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Released in 2001, the Game Boy Advance is one of the many evolutions of Nintendo's handheld family.
- Originally released in 1989, the Nintendo Game Boy is now 30 years old.
- The Game Boy helped create a market for portable video games; Nintendo has sold more than 100 million Game Boy and Game Boy Color consoles worldwide.
- Nintendo continues to dominate the portable gaming market with innovative handheld consoles like the Switch and the 3DS.
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Nintendo recently celebrated the 30th anniversary of the Game Boy, the handheld console that has been synonymous with portable video games for decades.
While the original Nintendo Entertainment System made Nintendo a household name by bring video games into homes across the world, the Game Boy made it possible to play games just about anywhere. And like the NES before it, the Game Boy created a baseline for every handheld console that would follow it.
Video games have changed a lot since the 8-bit, black-and-white pixels of the Game Boy were in style, but Nintendo has stayed at the top of the industry. Two factors helped the Game Boy become a long term success: durable design and a massive library of games. Even as Nintendo implemented innovative new features for its later handhelds, the company built a legacy on its consistent design and thorough investment in portable gaming.
From the original Game Boy to the 3DS and Switch today, here's how Nintendo's handheld consoles have evolved over the years: