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Game Boy inducted into the Toy Hall of Fame

by Xav de Matos { Nov 6th 2009 at 6:00AM }

Nintendo's most iconic foray into the handheld gaming market is finally being recognized as "an innovator" that "changed the way people play electronic games" by being inducted into Strong National Museum of Play's Toy Hall of Fame. Among twelve finalists, the Game Boy joins the Big Wheel and the ball to be added to the list of important cultural toys.

Yes, the ball is just now being inducted into the hall of fame, meaning Nintendo's handheld made the cut in two decades, while the ball had been clawing for a spot since the days of Ancient Egypt. In your face, Ozymandias.

[Via Go Nintendo]

Nintendo canceled new handheld in last three years

by Alexander Sliwinski { Jun 7th 2009 at 3:30PM }

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata mentioned in a recent interview that the company had a new handheld all set to go in the last three years, but ultimately decided to scrap the plan. Speaking with CNBC, Iwata declined to give any further details about the product, but did say that the most important thing for Nintendo when releasing new hardware is to maintain "momentum." Iwata implies that the new handheld would not have accomplished that goal.

History lesson time: Many moons ago Nintendo discussed the "three pillar strategy" for its hardware. It was to be the console (Gamecube, then Wii) and the two handhelds (Game Boy and DS). With the runaway success of the DS, and now the DSi, it seems the third pillar became vestigial. Perhaps one day we'll see what this mysteriously scuttled handheld was meant to be.

Gallery: Nintendo DS mockups

X-ray pix peep into video game innards, look awesome

by Kevin Kelly { May 2nd 2009 at 8:30PM }

What do you do when you're an x-ray technician at the largest hospital in the northern part of the Netherlands? You haul your collection of gaming consoles and accessories in and send them through, naturally. Check out the gallery below of images that we received from Reinier van der Ende, and take a look at your consoles in a way you've never seen them before. What's especially impressive is that he even took the time to scan some N64 carts, a Zapper, an empty Wii wheel, and a Game Boy Pocket, among others.

Check out the gallery below for all of the radiated gaming goodies, and just wonder how this guy got everything in and out of the hospital. We'd pay hard cash money for a photo of a red-ringed 360 on the way to the x-rays in a gown and wheelchair.

Gallery: X-ray Video Gaming Goodness

The DS Life: Phosphorescence

by Eric Caoili { Dec 3rd 2008 at 11:59PM }

Even as a kid (or perhaps especially as a kid), artist David Gibbons had a fascination for all things glow-in-the-dark. Really, though, what's there to not like about glow-in-the-dark junk?

David covered his bedroom walls with every glow-in-the-dark decoration he could find -- posters, stickers, and stars. He even wore glow-in-the-dark pajamas and braces! While we never went that far, we happen to have a glow-in-the-dark rosary hanging off our car's rearview mirror (It's a Filipino thing! Also, it makes it easier for us to pick out our car in the mall parking lot at night.).

Anyway, David used his childhood glow-in-the-dark obsession as inspiration to create the art piece we've featured a today, an illustration depicting all of the Christmas toys he wished for as a kid while laying awake at night, gazing at all their glow-in-the-dark incarnations blue-tacked to his walls and ceiling.

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Born for Wii: Four Swords Adventures

by Wesley Fenlon { Jul 22nd 2008 at 11:00AM }

The games in the Legend of Zelda series have evolved over the years into sprawling, epic adventures. But ever since the release of the original in 1986, one thing has remained constant -- Link, more or less alone, must save the world. Typically this involves finding the Master Sword, rescuing Zelda and sending Ganon packing for his evil deeds. Discounting the rightfully-maligned CD-i games, only once has the series truly deviated from this formula, resulting in the birth of a little game called Four Swords.

Four Swords was a small multiplayer adventure added onto the Gameboy Advance port of A Link to the Past. It represented a new direction for the series, allowing gamers to link GBAs and work together to defeat the evil wizard Vaati. The game was successful enough to warrant a full-fledged console sequel in 2004: The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures. The GameCube iteration took most of the elements that made Four Swords a fun multiplayer experience and expanded them, incorporating a (slightly) more complex story and a longer quest.

Gallery: Born for Wii: Four Swords Adventures

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Top 5: Things We Won't See at E3

by Kaes Delgrego { Jul 14th 2008 at 2:00PM }

This week sees the commencement of E3, the Super Bowl for gamers. On Tuesday, Nintendo will announce all of its big plans for the rest of the year, sending fanboys and fangirls alike into a frenzy. And while others choose to give us predictions of what we will see, here is the much more important information: things that we won't be seeing.

