Game Boy Color
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| Game Boy Color | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Manufacturer | Nintendo |
| Released |  October 21, 1998 November 18, 1998 November 23, 1998
|
| Generation | Fifth generation |
| Processor | Custom, Zilog Z80-alike |
| Media | Game Boy cartridges |
| Units shipped | 118.69 million (includes Game Boy) |
| Best-selling game | Pokémon Gold and Silver |
| Backward compatibility | Game Boy cartridges |
| Preceded by | Game Boy Light |
| Followed by | Game Boy Advance |
The Nintendo Game Boy Color was the successor of the Game Boy Pocket. Slightly larger than the Pocket, but significantly smaller than the original Game Boy, its defining feature was a colour screen able to display 56 colours simultaneously. In addition it possessed more powerful hardware than the Pocket, with a processor of twice the speed and quadruple the memory. A large number of new games were released to exploit the capabilities of this new console, which was also backwards compatible with every previous Game Boy game with only a handful of exceptions.
A unique feature of the Game Boy Color was its infra-red wireless link-up port. Seldom used by any software, it was consequently dropped for future Game Boy iterations.
Some were surprised that Nintendo released such an apparently underpowered system, as the Game Boy Color was not even as powerful as the GameGear, which was released way back in 1990. However, the Color, as with its predecessors, was notably more portable, more affordable and had a greater library of games than any of its competitors, as well as many years of carefully-built brand recognition behind it. As such it dominated the market, and destroyed all competition.
[edit] Top Ten Best Selling Games
- Pokemon Gold and Silver
- The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX
- The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages
- The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons
- Pokemon Crystal
- Pokemon Trading Card Game
- Super Mario Bros. DX
- Yu-Gi-Oh! Dark Duel Stories
- Pokemon Pinball
[edit] See Also
| Nintendo systems | |
|---|---|
| Home consoles | Color TV Game (1977-1980) | Nintendo Entertainment System (1983) | Super Nintendo Entertainment System (1990) | Nintendo 64 (1996) | GameCube (2001) | Wii (2006) |
| Game Boy franchise | Game Boy (1989) | Game Boy Pocket (1996) | Game Boy Color (1998) | Game Boy Advance (2001) | Game Boy Advance SP (2003) | Game Boy Micro (2005) |
| DS franchise | Nintendo DS (2004) | DS Lite (2006) | Nintendo DSi (2008) | Nintendo DSi XL (2009) |
| Other handhelds | Game & Watch (1980-1991) | Virtual Boy (1995) | Pokémon Mini (2001) |
| Other products | Arcade games (1974-present) |
