Game Boy Color
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The Game Boy Color (also referred to as GBC) is Nintendo's successor to the Game Boy. It features a color screen, and is only slightly larger than the Game Boy Pocket. The processor is twice as fast as a Game Boy's, and has twice as much memory. Released in November of 1998, the Game Boy Color (also referred to as GBC) added a color screen to a form factor slightly larger than the Game Boy Pocket. It also has double the processor speed, twice as much memory, and an infrared communications port. A major draw of the Game Boy Color was its backward compatibility (that is, a Game Boy Color is able to read older Game Boy cartridges). This became a major feature of the Game Boy line, since it allowed each new launch to begin with a significantly larger library than any of its competitors.
It featured an infrared communications port for wireless linking which did not appear in later versions of the Game Boy, such as the Game Boy Advance.
Missing image Gameboy_color_collage.PNG The Game Boy Color came in a myriad different colors, as did earlier incarnations of the Game Boy. |
The Game Boy Color was a response to pressure from game developers for a new system, as they felt that the Game Boy, even in its latest incarnation, the Game Boy Pocket, was insufficient. The resultant product was backward compatible, a first for a handheld console system, and leveraged the large library of games and great installed base of the predecessor system.
The console was capable of showing up to 56 different colors simultaneously on screen from its palette of 32,768, and could add basic four-color shading to games that had been developed for the original Game Boy.
Specifications
- CPU: 8-bit Z80, ran in single mode (4 MHz) and double mode (8 MHz)
- RAM: 32 kbit (plus 128 kbit on cartridges)
- ROM: Catridges up to 64 Mbit were made
- Video RAM: 16 kbit
- Sound: 4 Channel FM stereo
- Video: Highly reflective TFT LCD, 160x144 pixels made by Sharp
- Color Palette: 32,768 colors; Supports 10, 32, or 56 simultaneous colors on-screen
- Controls: 8 directional D-Pad, A, B, select, and start buttons.
- Communication: Serial or Infrared
- Serial: 512 kbit/s; up to 4 consoles at a time
- Infrared: Less than 2 metres at 45 degrees
- Power: 2 AA batteries provide ~13 hours. An AC Adapter (DC 3V) was also available.
Screenshots
Missing image GBC_Zelda_Links_Awakening_DX.png Screenshot The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX | Missing image GBC_R-Type_DX.png Screenshot R-Type DX | Missing image GBC_Donkey_Kong_Country.png Screenshot Donkey Kong Country | Missing image GBC_Metal_Gear_Solid.png Screenshot Metal Gear Solid |
| The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX | R-Type DX | Donkey Kong Country | Metal Gear Solid |
| Nintendo (1998) | Bits Studio/Irem (1999) | Rare/Nintendo (2000) | Konami (2000) |