The Daily Fix

Game Boy turned 20 yesterday.  Game Boy Man.

When I was 7 years old, my piano teacher broke up with her boyfriend, and he had left his (1st generation) Game Boy at her place.  So she gave it to me (can I get a whooop whoooop!), because she knew that I preferred spending time in front of the TV playing Super Nintendo, rather than practicing the piano.  It already had Zelda inside it, which I couldn’t figure out how to beat for the life of me, but I didn’t care one bit, because I held the Holy Grail of entertainment in my little hands – and it was my new best friend.

I still remember the subway ride home after that day’s piano lesson, and how incredibly cool I felt.  Then came the Game Boy Pocket in 1996, which was offered in every color of the rainbow(!), followed by the revolutionary Game Boy Color in 1998.  That was when shit got serious, and I was no longer the only girl in my class with a Game Boy, because the other girls finally understood why I didn’t want to sit around and trade stickers or play MASH anymore during recess, and they joined me in the cubby corner for some Super Mario Bros. Deluxe.

I wish I could say, “Yaaay Game Boy!  Still going strong!”, but with the creation of the Nintendo DS (which is still probably loads of fun, don’t get me wrong) the Game Boy will never be what it used to be.  But we had some damn good times growing up — together.

Thanks, Game Boy, I’ll never forget you.

[Click on any of the thumbnails to see them bigger and better.]