Game Boy Colour – 1998
Just shy of ten years after the release of the first Game Boy console, colour was born in the form of Game Boy Colour. Just like it’s 8-bit predecessor, the Game Boy Colour allowed users to play games from individual cartridges in the palm of their hand.
The biggest releases on the console were the Pokemon Gold and Silver series. These are classed as Second Generation Pokemon games and feature additional species beyond the original 151. Exactly 100 new species to be exact were featured across the two Game Boy Colour releases.
Nintendo GameCube – 2001
I remember reading magazines back in 2000 and hearing about a revolutionary new release from Nintendo to hit the market next year. Of course at the age of 12 next year is a lifetime away especially when new toys and tech are on the horizon. The most memorable thing about this console’s hype for me was its title “The Dolphin”. Oddly named, this led said gaming magazines being filled with concept art and sketches from fans guessing what the new console would look like.
Funnily enough the console turned out to absolutely nothing like a dolphin in shape or any other sea creature. It was merely a project title chosen by Nintendo named after the console’s Dolphin Operating System. Nintendo moved 21.74 million GameCube consoles and saw hundreds of new game releases. Many continuations from previous franchises we know and love as well as plenty of originals.
Game Boy Advance – 2001
Despite the hype of the GameCube prior to its launch in 2001, the handheld Nintendo console released the same year wiped the floor in terms of sales. Three options of the Game Boy Advance were brought to the table and totalled 81.51 million units sold worldwide.
I remember vividly giving up TV based games consoles during the early months of owning my Game Boy Advance. Reason being? The gameplay, visuals and audio were mind blowing. The ability to blast through Tony Hawk’s: Pro Skater 2 in 3D on a handheld games console was revolution. Pushing the evolution of Nintendo beyond anything that had been achieved in the portable gaming industry previously. Grab one of your own on Amazon for as little as £30 by clicking here.
Nintendo DS – 2004
Just three years later tech leaders Nintendo blasted onto the shelves with another handheld cracker. The Dual Screen or DS for short brought a concept not seen in Nintendo handhelds for almost 25 years. The system was titled “Project Nitro” during the development phases. But unlike the previous console hyped with a different title, the Nintendo DS broke records with over 154.98 million purchased worldwide.
The Nintendo DS went on to achieve new levels of success when updates became available in the form of the Nintendo DS Lite, Nintendo DSi and the Nintendo 3DS. The DSi alone broke the 40 million sales mark by December 2013, almost five years after the initial release in 2008.