Game Boy History Hilariously Explained By ‘Lore In A Minute!’ (VIDEO)
It’s been quite some time since we featured a Lore in a Minute! video, but not as long as the history of the Game Boy. The team behind these hilarious videos have officially tackled the epic tale, detailing how the beloved handheld device came to be. It also discusses some of the competition and favorite initial titles that launched the system into stardom.
As you listen to the video, take a moment to reflect on your own history with the device. From taking road trips playing Pokemon with just about every accessory that could be attached to the device, to battling your friends and siblings for the next high score in Tetris. There are countless memories you can likely think of, all of which began with observing a businessman and his calculator:
Though the video is totally safe for work, we’d get it if you’re not in a place to watch the above lore breakdown. Luckily, this team always has a handy transcript ready:
“Legend has it Nintendo engineer Gunpei Yokoi was taking a train to work one day when he noticed a businessman passing the time by pressing keys on his calculator. From this incident, Yokoi was inspired to create the Game and Watch series. In the early 1980s, the Game and Watch were a line-up of portable games by Nintendo that used the technology from the calculators of the era, namely their LCD screens. Yokoi’s design philosophy was called “lateral thinking of withered technology” which meant instead of trying to innovate with the newest and most powerful hardware, Yokoi believed in using existing technologies in new and creative ways.
By using this older tech, the price point for the Game and Watch was reasonable and was one of the reasons for its success and popularity. Each Game and Watch could only play one game, but that would change with Yokoi’s next and most famous invention, the Game Boy. By late eighties, Nintendo had found huge success with the Nintendo Entertainment System. Yokoi wanted to combine the portability of his Game and Watch line with the interchangeable cartridges and 8-bit processing power of the NES. And thus, the Game Boy was born. Despite the availability of color screens and more powerful CPUs, Yokoi adamantly stuck to his design principles and the Game Boy was launched with a monochrome screen that could only display four shades of grey.
Meanwhile, competitors like the Sega Game Gear had color backlit screens and the Atari Lynx had both a color screen and a powerful 16-bit processor which allowed for Super NES mode 7 like effects. But Yokoi’s Game Boy would prove to be the victor as what these competitors failed to realize all these more powerful technologies drained the batteries quicker than you could say “carbon footprint”. The Game Boy offered almost twice the amount of battery life and also had the exclusive rights to a little game called Tetris. Eventually, the Game Boy sold over 120 million units and launched franchises like Kirby and Pokemon. Have fun!”
What did you think about the hilarious explanation on the history of the Game Boy? What else would you like to see a Lore in a Minute video on? Sound off with your thoughts in the comment section below, and don’t forget to check out DFTG on Twitter for gaming and entertainment news live 24/7!
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Matt Ruppert715 Posts
Navy Veteran with a penchant for the FPS genre, Chewy has all aspects of the gaming community covered. Don't expect to see him on a console any time soon, however - though he has experience in all platforms, the PC Master Race has a firm hold on him.