5. The Game Boy Ultra - Around the time that the DS was first announced, Nintendo made a point to clarify that the new dual-screened portable was more of a "third pillar" than the next installment in the Game Boy line. But then the DS started printing money ... lots and lots of it. Regardless, in an effort to stay true to their word (as they always do), Nintendo will unveil the Game Boy Ultra. The sleek handheld will feature a small but crisp widescreen display showcasing wonderful GameCube-esque graphics. In fact, it will be backwards-compatible with all GameCube games, using the same 8cm discs as Nintendo's last-gen console. Also, similar to the PSP's remote play, the Game Boy Ultra will connect to the Wii and allow data transfers to an SD card. This will allow Virtual Console and select WiiWare games to be played on the go. And since Nintendo plans to keep DS owners in agony by not announcing New Super Mario Bros. 2, they will reveal that the Game Boy Ultra will ship packaged with a free copy of Super Mario Bros. Ultra.

Survey Says: Not necessary; Contra 4 removes the need for any other portable game or system.

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Nintendo of Canada offers sealed NES, SNES, GameBoy titles for charity auction

by Ross Miller { May 30th 2008 at 10:55AM }

Video game collectors have just been given a golden opportunity (and another thorn in their significant others' side). Nintendo of Canada is cleaning out their warehouse and is auctioning their collection of brand new, sealed retro games, with all proceeds going to United Way charity. The auctions, totaling 421 games in 24 different auctions, break down as follows:

70 NES games over 4 lots
169 SNES games over 13 lots
182 GameBoy games over 7 lots

As of this writing, the highest bid in any auctions is US $1,013 for a collection of NES games that includes Mario's Time Machine, Dragon Warrior IV, The Great Waldo Search and – this is the big draw, folks – George Foreman's KO Boxing. There's some great games in the other lots, too, with Addams Family and Lost Vikings activating the most synapses in our nostalgic minds.

Joystiq got in touch with Nintendo of Canada to confirm the auction is legit, so what are you waiting for? Bidding for all lots ends June 5.

Electronic Gaming Twenty Years Ago

by JC Fletcher { Apr 22nd 2008 at 9:45AM }

Did you know that the first issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly (and the preview issue before that) was branded as U.S. National Video Game Team's Electronic Gaming Monthly? It's been a long time since we thought about that group, although one of them has come to notoriety recently. Team member Steve Harris is EGM's founder, and many of the guys worked as reviewers and "strategy consultants."

The world of 1989 EGM is a different one than we know now. Companies like Taxan and Beeshu could afford many consecutive ad pages. FCI had its own strategy hotline. It was possible to write neutral-to-good preview text about the execrable Hydlide. And handheld gaming was just about to be elevated to the status of real gaming. Steve Harris's opening "Insert Coin" column refers to the rumor that "Nintendo may be leading the way with a mid-range cartridge system that will play a variety of games on a specially developed 2" LCD screen." Although the magic of that statement is diminished somewhat when a full writeup of the Game Boy, including a picture, appears toward the end of the magazine. Maybe he wrote that before that information came in.

Rest your DS in these oldschool pouches

by Candace Savino { Apr 10th 2008 at 10:30PM }

Since we're unabashed game enthusiasts, we appreciate any opportunity to combine our love for modern day gaming with our nostalgia for gaming of the past. That's why we find these DS covers to be absolutely darling. The Game Boy cover makes more sense to have, since the system belongs in the same family tree as Nintendo's dual-screened handheld. Yet, the NES controller is a perfect shape for a DS pouch -- and who doesn't love a NES controller? -- so that works, too.

Should you like these as much as we do, you can check them out at Janis13's Etsy store, along with some other DS cases.

[Via Technabob]

7 great Game Boy games that got the shaft?

by David Hinkle { Mar 27th 2008 at 6:00PM }

Let's face it: we all love the DS, but if it wasn't for the handhelds of yesteryear, we wouldn't be enjoying the dual-screened bliss we do on a regular basis. Instead, our reality would be dark and cold, our fear of what is right in front of us only challenged by our incredible lack of knowing what is right in front of us. It would probably lead us to suicide.

But, lo and behold, the passage of time flowed in favor of Nintendo, as the Game Boy lead to the Game Boy Advance and the Game Boy Advance lead to ~~that stupid Game Boy Micro thing~~ the Game Boy Micro and then, finally, to the DS. But what about all of those great Game Boy games that time forgot?

Well, now is the time to rustle up those nostalgic memories you have pattering around your noggin. The games are:

Rolan's Curse 2
Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters
Mole Mania
Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge
Mega Man V
Kirby's Dreamland 2
Super Mario Land 3: Wario Land

Personally, we would've liked to see Street Fighter II get some love (kidding!). What do you all think? What games do you like? What does this list need?

