The original brick, not Color.

1998 was a time when graphics meant good games. Ask anybody who was a gamer during that time, whether it be a boy or girl, and they'll tell you that they bought games based on how they looked. Nintendo 64 vs. PlayStation vs. Saturn. So why did many still flock to the Game Boy?

I imagine that most kids would consider the Game Boy outdated considering it was made in 1989 and 9 years old by then. But for some reason, ports of Nintendo 64/PS1/Saturn games like WWF WarZone were made for the Game Boy, and despite the reviews the games got, KIDS STILL PLAYED THEM. (What if Spice World was ported to the Game Boy?) Hell, even the COMMERCIAL for WWF WarZone shows the Game Boy logo at the very bottom at the end. The only Mulan game that came out when that film was new was the Game Boy game. No PS1 game like Hercules (which did get a GB release.) Only a stinking Game Boy game. That must suck. Nintendo's WEBSITE during this period had a Game Boy section. They were so desperate to keep the ol' grey brick alive, they had to resort to the fucking infant Internet.

And then there was Pokémon.

TWO YEARS after its Japanese debut did this mass media phenomenon make the Game Boy "cool" and "relevant" again. Don't get me wrong, I love Pokémon, but STILL. Every single VHS of the show ended with THIS commercial and on cable, all of the game's ads had to do with capturing Pokémon in ways that'd make Team Rocket worship you. And then literally a month after its release came the Game Boy Color. But most kids only had a brick then, and despite begging parents to get it for Christmas, sometimes their parents forgot. When Yellow came out, it was 1999, and even though it was advertised as a Color release, it was made for the original Game Boy. Hell, in March 1999, GT Interactive published a Beavis and Butthead game 5 years too late on the GODDAMN BRICK, not the Color. It was released in Europe a year before, too! European countries also got a game called "Reservoir Rat" in 1999, but it's not US so...

Even when the Game Boy was discontinued after Pokémon Yellow's release, Game Boy Color games were backwards compatible with the brick for quite some time. A game called "Tara's Adventure" from 2001 was the last compatible game, and the last Super Game Boy compatible game.

OH, WAIT! I THINK I'VE GOT IT!

The Game Boy Camera.

In a desperate attempt to make kids play Game Boy again, in April 1998 Nintendo made the world's first - and smallest - digital camera. Neil Young's daughter Amber took a picture on it that became the cover of his Silver and Gold album in 2000. Shouldn't she be using it on a Game Boy Color? Don't forget to attach the printer, too! And keep a few dozen rolls of printer paper! If you're lucky, you can look up on the infant Internet how to transfer your pictures to your Windows 98! Oops, you hit the run option! Enjoy that nightmarish face with the droning 8 bit music!

I just wonder what made this puke green screen (greyscale if you're using your X-TREME! Game Boy pocket) brick so popular during the final years of the 1990s. I have a lovely Dandelion Game Boy Color I got four Christmases ago along with a dark blue Game Boy Camera, and an assortment of colorful cartridges including the aqua blue Blastoise-endorned Pokémon Blue, the banana yellow Donkey Kong Land 2, the bright, translucent pink Kirby Tilt 'n Tumble, and the dull grey Tamagotchi. COLOR.