Many of us have a significant memory of playing Game Boy. More than having an important role in our lives, it can be considered as a historically significant video game consoles. It's one of the best-selling consoles of all time with nearly 120 million units sold in the 14 years of its existence.
Many of Nintendo's later consoles have been built on the foundation of Game Boy. The video game console, for two decades, dominated the video game market. Here are some facts and trivia about our much beloved toy.
5. You can Convert it Into a Mobile Phone Gamepad
When it comes to emulating classic consoles like the original Game Boy, one of the biggest problems is that you never get to have something even close to the real thing or simply, it never feels familiar. Putting a D-Pad and a few buttons right on the screen is the immediate solution of many emulators but this makes the game area smaller. It only works when the game is played on a larger phone. YouTuber Chad Boughton innovated the classic Game Boy and turned it into a Game-pad. You can mount an android phone and control it. Boughton's method requires a Wii-mote.
4. Game Boy Was the First Console to Visit Space
One of reasons why gamers like Game Boy is because of its portability. You can bring it anywhere because of its relatively small size. This quality of Game Boy probably inspired a Nintendo fan to take the idea further. Russian Cosmonaut Aleksandr A. Serebrov took his Game Boy into space in 1993. He took the video game console to the Mir space station and it stayed with him for 196 days. Interestingly, the game he decided to have with him is Tetris, which was developed also in the Soviet Union.
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3. You Could Program it as a TV Remote
Game Boy gained an infrared sensor when it got an upgrade to start showing games in full-color. While most people would say that the sensor was never used, it isn't exactly true. In fact, when paired with a friend's infrared sensor, it could be used to unlock special cards when playing the video game version of Pokemon Trading Card Game.
In the game Mission Impossible, you will be allowed "to actually program your handheld as a remote that could be used to operate your television, VCR, and more," according to The Gamer.
2. Even Before the Word Selfie was Ever Coined, Game Boy Could Take Selfies
A Game Boy Camera was released in 1998. It is Game Boy cartridge with a camera attached to the top. You could rotate the camera to 180° and it will allow you to take selfies. The images could then be stored, printed or used in a selection of simple minigames. The picture has only a 128x112 resolution and it is not in full color. Despite the poor quality of the image, professionals still used it. Neil Young album, Silver & Gold, is the most notable example.
1. Game Boy Could Power a Drone
It sounds impossible but you could actually find a number of tutorials on how to power a drone using an old Game Boy. This is an ideal combination of an old-tech and a modern tech. Gautier Hattenberger's successful attempt was the first known or documented. It was posted on the Paparazzi UAV Blog. The process is not easy or simple. In fact, it is a lot complicated. But it could be an interesting project for retro video game enthusiast.
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