[Via Go Nintendo]

Friday Video: Making sweet sounds with a Game Boy Pocket

by David Hinkle { Mar 21st 2008 at 7:00PM }

Making music with outdated electronics is no longer relegated to the GBA Micro. Oh no, you can, in fact, make some great music with a plain old original Game Boy Pocket. And Clay Morrow, the man featured in the above video, is doing just that.

Throughout his interview with Mahalo Daily's Veronica Belmont (videos by day, vampire hunting by night?), he explains the appeal of using a Game Boy, as well as how to use it. And, we also get to peep some of the sweet equipment he uses to make the whole thing possible.

[Via Go Nintendo]

Today in Joystiq: March 4, 2008

by Ross Miller { Mar 4th 2008 at 11:59PM }

A papercraft version of level 1-1 from Super Mario Bros. recreated inside an actual Game Boy brick (no worries it was already broken). We can't help but point out in Camera Wences' design, however, that the Game Boy was never in color and never has this version of Mario Bros. Oh well, we should've just called it a clever hack and made a Paper Mario joke. (Via Make) Check out the highlights for today:

Joystiquery
The best of WoW Insider: February 27-March 4, 2008
Counting Rupees: Royalty Screwed
Massively Week in Review: Feb 26 - Mar 3, 2008
Nega-review: God of War: Chains of Olympus
10 reasons the PlayStation 3 is relevant again
Today's most perspective-bending trailer: echochrome in real life

News
Japanese PSP brandishes bronze bundle, cradle
Plato to school kids with new learning games for PSP
Okami Wii-treats to April 15
Umbrella Chronicles ships a million units worldwide
Ubisoft details Assassin's Creed PC enhancements
Wii gets TV guide channel, Wiimote becomes universal in Japan
SCEA's Hight: PlayStation Store overhaul, Warhawk expansion coming in April
GameTap tells the tale of Grimm's gameplay
Infogrames attracted Harrison with giant magnet
School shooting "hero" confesses to Xbox theft
D&D creator Gary Gygax dead at 69
Virtual Jihadi mod causing tension at New York school
Ready at Dawn ready to move away from PSP
Skype finally comes to Japanese PSPs this month
Paramount 'very, very, excited' about games space

Rumors & Speculation
Rumor: Crysis shown on Xbox 360 to 'prospective publishers' at GDC

Culture & Community
Majority of women, men swap gender in MMOs
Return of Bully means more controversy
Hacker makes mini-sized Rock Band drums
Dreamcast demo stand now sitting on eBay
Which publisher gets the best review scores?

NES/GB/GBC emulator handheld is powered by the Sun

by Griffin McElroy { Jan 27th 2008 at 11:15AM }

No, friend, that's not a hip gadget from the new, unfortunately titled James Bond film -- it's a very real, very sexy handheld MP4 player capable of running old school Nintendo emulators using solar power. It also plays MP3's, stores e-books (which it can then read aloud to you, a consideration for our illiterate friends), records audio and displays images, all for a cool $123.32.

Here's the best part -- it also has a USB port to connect with other portable devices and share the solar energy it has collected, like a mama bird feeding a regurgitated bolus to her young. That's right, not only can it play your favorite games from the 8-era, it's also an Al Gore-approved renewable energy source.

Demo Vision is one half of an odd and rare Game Boy devkit

by David Hinkle { Jan 14th 2008 at 6:00PM }

If you dig giant hunks of metal with marker scribblings all over them, then you'll want to cruise by this eBay auction for a Game Boy Demo Vision unit. The dev kit allows your Game Boy game to be displayed on your TV, like with the GameCube's Game Boy Player, only without the border.

As tempting as being able to use it may be, you will need a special kind of Game Boy unit in order to interact with this device. So, unless you have that matching bit, you're not going to be able to do much with this.

[Via Go Nintendo]

Pokedrive Red

by Eric Caoili { Jan 4th 2008 at 5:00PM }

Here's an awesome DIY project you can try out with an old Gameboy/GBC game that you're not too fond of -- turn it into a USB drive! Themadscientist101 has a photo guide showing how to cut open a window and shave off some of the inside wall to fit a USB drive into the plastic housing. You won't be able to play the game anymore after modding the cart, but if you use something crappy like Mortal Kombat, that shouldn't be a problem.

Just think of how cool everyone will think you are when you pull out a Pokemon cart to show off the Pokemon strategy guides you downloaded from GameFAQs! The girls will be fighting over you. It'll be like the Axe Effect, but in Pokemon form. For real.

Themadscientist101 also has a Lego USB mod that the ladies can't resist. Jump past the post break for photos of the brick drive.

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