Page 51 - OSG Presents Classic Gamer Magazine #3

their own favorite color-cased Game tendo's biggest characters, from Mario
Boy to match their personality or per- to Donkey Kong to Link (all of who be- Classifieds
sonal aura. It became fashionable for came famous from an arcade game or
Game Boy owners to pick up a new NES game), it would be Ash Ketchem
color cased Game Boy and put away & Pikachu who would reach media su-
the bland original. Later in the 90’s, perstardom. It's ironic that a game WANTED: Gamate and Mega
Apple Computers would capitalize on originating from a Game Boy title would Duck cartridges, Timex/
Nintendo's colorized system success prove to be Nintendo's biggest market- Sinclair cartridges,
with their own take on it: the iMac se- ing vehicle ever. None of the other Voltmace Mark III car-
ries, which featured colorful cased Nintendo stars has ever reached this tridges, MPT-02/MPT-03
Macs. level of stardom. cartridges, Romtec Color-
In late '96, with new titles starting to What about the competition? In
dwindle (because of developers’ com- 1999, the market would be crowded vision cartridges, and
mitment to the emerging 32 and 64 bit with Sony PlayStations, Nintendo 64s, other obscure/odd stuff!
markets) and the Game Boy’s popular- and Sega Dreamcasts. SNK would Russ Perry Jr, 2175 S
ity beginning to die down, Nintendo enter the portable market with their 16- Tonne Dr. #105, Arlington
introduced the Game Boy pocket line. bit NeoGeo Pocket Color along with 6 Hts IL 60005,
The pocket version could've symbol- color casings for the system (hmm... slapdash@enteract.com
ized the end of the Game Boy's life- wonder where they got that idea?). So
span. In previous years, Nintendo re- what's a Game Boy supposed to do to WANTED: Entex Adventure
leased smaller ver- compete against the 3- Vision gaming system and/
sions of their NES D graphics, surround or cartridges. Items be
and SNES systems at sound, and 32-128 bit boxed or loose, working or
the end of their re- processor systems? It
spective lifecycles. simply went color. not, any condition wanted.
Videogame maga- The best always Contact ima-vidiot@stny.
zines were quick to arrive fashionably late rr.com or visit www.
point out the Game and it took 10 years for adventurevision.com for
Boy was out of gas the Game Boy to show more details.
and the fat lady was its colors. With the in-
finally singing. Ru- troduction of color, the WANTED: If you have SMS
mors were circulating Game Boy was as- James "Buster" Douglas for
that a new Nintendo sured it would go into sale or trade, contact me!
handheld codenamed the next century as coleman@wantree.com.au
"Atlantis" was in development. In the strong, if not stronger, than it was in the
meantime, gamers seeing Game Boy 90’s. Supported by over 60 million
portable as a better choice over the old owners worldwide and releasing new WANTED: 2600 protos, NTSC
brick-like design, flocked by the millions titles ranging from Capcom's Resident Ikari Warriors (trade for
to pick up the more portable versions, Evil; to Electronic Arts' Knockout Kings PAL version?), LockJaw,
and almost overnight, the Game Boy and WCW Mayhem; to Midway's NFL Midnight Magic (c)1986,
was selling like hotcakes again. The Blitz 2000 and Rampage Universal Saving Mary, Shooting Ar-
following year, Nintendo would capital- Tour; to Nintendo's Pokémon Yellow cade (Atari) 1984 Rev A
ize on the public's renewed interest by and Star Wars Episode One: Racer; to poster/catalog ANY Atari-
color casing their portable line and re- THQ's Bass Masters 2000, Madden related merchandise, Atari
launching the Game Boy with a multi- NFL 2000, Rugrats Time Machine, Toy Music CD's vols. 1 & 2,
million dollar advertising campaign tell- Story 2, and WWF Wrestlemania 2000, Star Raiders Kid's book,
ing the world that “smaller is better.” the sun will never set on Game Boy.
All the while, rumors of "Atlantis" qui- For videogame romantics, the manuals, boxes, magazine,
etly sank into the virtual ocean like its Game Boy is an extension of the art of etc. Scott Stilphen
namesake. b&w videogames. Lovers of the last scottith@ptd.net
By the late 90’s, Nintendo would great arcade b&w games like Asteroids
create a new franchise title that would and Tempest can find a kindred spirit in
propel the Game Boy into the next mil- the Game Boy. The Game Boy has Wanted: Free Classified Ads.
lennium: Pokémon. The Nintendo hundreds of great games that never Got something to trade, buy or sell?
Pocket Monsters took the U.S. by feature color and they’re fun! The Too many games or systems clogging
storm and in late '99, the Pokémon Game Boy was a simple concept, like a your closets? Place a free ad with us
video games would take the Game Boy Rubik's cube or the Slinky. Nothing which will appear in our next issue.
to new heights. The Pokémon games extravagant. Nothing glitzy. Just a
would inspire a big screen Warner simple game from a simple time when Ads are limited to 30 words and must
Bros. motion picture blockbuster and technology was limited. A lot of gam- be classic gaming related. Business
the number 1 children's television show ers will never fully appreciate the ads not accepted. Please contact us
on the kids WB television network. amount fun the Game Boy offers be- for business rates.
Mass merchandising would also capi- cause they won’t overlook its simplicity.
talize on the Pokémon craze with trad- Remember when mom told you to E-mail your ad to:
ing cards, toys, dolls, back packs, um- never "Judge a book by its cover"? cav@classicgamer.com
brellas, and anything else Nintendo's That advice also applies to game sys- Or mail to: Classic Gamer Magazine
corporate arms could reach and li- tems. Regardless, everyone made 7770 Regents Rd.
cense. This is an important moment their judgments. The Game Boy #113-293
for the Game Boy because of all Nin- proved them wrong. San Diego, CA 92122

Classic Gamer Magazine Spring 2000 51