Evolution of the Nintendo Gameboy | Neander Meander

A look at the evolution of Nintendo's Game Boy handhelds. From the original Game Boy all the way down to the Game Boy Micro.

[@Alan2004]

You probably won't see this, but this video really feels like it's made by a huge channel. Its so well made!

[@NeanderMeander]

I see it and a really appreciate it! It was so great reading this today. Thank you

[@Alan2004]

@@NeanderMeander you're welcome! Keep making great content!

[@HotNickles918]

You totally blew my mind with changing the color on the screen of my gba. I still have my original handheld from when I was a kid but never knew about that function

[@NeanderMeander]

It's a really neat feature. I think it makes going back to those games really fun.

[@susanfit47]

I had both a GB, GBC growing up and the GBA; I owned an NES. I am still an owner of each handheld that Nintendo has released. I have memories with them. Game Boy, Game Boy Pocket, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance are still my favorite systems of all time.

[@NeanderMeander]

That's awesome! Nintendo handhelds have always had something special about them. I'm a big fan of the Game Boy line. I played my GBA almost everyday when I was growing up.

[@ulyssia2717]

i'm dying for an og gameboy DG, i have a gbc but that's it, but i should be grateful for my gbc since i have many titles 😅

[@fredrick8691]

Such a great vid! I am a proud owner of every handheld Nintendo has released. I have such wonderful memories with them.

[@NeanderMeander]

Awesome! I still have a few missing from my collection.

[@fredrick8691]

@@NeanderMeander that's cool, which ones are you missing?

[@NeanderMeander]

I’m missing the DSI and DSI XL. Also, a bunch of the Game and Watches.

[@fredrick8691]

@@NeanderMeander luckily DSI i&d DSi XL you can pick up pretty cheap. I only have like two of the game and watches but I love them. I have the Legend of Zelda and the Donkey Kong one.

[@NeanderMeander]

You have the Zelda Game and Watch!? That’s awesome! Definitely one one the best ones! Yeah, luckily those two DSI systems are readily available. I’ll get them once I spot s good deal.

[@SergioPL]

About the size of screen in each model. 8 bits Game Boy classic: 46 x 42 (III) Game Boy Color: 44 x 40 (IV) Game Boy pocket: 48 x 43 (I) Game Boy light: 47 x 42,5 (II) 32 bits Game Boy Advance: 40,8 x 61,2 Game Boy SP: 40, 8 x 61,2 Game Boy Micro: 28,32 x 42,48

[@TheGentleCreepers]

Got myself a GBA with a modded IPS screen and audio amp and I love it. Even though the SP is arguably the best "advance" system, I still keep coming back to the first GBA. ❤️

[@NeanderMeander]

The original GBA is way more comfortable to play games. I wish Nintendo would have released it with lit screen from the beginning.

[@TheGentleCreepers]

@@NeanderMeander Yeah, personally its form factor is the superior one in terms of comfort. But the screen is clearly outdated in its time. But thankfully now upgrade kits exist to make the original GBA into what it's meant to be from the start. Backlit screen, rechargeable battery with usb type c charge port, glass screen lens, better quality audio that removes the buzz sound from the speakers, etc. I'm fully content with mine, just saving up to get a flash cart to play all GB, GBC and GBA games all in one cart.

[@Nicksolo85]

