The Game Boy is an 8-bit handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo, first released in Japan on April 21, 1989, then North America, three months later.
The console featured a dull green dot-matrix screen with adjustable contrast dial, five control buttons (a directional pad, two game buttons, and "START" and "SELECT"), a single speaker with adjustable volume dial, and, like its rivals, used cartridges as physical media for games. All the corners of the portrait-oriented rectangular unit are softly rounded, save for the bottom right, which is curved. At launch, it was sold either as a standalone unit, or bundled with one of several games, namely Super Mario Land or Tetris. Several accessories were also developed, including a carrying pouch, Game Genie, and printer.
Despite being technologically inferior to its fourth-generation competitors, the Game Boy received praise for its battery life and durability in its construction. It quickly outsold the competition, selling one million units in the United States within a few weeks. An estimated 118 million units of the Game Boy and its successor, the Game Boy Color, have been sold worldwide.It is one of the most recognizable devices from the 1990s, becoming a cultural icon in the years following its release.