The end of the Game Boy

GBA News | An era ends? At least for now.

It survived the Lynx, Gamegear, Game.com, Nomad, Turbo Express, Neo Geo Pocket and even the PSP. Between the Original, Pocket, Color, Advance, Advance SP and Micro, it has sold over 230 million units, spawned massive franchises like Pokemon, and dominated handheld gaming for 16 years. But in classic Cain and Abel style, Nintendo's long running Game Boy line may finally have met it's end at the hands of it's younger brother, the Nintendo DS.

In an interview with news agency Reuters, Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata had this to say about Nintendo's former plans to work on a successor to the GBA line: "I would have a second thought about using our resources on what would be the next generation of Game Boy Advance, considering the strong support DS is now enjoying."

Of course, the DS plays GBA games, and Nintendo are continuing to build the current backlit GBA SP and Micro models - they'd be crazy not to - the GBA outsold the DS and PSP combined in the US last year, remaining the #1 handheld that region. However, at least for now, Nintendo's resources are with the DS name, and they have no current plans to work on another Game Boy.

"The Japanese game market is now evolving around DS," said Iwata. "We don't need to do something that will pour cold water on the situation."

Related Content

Lara further infiltrates Nintendo systems
03 May, 2006 Coming to the small screen.

Third DS unit on the way?
21 Feb, 2006 Reggie doesn't think it's 'unreasonable'. Oh, and he gets in a jab at Microsoft and Sony, too.

Top Spin 2 DS & GBA Screens
20 Jan, 2006 And a release date for Europe.

Page12 Next

30 Comments

admeister

7 years ago

It's what I've been thinking for a while now, since the DS was released.

Spanca

7 years ago

I wouldn't take that to mean the end of the Game Boy, just that they aren't going to take away from the DS while it's still doing well.

Jim Dash

7 years ago

At least they're going in the right direction. The DS has a good roster of games being developed on it and provides a different style of gameplay..sometimes.

I think they're going in the right direction.

Qbert

7 years ago

Spanca wrote

I wouldn't take that to mean the end of the Game Boy, just that they aren't going to take away from the DS while it's still doing well.

I agree with you Spanca. I'm sure we'll see another gameboy somewhere down the track.

ZNMS

7 years ago

In a few years, my GameBoy Micro will be worth a fortune.

Infested Jibbs

7 years ago

In all honesty the ds is a gameboy.

I think they're being a lil melodramatic, the gameboy lives on through the ds, and while it doesn't have 'gameboy' emblazened on it, it is still the gameboy's spiritual successor and 90% of casual gamers still know it as a gameboy.

Oh and please don't worry about posting half-page rebuttals about how the ds isn't 'technically' a gameboy and that i'm wrong and i smell;cause i don't care.

Spanca

7 years ago

^ I agree with most of what you said, but you do smell.

DancesInUnderwear

7 years ago

Besides, what would a new Gameboy have? You either go down the beautiful graphics path and become in direct competition with the PSP but without any of the extra features, or you come up with another crazy 'gimmick' console which will either get buried by the DS or wind up killing the DS.

And like Mitch said, the DS is a Gameboy, even if it isn't technically.

Infested Jibbs

7 years ago

Hey i'm not mitch the bitch, like spanca said i'm smelly jibbs.

Bitchacho

7 years ago

say what? oh. yay, a mention.

I agree, the DS is a gameboy. Ninty were like 'oh yeah we're going down a secondary path with the DS but there will still be the gameboy.' wtf? the gameboy is evolving. god they're wanks.

DancesInUnderwear

7 years ago

Jibbs wrote

Hey i'm not mitch the bitch, like spanca said i'm smelly jibbs.

Hey, leave me alone, I'm sleepy.

Its the smell that confuses me. I can never remember which one of you has the "wet dog thats been rolling in garlic sauce" smell and which one has the "toilet thats just been sprayed with lavender air freshener" smell. It is a common mistake to make.

Bitchacho

7 years ago

bags the toilet one.

Cro

7 years ago

^ kinda poofy

ObsoletE

7 years ago

Quote

It survived the Lynx, Gamegear, Game.com, Nomad, Turbo Express, Neo Geo Pocket and even the PSP.

you forgot the NGage, but i think most people do.

