Gameboy... the king of handheld, what's its future?
Mar 05 '01
The Bottom Line Can Nintendo be as successful with their Gameboy Advanced, as they were with their gameboy? Or will they fail just like their Virtual Boy?
Before all this talk about gameboys and portable colored junk, we gamers were pulled into digital calculator games made by Nintendo. These games were a hit, as a kid back then, I would spend ours on end playing my little calculator games, which lasted for quite a long while with their little lithium batteries.
When the Gameboy came out, everybody was excited! 8-bits of loveable graphics ready to be portrayed on a cabbage green screen. The first gameboy was bulky and heavy, but along the years Nintendo came out with Gameboy pocket (which was incredibly clear compared to the Gameboy) and Gameboy color (which was gameboy with color). Gameboy has gone a long ways in its attempt to win the market, Nintendo’s most successful system… so successful that all who entered the handheld market would be defeated by it within time.
Here’s how the handheld market works, people want high quality games, ease of use, and portability. Let’s not forget to mention the battery life that these handheld consoles are suppose to have. When it comes to Gameboy, it is the perfect example of all of these, that’s why it’s successful. Sega attempted to take out Gameboy twice in their entire business career starting with Game Gear, 16-bit colored game. Unfortunately, all this color requires more battery power, and it resulted in 6 batteries and lasted for only an hour at a time… unlike Gameboy’s 10 hour 4 battery life. When Game Gear deteriorated Sega pulled out another thing out of their sketchbooks, a portable Sega Genesis (which was their most successful system ever). The Sega Nomad was a great idea… having kids be able to play Sega Genesis games while on the road was just great… of course if they learned their lesson from last time, they would’ve learn that handheld game consoles don’t survive long in the game market when your battery life lasts for about 10 minutes at a time (just like Sega Nomad). The Gameboy took out other competitors also, such as Atari’s Lynx. Oh yeah, who remembers that one? No one… and who even touched one? No one… see how Gameboy quickly discarded the Lynx? The quality and quantity of games on the Gameboy pushed out the Lynx easily and without much competition. And the most recent failure against the powerful Gameboy… the Game.com lasted for a few months in stores before flying off the shelves and into antique stores. The battery wasting, graphics killing, difficult to handle Game.com was yet another way of Gameboy to say “we own this market”… and they do.
The kingdom of Handheld Consoles are one sided, either you are Gameboy, or you’re the other guy. When a handheld system comes out, expect it to fall off the charts before you can even blink. Gameboy possess everything someone could ask for in a perfect handheld system. Easy to handle, long battery life, lots of games to play, lots of fun games, add-ins, plug-ins and all those things that competitors may not have for a decade or two. But the Gameboy is evolving again, into the Gameboy Advanced, this time it’s going to play 16-bit games, have a battery life of 20 hours, and the graphics above the Super Nintendo. Can it be that Nintendo has finally made something more better than the Gameboy? Can Gameboy Advanced be successful? Maybe yes, maybe no… you all should remember Nintendo’s OTHER handheld system, the Virtual Boy. This system was a “frameshot” handheld game system which the games looked as if 3d… it was frustratingly difficult to wear, and wasn’t very portable either. So in a few months, Nintendo’s Virtual boy died and wounded up in places nobody cares about. However, Nintendo is known to learn from their mistakes (unlike Sega, which made mediocre system after mediocre system) and might make it right this time. If Gameboy Advanced is powerful enough to take Gameboy off the market, then it’s a must have, because the Gameboy has been living large for the last decade.
I know this is all bias, I guess. But it is true, Nintendo is number one in the handheld market. Maybe now it’s just because of the widespread amount of games, but I'm sure that Nintendo will make equally as much success with the Gameboy Advanced. Of course, if they haven’t learned their lesson from their Virtual Boy, be expecting another few years of Gameboy.
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