Some guides & such classify all Game Boy Color games as simply Game Boy (as you mentioned), but yes, not all Game Boy Color games could be played on any variation of original Game Boy & I actually had to learn that lesson the hard way once, back when I was just starting high school when I rented Super Mario Bros Deluxe from Blockbuster Video & tried to play it on my original brick red Play It Loud Game Boy (which I still have today, surprisingly). Yeah, I'm the idiot who didn't notice that that game had the "Only for Game Boy Color" sign on the box & I just assumed that all Game Boy Color games would work on original Game Boy, like Mortal Kombat 4, which was my 1st official Game Boy Color game I got the Christmas in 8th Grade, so a year before I got the Game Boy Color which was also a Christmas present. So, I too consider Game Boy Color as the next (but short lived) generation of Game Boy after the original Game Boy & before the Game Boy Advance. Not considering the Game Boy Color as the next generation in the Game Boy family would be like not considering the (also short lived) Nintendo Wii-U as the next generation of TV consoles after the Nintendo Wii. I did upgrade to Game Boy Advance a little over halfway through my Sophomore year in high school. Sadly, neither my Game Boy Color nor my Game Boy Advance lasted to the halfway point of my Junior year in high school. About a month after I graduated high school, I did upgrade to the Game Boy Advance SP & I still have it today (I just recently replaced the battery after finally getting the right 1). Just FYI, I think some Game Boy Advance SPs can only take certain types of rechargeable batteries. My flame red Game Boy Advance SP's original battery started showing its age when it couldn't hold a charge for very long anymore, so I ordered a new 1, only to discover I bought the wrong kind (the metal parts on the end that actually connect to the console weren't a proper match). The replacement I originally bought was a 3.7v 850 mAh & then I looked at the original battery that had been in there for years & it was a 3.7v 600 mAh, so I went online again & looked at more batterie replacements again, but this time, I made sure it was a 600 mAh, which was what I needed & sure enough... It was. Also, I have no clue what mAh stands for, it was just written on the battery packs.

[@DekuGamer]

Such an awesome video as always man. Learned a lot!

[@NeanderMeander]

Thank you! I could talk about the Game Boy forever. It was tough cutting down the content to something more manageable.

[@PixelCodex]

Awesome video! That’s a sweet collection of handhelds!

[@NeanderMeander]

Thanks! It’s taken a long time to accumulate those handhelds!

[@RetroStylz]

Awesome video! Great quality work!

[@NeanderMeander]

Thanks for watching!

[@smittyvanjagermanjenson182]

I still have my Gameboy Micro. Even tho it was small, I was on it nonstop compared to my GBA. It truly was the final form of GBA when it came to build quality.

[@NeanderMeander]

I love the Game Boy Micro. It's awesome!

[@supersmallchibiwolf872]

Me and my brother had GameBoy SP'S and my cousin had a GameBoy Advanced good times. They had the home gaming consoles of the PlayStation but at that time I had the Sony PSP. I love the Nintendo GameBoy SP 101 and Sony PSP those are peak retro gaming on the go. They have so many amazing classic games that are full of timeless classics. Cool video. ^_^

[@Metaramon]

Great quality video man! Gba is my favorite system of all time.

[@NeanderMeander]

Thank you! The GBA is such a great console! One of my favorites as well

[@thrasher956]

Great work! I loved the vid

[@NeanderMeander]

I'm glad you liked it! Thanks for watching it! Not many people have watched this one

[@kila5055]

Oh man the days of sitting under a lamp using the wall power adapter when i didn't have 4 new double AA batteries playing the original gameboy were one of my best gaming times as a kid. I promise the screen didn't look like that when i was a kid, it actually looked top of the line at the time to me lol 😆

[@NeanderMeander]

I 100% agree with you! I thought the screen looked amazing!

[@BlueTrane2028]

when it was all we had, the DMG screen was amazing. Now I'm 40 and my eyes are saying naw. IPS fixes that, haha.

[@EveryDayRetroGaming]

The SEGA Game Gear was my first Handheld but once I picked up a Gameboy Pocket and Pokèmon blue oh man I didn't touch the Game Gear much after that. Another rocking video Neander!

[@NeanderMeander]

Thanks man! The Game Boy has so many great games! I also played the Game Gear quite a bit. I loved the lit display!

[@nicholaswilliams429]

Amazing quality!

[@NeanderMeander]

I'm glad you like it!