Bitchacho

7 years ago

what about Gizmondo?

David

7 years ago

Yeah, I knew I forgot a few...

Bitchacho

7 years ago

Tamagotchi? Digimon? Dave you missed heaps.

David

7 years ago

Hardly matters does it? It's hyperbole, so I just listed most major ones. The next most major handheld was probably the wonderswan.

Nev

7 years ago

Marketing 101.

Every other Nintendo portable was called a Gameboy because "Gameboy" is such a well known and beloved brand. They weren't sure whether the DS would catch on to the extent that it has, so rather than risk tarnishing the Gameboy name, they called it something else. That way, if it had failed miserably, they could have released a Gameboy Ultra, or Gameboy Super-Mega-Awesome... SP. Or something.

That said, it's unlikely we'll hear the name "Gameboy" again. The DS is the hot ticket now, and 5 years down the track, the word "Gameboy" will be associated with the past, not the future.

You don't throw away a good brand - you trot it out. That is why you have the Playstation 3 and the Playstation Portable. It's why you have an Xbox 360. They are strong brands that people are familiar with, and that you paid a stackload of cash to get into people's heads.

GameCube on the other hand... not so much. Now, fast forward 5 years down the track and assume that the Wii is a major success... you're far more likely to see a Wii 2, or a Wii Advance, or a Wii Ultra Lite SP 360 Xtreme.

Personally, I think Nintendo are kicking themselves over that name.

No, not Wii.

DS.

It's obvious that they're trying to keep the looks of the system in line with one another, as well as promote cross-conectivity. They're trying to feed on the DS' success with their new system - and it's sure to work a treat in Japan, at very least.

But they couldn't give it the now well-known DS brand, because DS stands for dual-screen. Had they called the DS "Wii," for example, I'm sure they would have called the new console the "Wii - Home" or something of that nature, to promote the brand on two fronts.

Hyperworm

7 years ago

Great post, Nev. I agree entirely.

I often end up wondering how Nintendo intends to move on from the DS, though. Maybe I shouldn't think about it for a while.

Bitchacho

7 years ago

agreed with Hyperworm. Nev that post was beautiful,

chriharr

7 years ago

Um Yeah i just have to clear a few things up on this board because people still don't use their brains, firstly the name DS stands for "Developers System" which Nintendo has mentioned numerous times, they said it can also be said "Dual Screen", but the official meaning is Developers system as it holds strong bonds for third party support with touch screen, mic, 2 screens etc.

Also the name DS is not really refered to as the next Gameboy, Nintendo clearly stated in the 2004 E3 Press Conference that the DS would not be an upgrade of their Gameboy Franchise and is a completely new system, and is far more advanced than the Gameboy Advance, yes the DS has backwards compatability, but the gameboy advance port is mainly an expansion port as Nintendo already own the patents for GBA cartdriges so Accessories can simply be in the shape of a GBA Cartridge etc, take the DS Rumble pack for Example

The name DS gets far more street appeal over the PSP as PSP sounds like "USB" and "DS" sounds just as appealing as "DC"

I think the Gameboy Advance will still be supported for many years although i think it will be phased out by 2010, and the Gameboy Micro we could see sitting next to the Tamagotchi's for $25.00 at Kmart or Toys R US

Im willing to bet the Nintendo DS will be around for a long time and will see just as much support and love as the Gameboy Franchise has

As for Nintendo Wii, Nintendo have already won second place in the Next Gen Console War, as sony have completely failed from a marketing point of view with the following features:

New Media: Blue-Ray( a new format which will fail like all over sony formats)

(High Definition) hold it back for at least 5 more years as less than 20% of Australians own a High Definition Television

(Cost) $800+ gees i could buy a new TV or a Nintendo Wii and 4 games for that price

Sorry for getting off topic, i hope i made some good points, if i didn't haters get stuffed!!!

Spanca

7 years ago

Are you 12 or just plain retarded?

Qbert

7 years ago

Or both?

Page12 Next

View as forum topic

Add Comment