112
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Accepted
Why does the original Game Boy support four shades of grey?
The first computers were monochrome; they only knew 2 colors, as for each pixel, you only had 1 bit:
0
1
As for the Gameboy, it supported 2 bits per pixel, which gives us 4 possible colors to choose ...
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77
votes
Why does the original Game Boy support four shades of grey?
While Nolonar's answer is true from a technical perspective, it's not the actual reason why the developers chose to go with a monochrome system. Gunpei Yokoi, the creator of the Game Boy, ...
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58
votes
Does the original Game Boy game "Tetris" have a battery memory inside the cartridge?
The answer is no. As you can see from this page (and in the picture below), which shows the internals of the game boy Tetris cartridge, there's no battery inside, so the game doesn't have any kind of ...
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47
votes
Does the original Game Boy game "Tetris" have a battery memory inside the cartridge?
The original 'Game Boy' version of Tetris released in 1989, did not have battery backup.
However, the updated version for the Game Boy Color, Tetris DX (released in 1998/99), is backwards-compatible ...
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35
votes
Accepted
Can the original Gameboy be played with an AC/DC adapter?
As Wikipedia clearly states, the original Gameboy can be used with an AC/DC adapter:
The Game Boy also contains optional input and/or output connectors. On the left side of the system is an ...
- 18.9k
33
votes
Accepted
How do I get the space shuttle launch in Game Boy Tetris?
You are playing the wrong game mode.
In A-TYPE, a rocket launch is shown when the player surpasses a certain score:
100,000 to 149,999 points: small rocket
150,000 to 199,999 points: medium-sized ...
- 36.4k
13
votes
Can the original Gameboy be played with an AC/DC adapter?
Yes, the Gameboy has a DC jack:
However, it is one with a built-in switch to switch between the batteries and the DC input. This switch isn't perfect and the Gameboy has very small (nonexistent?) ...
- 469
8
votes
Does the original Game Boy game "Tetris" have a battery memory inside the cartridge?
My Japanese copy erases it every time i turn it off, not sure about the PAL and NA versions though.
8
votes
Was the Game Boy Color really called that in the UK?
Both the official Nintendo UK page at https://www.nintendo.co.uk/Corporate/Nintendo-History/Game-Boy-Color/Game-Boy-Color-627137.html and what seems to be the official Nintendo-supplied Amazon UK shop ...
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8
votes
Accepted
How long does original Game Boy battery backed memory last?
Unfortunately, the answer seems to be "It varies":
Old MCB1 games with the CR1616 are expected to retain data for 15 years +/- 5 years. About now, in other words.
Old games with the CR2024 are ...
- 18.4k
7
votes
To what extent is Tetris (on Game Boy) a game of luck?
Newer versions of Tetris use "bags" to ensure that you don't go too long without getting a particular piece again. However, many older versions of Tetris, such as the Gameboy version, produced pieces ...
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7
votes
Can the original Gameboy be played with an AC/DC adapter?
I can confirm that I had a Gameboy (Pocket, but my brother had a normal one) and an adaptor for it.
I think you were technically meant to use it on a Gameboy without any batteries in, but we ...
- 1,026
6
votes
Does any game make use of the Game Boy Serial Data Pin?
The Game Link Cable
The most obvious candidate for this are games that use the Game Link Cable. Individually checking all of them would be an imposing task, but luckily we don't have to. A schematic ...
- 345
4
votes
Accepted
How many games were officially released for Game Boy platforms?
Well, according to MobyGames there were:
Game Boy: 709 games released;
Game Boy Color: 612 games released;
Game Boy Advance (SP)/Micro: 1094 games released.
For a total of 709+612+1094= 2,415 games ...
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4
votes
Accepted
Could Removing A Nintendo Game Boy Game While The Console Is Powered-On Do Any Damage?
What's up?
No, not beyond save data corruption.
In fact, the Game Boy's big brother console, the Nintendo 64 had games that planned on using live cart swapping as a feature, to link games (most ...
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4
votes
Game boy color deleted my game data
This is likely, and unfortunately, a dead battery.
In most older cartridge based games, the only way to keep save data was with a small battery connected inside each cartridge. It doesn't require ...
- 18.4k
4
votes
How to identify the model/version of a Game Boy cartridge without its sticker?
Sorry if this is late, but I think others might benefit from this information too.
After a closer inspection inside some of my carts the ROM chip has the first two parts of the code and some number, ...
- 247
2
votes
Does the original Game Boy game "Tetris" have a battery memory inside the cartridge?
The original game boy tetris did not have any save support. The later "DX" version did have save support.
High score tables that did not save were a pretty normal thing in the 80s. Many games started ...
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2
votes
What to look for when buying a Game Boy Colour
In my experience, since I bought an old used Nintendo Gameboy Classic (the brick version), there are two things to consider when buying a Gameboy.
No. 1 Does the battery compartment still work and ...
- 1,402
2
votes
Accepted
Weird white lines on my Gameboy screen
OK, putting this into an answer since I realized my comments didn't have the proper sense of doom. This probably isn't fixable, as far as I know, because it is all in the circuits and hardware of the ...
- 151
1
vote
To what extent is Tetris (on Game Boy) a game of luck?
Well, this would seem like its the case, but I think its in most cases the opposite.
First, a disclamer : No Tetris game can be infinite becase you eventually will end up with a series of 150 S ...
- 11
1
vote
How to identify the model/version of a Game Boy cartridge without its sticker?
You need to check if there is an engraving on the back of the cartridge or maybe on the very end of the front of it.
If it is without a transparent case maybe its beneath it but be careful if you try ...
- 31
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vote
Could Removing A Nintendo Game Boy Game While The Console Is Powered-On Do Any Damage?
And to add to what Williham Totland said, a funny experiment showed up some time ago.
This guy was hotswapping NES cartridges (mainly Tennis with Super Mario Bros).
The thing is that the position of ...
- 2,316
1
vote
Why does the original Game Boy support four shades of grey?
While I haven't studied the internal workings of the Game Boy, I have designed and built a controller for a four-gray-level LCD, for use with display panels that were designed for on/off control only. ...
- 619
1
vote
Can Game Boy games be played on the Game Boy Color?
All Game Boy Game Paks except maybe a half dozen will work on Game Boy Color.
Road Rash and Xerd no Densetsu do not run on Game Boy Color because they inadvertently rely on the effect of a bug in ...
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Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible