20 Years Ago, Nintendo Released Its Most Beautiful - And Most Overlooked - Game Boy

"Long before the handheld market was saturated with options, Nintendo ruled the scene. From 1989 to 2004, the words "Game Boy" were synonymous with gaming on the go. And while competitors tried to dethrone the Game Boy with flashy features like backlit color displays and higher fidelity graphics, Nintendo's decision to prioritize battery life and portability won them the entire market."

"Sony released the multimedia powerhouse that was the PlayStation Portable. Apple's iPods were quickly becoming both the de facto media player and a stylish 2000s-era accessory. Then Nintendo, in its biggest risk yet, released its first non-Game Boy handheld in nearly two decades. Despite the stiff competition, Nintendo wasn't ready to just let the Game Boy go. It instead combined the growing trend of sleek and voguish pocket computers with its oldest brand in hopes of capturing a new market."

"The Game Boy Micro was the third and final iteration of the then four-year-old Game Boy Advance. While the original GBA was a significant hardware bump over the Game Boy Color, and the Gameboy Advance Special (or the GBA SP for short) perfected the form factor with a clamshell design and a backlit screen that didn't drain battery, the Micro's improvements were all fairly superfluous."

"As the name implied, it was the smallest Game Boy ever. At 80 grams and barely 4 inches across, this was something you could fit in any pocket and barely remember it was there. The Micro also featured Nintendo's brightest display ever. The big defining feature that Nintendo bet on for the Micro was its customizable appearance. The unassuming silver front faceplate could be replaced with different styles purchasable in stores."

Nintendo dominated the handheld market from 1989 to 2004 by prioritizing battery life and portability over flashy features. By 2005 competitors such as Sony's PlayStation Portable and Apple's iPod shifted consumer expectations toward multimedia and style. Nintendo responded with the Game Boy Micro, a tiny iteration of the Game Boy Advance that emphasized extreme compactness, a very bright display, and replaceable faceplates for personalization. The Micro weighed 80 grams, measured about four inches across, and concluded the Game Boy Advance line. Most technical improvements were incremental amid shifting market demands toward multimedia functionality.

Read at Inverse