Retro Gaming Australia

Homebrew programmer Chris Covell has posted a feature charting the historical performance of the Game Boy in Japan. With a title like “The Game Boy Sucked! (Statistically)”, you know it’s not going to be the most optimistic of reads.

Covell was inspired to write the feature after reading a book that showed the history of Game Boy releases. He claims to have been disgusted by the sheer amount of licensed drivel on the system. His research shows that it was these licensed games, not a flood of crappy puzzle games, which neutered the Game Boy’s success in Japan.

If it were not for Pokemon, the Game Boy probably would have been put to rest a lot sooner. Evidence suggests that Nintendo already had a powerful successor console, Project Atlantis, ready to roll for release in ~1996-1998, but the success of Pokemon but them back on a lower tech path with the Game Boy Color, and the Atlantis-level power was held off until the Game Boy Advance.

Source: Chris Covell via GameSetWatch