Gadgetory

these days if a piece of tech isn't the fastest the biggest and the brightest gadget in town is tempting to write it off as a failure but this iconic gaming gadget proves that sometimes less really can be more here's why the end of the 80s or Nintendo Sega and Atari all competing for the handheld gaming crown of these three Titans Nintendo's console was the least powerful by far and yet the Gameboy blasted past its rivals to become a genuine gaming icon the Gameboy was devised by Nintendo's R&D one division led by gunpei Yokoi a legendary figure who was the brains behind Nintendo's first handheld The Game and Watch it was a series of bold decisions from your quois design team that made the Game Boy an unlikely success the Game Boy didn't have the fanciest tech around quite the opposite his processing power wasn't noteworthy it only had a few buttons and it's tiny monochrome screen could only handle four shades of grey which sounds like some very lackluster erotic fiction and then she kissed his hair or something but he didn't like it compared to Sega's Game Gear and Atari Flinx which both had backlit color screens the game boys of Durrett wrote even in 1994 what seemed like this consoles weaknesses were actually its biggest strengths with their big bright displays the Lynx and Game Gear each required six AAA batteries which they drained in just a few hours the Game Boy by contrast lasted way longer and by deploying more modest tech Nintendo was able to keep the price down less is more that's the key to the Game Boy puzzle and speaking of puzzles if you really want to see what made the system so popular you just need to flip it around Tetris was born in Russia but the rights to distribute the game on consoles were bought by Dutch born entrepreneur Henk Rogers Rogers says he approached Nintendo about using the game telling them that if they bundled the Gameboy with Mario that sell it to kids but if they went with Tetris that sell it to everyone indeed while Sega was busy pushing sonic the broad appeal of Tetris gave the Game Boy a flying start that left its rivals in the dust Tetris got us all hooked on the famous type a music which is actually a Russian folk tune and is the source of a mental phenomena called Tetris syndrome which can cause hardcore players to see falling shapes while drifting off to sleep or in the corner of their eyes oh hey I just got off the phone with Cape from finance and this plugin is very weird with your with your expense report is it true you actually commissioned an entire warrants worse than shoes if you left the office with a cunning design and a brilliant bundled game the game boy stormed the world eventually getting a color makeover in 1998 in the u.s. Nintendo sold a million game boys in just a few weeks while the colorful sequels have combined sales to nearly 120 million units these consoles paved the way for the Game Boy Advance and SP as well as quirky accessories like the Game Boy camera and Game Boy printer the Game Boy also served as a launch pad for the Pokemon franchise which has ballooned into movies trading cards and TV the Game Boy line has died out now replaced by the even more popular Nintendo DS but its cultural impact is still felt this original model that was demolished in the Gulf War but still functions became an internet sensation while today bands use old game boys to create 8-bit music the Gameboy proved you need more than just cutting-edge text to capture hearts and minds something would do well to remember in today's world of bigger and bigger screens and more powerful processors one Nintendo made was an unlikely masterpiece and I loved it so much I could kiss it but I won't because I don't know where this one has been for last 24 years do you have fond memories of the Gameboy and can you think of any other gadgets that have proved to be unexpected winners let me know and check back next time for another adventure in tech