[@doseofdale8201]

I had the Gameboy Advance and the Gameboy Micro. ❤️

[@NeanderMeander]

They are both great! I used to pack around my Micro everywhere. It’s so portable

[@Brozo4657]

If you have a GBC (game boy color), and don’t like the color, the black and white code is left+B.

[@NeanderMeander]

Yeah, that's cool Nintendo implemented that into it.

[@TynologyGaming]

Let me get at that insanely clean DMG!

[@NeanderMeander]

I lucked out on that one! I found it at a second hand store for almost nothing. The only thing it's missing is the back cover.

[@StudyingManually]

Amazing! I was born in 2000 and am very interested in the history of Nintendo consoles!

[@NeanderMeander]

Awesome! Nintendo handheld are really interesting to learn about.

[@ulyssia2717]

i was born later but i am too very interested into the older gen of consoles... i think it's weird but i really prefer old consoles over modern consoles.

[@NeanderMeander]

@@ulyssia2717 I hope my videos are portraying how great they are.

[@ulyssia2717]

@@NeanderMeander they really are

[@pranthowrungrueang4092]

Me too!

[@MoisexJohn]

Awesome 🎉🎉🎉

[@anilbaksh9962]

I still own a original Game boy, game boy color pokemon edition, 2 Game boy advance, Game boy advance SP, and a Game Boy DS all in working condition. I had the lime green one which I give away as a gift in its original box.

[@NeanderMeander]

That's an awesome collection! That's cool that they all still work too!

[@SergioPL]

I have a Game Boy light!! It’s pretty nice!

[@NeanderMeander]

I love my Game Boy Light. I plan on making a video dedicated to only it.

[@yeticaller]

awesome great vid any tips on where to buy?

[@NeanderMeander]

Thanks! I would say look locally. That’s where you get the best deals.

[@unicornsofhearts956]

I was born in the 2010s but i still want a game boy

[@NeanderMeander]

Everybody needs a Game Boy! Let me know how your search goes.

[@doraeguyakaneddie6586]

I heard the Gameboy blur wasn't that bad when the consoles were new. The blur is just a sign of wear and tear

[@NeanderMeander]

Could be for some. I clearly remember it having lots of blur. I got mine brand new for my birthday when I was very little when the Game Boy was the only Nintendo handheld console.

[@williss1192]

There's a need book from RetroDodo about handhelds, you should make a video on it

[@NeanderMeander]

I would love to do that! Is it only available through their website?

[@laserx3972]

You forgot the game boy light A Game boy that was only released on Japan

[@NeanderMeander]

Check back in a few weeks. I might have something in the works for it.

[@DungarooTV]

You did not cover the Game Boy Light which was only released in Japan.

[@NeanderMeander]

No I didn't. I've been told that I should have and everyone is right. The unfortunate thing about this is that I have a Game Boy Light I could have shot for the video. I made a whole video dedicated to it if you want to watch that one.

[@DungarooTV]

@@NeanderMeander I guess to be fair, the GB Light was only ever released in Japan so it would have been (more or so back then) almost impossible to buy if someone was outside of Japan so excluding it also makes sense. I'm only missing the GBL from my collection and am trying to justify forking out $300-$400 USD to buy one that is in a good condition. I might just ignore it altogether considering it was never released to the masses.

[@gavinbeard4026]

I was born in 2000 so I didn’t really grow up on these the way some you guys here in the comments did but I did grow up with the advance SP game boy. My buddy had one and it was awesome. I remember wanting one so bad as a kid and always playing his when I was over. I’ll never forget my grandfather who told me that if i made straight A and B two times on my report card I would get one. This was 2007 mind you and so in second grade later that year I did it we went to target only to be told they didn’t sell them anymore. Which or course was either a lie since it was discontinued 3 years later or that store stop carrying them. Either way I was pretty heartbroken

[@adrian_veidt]

I really wished we had the project atlantis as what Nintendo thought it would've been. Imagine a handheld with the power comparable to an N64 :O I also wished yokoi was still with nintendo when he made the wonderswan, the real spiritual successor to the gameboy. It had better specs and features than gbc and arguably the GBA

[@emilianofernandez7399]

Lol 😂. The number of bits determines how the information is stored. 8 bits can store 1024 different combinations, for example each letter or color is stored as a different combination of bits. 16 bits it's a huge improvement because you can form 65,536 combinations and therefore, you can store more colors, music, interactions, etc. The downside is you will need more memory to store all that.

