Game Boy Pocket pt. 2

So here is the follow-up to my story from the last post.

Once I picked up my GBA, I quickly forgot about not having the GBP any longer. Who needed one when I could play all my GB games on the Advance anyways? And so, the years went by, the DS came and went, and the 3DS appeared. By now, I had GB emulators on the DS, PSP, phone and tablet, so I wouldn’t ever need a GB again, would I?

And yet, there was something about those big pixels, the form factor and colors of the GBP, and those big cartridges that still appealed to me.

So fast forward to last month. I’m out with my wife doing some shopping (which means, she browses and I stand around bored ;)) when we come across a so-called “Technology plaza”. I go in, expecting to only find the usual, uninteresting items (phone cases, cheap mp3 players…). And I am correct, that’s all there basically is, in the first floor. And the second. But when I reach the third floor, I come across a little store that instantly catches my attention. It’s a store dealing in retro video games and systems! As I walk in, I see 2 Virtual Boys for sale to my right, and I know I’m in the right place. Finally, a store worth visiting.

I instantly ask the owner to look at all the GB and GBA games he has, and he produces two boxes full of them… Oh boy am I ever in heaven. So long story short, I ended up leaving the place with a 25th anniversary NES edition Game Boy Advance, and my main item, a green Game Boy Pocket. I also took a couple of games, the main one being a copy of Pokemon Red. Ohh, let the childhood memories begin!

On the next post, I’ll let you know what I’ve been doing with the GBP. I’ve been up to some very interesting projects… Next post.

 

Game Boy Pocket pt. 1

So, here’s a sad story with a happy ending. When I was 12 years old, I begged my parents to buy me a Game Boy pocket. The concept of gaming on the go just seemed so enticing, especially in the late 90s. Finally, after what felt like years, my parents caved and bought me one.

I was fascinated by the device. My parents didn’t buy me any games with the console (hah!) and yet I was happy just turning it on and watching that black box come down the screen. Finally, about a month or two later I was allowed to buy 2 games, one of those 36-in-1 cartridges that in reality just had 9 games repeated over and over with different names, and a used copy of Wario Land 2. Boy did I ever love WL2. I had a strategy guide with a map of every level and hidden area in the game, and I would finish the game at 100% completion. Then, after some months, the battery in the game would give out and my saved game would be lost, so I would do it all over again. In retrospect, I had a lot of free time back then…

About 6 months later, the Pokemon revolution came around. Red and Blue were released, and my world was changed! I had already finished the main quest by the time my parents bought me the actual game, since I had downloaded a rom and a GB emulator on my parents computer and played it to death. However, I couldn’t wait for the real thing. Finally, I managed to annoy my parents enough so that they bought me the Blue version. Long story short, after months of trading in the school yard, and cheat-free training, I managed to obtain all 151 pokemon (that’s right, even that ultra-misterious [at the time] Mew) and evolve my whole party to level 100. Again, way too much free time. I can even tell you what my party was: Venusaur, Charizard, Blastoise, Articuno, Mewtwo and Mew. Because everyone knows that starters + legendary = kickass team. Screw stats.

So, we get to the sad part of the story. At one point, a classmate of mine offered to lend me his GB color in exchange for my pocket, because I-can’t-remember-why. I happily accepted, and proceeded to play some color-only games I managed to get my hands on. A month or two later, he asked to have his GBC back, and I said I would bring it to his house so I could get my pocket back as well. Well, the pocket was not there. He said that another friend of his had borrowed it, but that he would give it back to me at school the next day. Long story short, I never saw that GB again. And of course, that was right around the age where you are too cool to get parents involved, so he basically got away with losing my GB.

I was pretty annoyed by this at the time, but was not able to figure out a way to solve the situation. Time went by and I made up my mind to the fact that I would never have that GB again. About half a year later, the GB advance came out, and I quickly snagged it shortly after launch.

And thus ends the first half of this story (the sad half). I will post the second half of it later.

In the meantime, did you have a GB/GBP/GBC? Which one was your favorite and why?

Coming soon!!

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