicator light and expanded the color options.
Market performance and legacy
- Timely release: The Game Boy Pocket’s release was perfectly timed to coincide with the explosive global success of the Pokémon franchise, driving strong hardware sales and reaffirming Nintendo’s dominance in the handheld market.
- Critical reception: While generally well-received for its sleeker design and improved screen, some critics dismissed it as an incremental upgrade. The Los Angeles Times remarked that Nintendo was “repacking the same old black-and-white stuff and selling it as new”.
- Follow-up model: In 1998, Nintendo released the Japan-exclusive Game Boy Light, a model based on the Pocket that added a backlight. This was the final evolution of the monochrome Game Boy line before the launch of the full-color successor.
- Discontinuation: The Game Boy Pocket was discontinued in 2003, alongside the other monochrome Game Boy models, but it successfully bridged the gap and extended the handheld’s lifespan until the release of the Game Boy Color in 1998.