[@NeanderMeander]

Thank you for the nice explanation.

[@jt-man3202]

Those days 😅

[@montanajackson3713]

I had the Gameboy advance SP.

[@NeanderMeander]

Awesome! What color did you have?

[@montanajackson3713]

@@NeanderMeander Metallic pink.

[@NeanderMeander]

@@montanajackson3713 That was a good one! It had the backlit screens. I have one of those too

[@mispinchergamings3470]

Any got 😢 at the end or look back on gameboy life?

[@AshutoshSingh-wg5km]

Nice vid just what i was looking for. Can anyone tell me what's the game @03:55??

[@NeanderMeander]

That is the intro to The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening. Thanks for watching

[@AshutoshSingh-wg5km]

@@NeanderMeander thank you.

[@xbxspartan]

somthing about the feel of the gba plastic and form factor to make it the best gb out there. but to me the og gb is still the best looking lol something about the classic 90s fat brick look..

[@NeanderMeander]

You're right, the GBA has a great feel and the plastic does feel more premium maybe? I just got one out feel it and it does feel great. I also love the og Game Boy. It's so iconic. I put so many hours on mine back when it was the only Game Boy. That's probably why Link's Awakening is my favorite Zelda game.

[@RivalIndigo]

Great video but I don't know where you're getting commentary on the GBC. Literally everyone I've ever known who has used a Game Boy Color will tell you it's one of the greatest handhelds of all time.

[@NeanderMeander]

Hey, thanks for watching. I went back and reviewed my commentary on the GBC. I thought I explained my thoughts about it positively. I could have been less negative about the screen being unlit. It is an amazing handheld and I’ve always liked it. I hope it didn’t come off sounding like it sucks. It doesn’t! Definitely one of the best!

[@RivalIndigo]

@@NeanderMeander No it didn't seem like you were saying it sucks. Like I said it's a great video, very professional presentation and gives a nice historical overview to those less familiar 👍 I think I just get a bit defensive over the GBC. I think maybe what's missing here is some of the context from the eras, like how big Pokemon and GBC were together, leaving many with very fond memories of the console 😁

[@GDitto]

You forgot the GB Light!

[@NeanderMeander]

I definitely forgot it. I made a while video talking about it though

[@interNETS-KING]

So you know how when you scroll through your recommended,you’ll see shorts in à horizontal line in between full videos?Well,for me,it’s the same except KZbin also advertises me for game consoles with that same method,and for whatever reason the game boy color is shown with a watch band,I guess you can sneak it into school and pretend it’s just a weird looking watch.Bro also missed game boy light.

[@thebigc4]

I used to have gameboy advanced sp I remember if you already have downloaded games on it you have to turn it off then turn it on just to change the game 😂😂

[@NeanderMeander]

How did you download games onto it?

[@AristotleBabyBottle]

It probably was a fake

[@rowly5587]

glory days haha who rembers the talk boy haha

[@NeanderMeander]

The Talk Boy was awesome! I couldn’t ever get people to believe I was an adult like Kevin McCallister

[@gdlzee]

GBA for me is the best and revolutionary at it's time

[@NeanderMeander]

The GBA is still an awesome little handheld. At the time it released, it really was something to be amazed by. Playing Wario Land 4 for the first time was one of those unforgettable moments in my gaming life.

[@lorenzogamboa2490]

Forgot Gameboy Light

[@NeanderMeander]

I made an entire video dedicated to it.

