No more Game Boy?

[Darran@Retro Gamer]

With the recent news that Nintendo is most likely going to discontinue the Game Boy brand I'\m looking for suitable game boy/game boy advance posts that would be suitable for the story im writing.

[CraigGrannell]

I'm always suspicious when I hear this kind of thing. Clearly, the success of the DS surprised Nintendo, and any 'Game Boy' right now would be superfluous to requirements. However, I bet the brand is merely on hiatus, ready to return at some point in the future. Then again, with the DS able to run GBA games, I reckon the latter console's life has been prematurely ended anyway.

[The Master]

Can't you still buy brand new GBAs?

[CraigGrannell]

Yes, but Nintendo's more or less admitted that while hardware's being released, sales will rely on the back catalogue, rather than new titles. Think about the position the Speccy and C64 were in right at the end of their lives in the 1990s—same thing.

[merman]

I fear it may be premature, people still recognise the Game Boy "brand" even if they are buying DS's. The Micro may have been the right product to cement its legacy, but it came at the wrong time. And since the DS is compatible with GBA carts, I'm sure we'll still see the games on shop shelves for a while yet...

[Sega2006]

I swear I read in a Nintendo mag before the DS came out that Nintendo werent going to phase out the Gameboy brand but run it along side the DS. Looks like they proved themselves very wrong indeed

[Elgin_McQueen]

I swear I read in a Nintendo mag before the DS came out that Nintendo werent going to phase out the Gameboy brand but run it along side the DS. Looks like they proved themselves very wrong indeed

Would that have been the GB Micro then?? Less alongside, more ten miles below!!!

[Sega2006]

Not quite that, the micro wasnt mentiond at all in the article

[MC1]

Not quite that, the micro wasnt mentiond at all in the article

I remember reading something similar. I thought the article mentioned a new and improved Gameboy, definately not the Micro.

[Sega2006]

It spoke of a possible GBA 2 but that all I could remember, it was around the time the Nes Classics came out aswell as it had coverage and an advert in the mag

[SirClive]

I wasn't a fan of the GBA and sold my SP quite soon after buying it, but I am really pleased that the DS can play the GBA game because now that stock is being sold off I am finding some superb GBA games that I otherwise have missed out on.

[Sega2006]

Bare in mind the oh so great DS cannot play the entire GB back catalouge which has some truly worth while titles that are too good to miss

[Shin_Gouki]

Personally I think the Game Boy name should be carried on. It's a least a little more creative than "DS."

[Dizrythmia]

Ever since the first Gameboy came out, Nintendo have always supported 1 console, 1 handheld. The one time they tried to have a 3rd machine on the market they failed, though this could have been due to the Virtual Boy itself rather than having 3 machines on the go... I've always seen it like this:

NES/GB
SNES/GB
SNES/GB Pocket
N64/GB Colour/VB
N64/GB Colour
GC/GBA
Wii/DS/GBA
Wii/DS

Obviously some of these overlap slightly.

Maybe I could be wrong, but obviously having the GBA released isn't working for Nintendo. The DS plays GBA games, & while the DS doesn't play classic Gameboy games... well every console becomes obsolete at some stage. It's just time for the GB to bow out now I suppose.

[Dudley]

The DS was supposed to be the "3rd pillar".

It was TOO successful that it just didn't make sense to release another GB. It would just confuse and drive people to the PSP.