From time to time I've encountered some pretty awesome ads from the history of the Game Boy line of handhelds. I was 8 years old when the first Game Boy was released, and I've followed the line rather closely. So in a way it's endearing to see this time line grow up with my generation. For your review I've assembled a bit of a retrospective of the Game Boy line and how each new iteration has been presented to the world.



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Game Boy, 1989
Game Boy Play It Loud Series, 1995
Here's an ad that screams "late 80's-early 90's!" It's weird, random and borderline wrong. And if you've ever seen a PG-13 comedy from the time period, then you know that young boys of that generation liked most things that were random, weird and borderline wrong. Well played, Nintendo. Well played.

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Game Boy Pocket, 1996
This ad is definitely a bit cheeky by Nintendo standards. Remember, this is a company that heavily cencored cult classics like Maniac Mansion for content to achieve a sort of "E for Everybody" image. Perhaps in the wake of Sony's new Playstation they felt that they needed to be a bit edgier? At any rate, it's obvious that even Nintendo themselves realized that the pre-teen boys that they marketed the original Game Boy to were now teenagers, and still the target audience for the Game Boy line. And teenage boys like half-naked girls. Seriously.

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Game Boy Advance, 2001
Here's a couple of GBA ads that seem to be helmed by David Fincher. What's with the green hues and disturbing imagery, Nintendo? Perhaps the teenage boys that were in the market for the last Game Boy model were now in their early 20's and into art films and horror flicks?

[img width=700 height=477]http://www.lyris-lite.net/2007/07/03/gbasp.jpg[/img]

Game Boy Advance SP, 2003
This ad shows that same bit of sexual inuendo, but it's a bit more mature. A little more sleak and GQ, if you will. The ever-aware Nintendo seems to aknowledge that the young boys whose parents bought them the first Game Boy are now men (it actualy says that the GBA SP is "for men"). And maybe those men are starting to settle down, but are still up for sneaking in a bit of Zelda.

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