[@linc_gb]

Where's Game Boy Light?

[@NeanderMeander]

I should have included it in this video. Though, to make up for it not being here, I made a whole video dedicated to it: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qovNfmaahZWKh6M

[@kellysouders4577]

You forgot the Game boy light

[@NeanderMeander]

Yep, I did

[@aoihana1042]

Gameboy SP is the most innovative

[@NeanderMeander]

The SP was a huge jump forward for Nintendo! They finally gave us a rechargeable battery and a lit color screen. It’s crazy it took so long for them to do it.

[@mrcolliderhd]

What about the light)

[@NeanderMeander]

It's not there. I don't know what I was thinking. I even have one.

[@danixr11idk4]

What about gb light

[@NeanderMeander]

That is covered in it's own video. I probably should have put it in this one

[@mrtesticlease4638]

coughs in gameboy light

[@NeanderMeander]

Yeah, it’s not there. But I tried to make up for it my making a video solely dedicated to it. Here’s your Game Boy Light: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qovNfmaahZWKh6M

[@Sasha-oc2eo]

Pin this. Okay the Visio was good but you missed a GameBoy. It was the game boy light and it was a japinise exclusive game boy that featured a light. Hope that helps ❤😊

[@NeanderMeander]

Yeah, you and 2,000 other people have let me know about it. I left it out because I was covering the North American releases. I even have one I could have used. I made a whole video about the Game Boy Light if you're interested in my take on it.

[@lesa8093]

I love the Gameboy Color. Though, I'm still trying to find a trans-green one.

[@NeanderMeander]

You and me both!

[@BRZbazzanx]

2:59 I'm Red gameboy

[@Jarettgaming]

I want game boy pocket

[@NeanderMeander]

It's a good one!

[@onenation1575]

What about the 3Ds

[@NeanderMeander]

This video was all about the Game Boy line of handhelds. I made another video covering the DS and 3DS. Thanks for watching this one!

[@Randomizer_Guy]

You forgot Game boy Light

[@NeanderMeander]

Yep, I did

[@neptunemacaw3354]

like i said "research"

[@NeanderMeander]

Awesome!

[@abh6968]

all the parts are from the ground . now do think over time the ground can make a gameboy on its own ? so why do you think it can make us . whats more powerfull humans or gameboy .

[@NeanderMeander]

I'm not exactly sure what you're saying and asking me here. Are you asking me if the earth can make a Game Boy on it's own? If I had to pick who's stronger between a Game Boy and a human, I'd pick the Game Boy.

[@abh6968]

@@NeanderMeander evolution myth . some people think there mum is a pig there dad is a monkey . and they came some nemo .

[@matteonavah4kr]

U skipped Gameboy light

[@NeanderMeander]

It's definitely worth mentioning. I intentionally left if off thinking I would base this video on just the North American releases. It was a misguiding decision. I did make a video all about it to try and make up for not including it here

[@spankymagee]

The original GBA was just worthless. I tried everything to get a good view angle and nothing ever worked if you made even the slightest movement. The plastic was super reflective too so unless you were 100% still and with good light already, it was unplayable. I even had magnifying screen with a light built in and that was the best so far but still Hella annoying

[@NeanderMeander]

Yes, it was pretty bad. But, I prefer the body design to the GBA SP. I like that the SP folds closed, but it's buttons are pretty crammed together. I ended up modding an original GBA with a backlit screen and I love it!

[@PovSlacking]

bits are whow many 1's and 0's are in one moment, 32 bit is good 64 bit is better.

[@KanyeWestLover12345]

What about The gameboy light

[@NeanderMeander]

I missed it. It's dumb because I have one I could have included

[@xpoop1570]

I think you forgot the Gameboy Light

[@NeanderMeander]

It's definitely worth mentioning. I intentionally left if off thinking I would base this video on just the North American releases. It was a misguiding decision. I did make a video all about it to try and make up for not including it here.