When did the Game Boy Pocket come out?

The Game Boy Pocket was released in 1996.

How many games are licensed for the Game Boy Pocket?

Approximately 1,057 licensed games were released for the Game Boy Pocket.

How much did the Game Boy Pocket cost at launch?

The Game Boy Pocket launched at $69 USD.

How many Game Boy Pocket units were sold?

Around 118.7 million Game Boy Pocket units were sold worldwide.

Can the Game Boy Pocket be modded?

The Game Boy Pocket supports softmodding — no hardware modification required. Custom firmware: N/A (no OS); flashcarts — EZ-Flash Junior, Everdrive GB X3 / X5 / X7.

Game Boy Pocket

Variant of Game Boy

Manufacturer: Nintendo
Released: 1996
Generation: Gen 4
Type: Handheld
Launch price: $69
Units sold: 118.7M

About Game Boy Pocket

The Game Boy is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on April 21, 1989, in North America on July 31, 1989, and in Europe on September 28, 1990. Nintendo's first handheld to use ROM cartridges, it succeeded the Game & Watch line of handheld electronic games and competed with Sega's Game Gear, Atari's Lynx, and NEC's TurboExpress in the fourth generation of video game consoles.

Source: Wikipedia (text under CC BY-SA 4.0).

Read about the Game Boy Pocket in the Chapter 4: The 3D Revolution era of our long-form console history.

Library & collector facts

Software library

1,057licensed games

North America: 1,057

Best-selling game

Tetris

What's different from Game Boy

+ Added

True black-and-white LCD (vs. Original GB's greenish monochrome)
Smaller form factor (~30% size reduction)
Lower power draw
External link cable port redesigned to smaller connector

− Removed

4 AA batteries requirement — reduced to 2 AAA batteries

± Changed

screen: Reflective greenish-tint monochrome → true black-and-white reflective LCD with better contrast
battery life: ~10-15h on 4 AAs → ~10h on 2 AAAs (less raw life but easier to carry spares)

Lineage

Game Boy PocketGame Boy Color →

Pricing

Launch price (1996)

🇺🇸 USD: $69

Launch titles & exclusives

Launch titles

Tetris · Super Mario Land · Alleyway · Baseball · Yakuman (JP launch only) · Tennis

Pack-in game

Tetris (NA / EU launch bundle) — credited as the system-seller

Notable exclusives

Tetris · Pokemon Red / Blue / Yellow · Super Mario Land 1 & 2 · The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening · Metroid II: Return of Samus · Kirby's Dream Land · Wario Land · Donkey Kong (1994, the puzzle remake)

Final licensed game

Pokemon Yellow (1998, NA) was among the last major releases; some Japan-only titles released into 1999

Most valuable collectible

Hello Kitty World (JP, very limited); Spud's Adventure (NA, low print run); sealed launch DMG-01 units

Hardware specs

Cpu: Sharp SM83
Ram: 8 KB RAM, 8 KB Video RAM

Hardware revisions

Original DMG-01(1989)
launch hardware, reflective monochrome LCD, 4 AA batteries, ~10–15h life
Game Boy Pocket MGB-001(1996)
~half the size, true black-and-white screen (vs. green-tinted DMG), 2 AAA batteries
Game Boy Light MGB-101(1998)
JP-only, EL backlight, the only original-line Game Boy with a lit screen

Launch colorways & special editions

Launch colors

BlackSilverRedGreenYellowBlueClear/TransparentPink (limited)

Special editions

Pikachu Yellow Edition (1999)
Pokemon Center JP-only color variants
Famitsu Magazine subscriber colors (JP)
Tezuka Osamu Memorial limited (JP)

Modding scene

Difficulty: soft-mod
Custom firmware: N/A (no OS); flashcarts — EZ-Flash Junior, Everdrive GB X3 / X5 / X7

Reception & legacy

Launch reception

Skeptical reception inside Nintendo — staff feared the monochrome screen would lose against the color Atari Lynx and Sega Game Gear, but battery life proved decisive

Notable controversies

Smaller battery compartment makes battery contact corrosion more common (less spring tension); original-spec link cable incompatibility was a frustration for trade-evolution Pokemon players

Cultural significance

Defined handheld gaming for a decade; Yokoi's 'lateral thinking with withered technology' (cheap, proven parts) ethos shaped every later Nintendo handheld through the DS era