The original Gameboy was released in Japan in 1989 and was based around a Z80 processor. It had a tiny black & white screen that was not backlit, it had more of a black & yellow look to it then a true black & white image! The games came on small carts, with the game 'Tetris' being a instant worldwide seller that really pushed the machine and made the Gameboy as we know it today as the best selling handheld ever.

After the success of the Gameboy Nintendo then decided to release the Gameboy Colour,

it had double the processor speed of the original Gameboy, twice as much memory, an infa

red communication port and best of all a colour screen.

Then in 2001 Nintendo released the Gameboy Advance, which had a 32 bit processor,

a much large colour palette and a real time clock for use in the games. The Gameboy

Advance brought great ports of the Super Nintendo classics like Super Mario Brothers

2 & Mario Kart to the handheld market.

Then in 2003 Nintendo released the Gameboy Advance SP, the SP not only had a great new sleek look but Nintendo sorted out the light problem with the Gameboy Advance that many felt was a let down as you needed to use the Gameboy Advance in a lit environment or buy a clip on light to view correctly. The Sp's new screen resolved this problem with its new front lit screen, it also was the first handheld to have a rechargeable battery pack, similar to a Camcorders battery.

The great thing Nintendo managed to do with all these handhelds is they have released many great accessories & cool ad ons for the machines over the years, like the Gameboy light, a portable printer & camera, The Gameboy player that allows you to use your Gameboy on a standard TV screen and last year the E-reader device that connects to Nintendo's Gamecube console that lets you exchange content between the two which opened up loads of possibilities . Also they have released many special edition of the consoles in various different colours and packages with many becoming very collectable.

2005 and Nintendo have now released the Gameboy Micro. 5 different colours at launch. The New Gameboy Micro is a tiny 10 cm (4 Inches) by 5 cm (2 Inches), and 1.7 cm (.7 of an Inch) thin, this is around the same size as an iPod Mini, but just two thirds of the weight.

This is something that you can just slip into the pocket and at under 80 grams (2.8 ounces), it's half the weight of a GBA SP. The Micro uses a rechargeable Lithium ion battery, and the screen offers NEW adjustable brightness settings. The Micro also features removable and customizable face plates!

Specifications