Game Boy Color ‘lost’ accessory would allow internet access

Originally released in 1989 in Japan and the United States, the Game Boy reigned in the 1990s. Extremely popular, the notebook from Nintendo it ousted all competitors and, in the following years, it gained several revamped versions, including the Game Boy Color with its color display and the Game Boy Pocket, more compact.

In addition, Big N’s pocket video game also had some interesting accessories like the Game Boy Camera and Game Boy Printer, which allowed gamers to use their handhelds to take pictures and print them later. What few people know is that a “forgotten” peripheral called Page Boy, almost allowed Game Boy Color to have access to the internet.

The “discovery” was published by the channel Did You Know Gaming on YouTube, which contacted professionals who worked on the project. The video is very detailed and tells the whole story behind the accessory, which ended up never being released and can be seen below (in English).

The little device would make the Game Boy able to surf the web, access the inbox and even perform online surveys using a custom search engine, all this using a connection similar to the one used in pagers. Because it is a dated technology and slow speed, while waiting for the results of the search, players would see Mario talking and humming the song from Mundo 1-1 from Super Mario Bros.

Another feature suggested by the creation team would be to grant users access to a digital version from the official Nintendo Power magazine, allowing them to read the main news and reviews of the publication on the video game screen.

Furthermore, in a much more ambitious suggestion, the team behind the prototype intended to release the Game Boy TV, which sounds quite like a precursor to the Nintendo Direct. The functionality would allow Nintendo to publicize news about its upcoming releases live, streaming directly to the handheld’s display.

The device would cost about $50, but it ended up never seeing the day. Work on the project ran for three years, until 2002, when Nintendo ended up opting to cancel the idea.

–