Platform: Game Boy
Magnetic Soccer
Yoshi
Mega Man V
Mortal Kombat 3
Tetris
Ninja Gaiden Shadow
Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins
Taz-Mania
Garfield Labyrinth
The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
Donkey Kong Land 2
We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story
Pokémon Yellow Version: Special Pikachu Edition
RoboCop
Mega Man II
Balloon Kid
Bomberman GB
X
Bonk's Revenge
Wario Blast: Featuring Bomberman!
Disney's Aladdin
Snoopy's Magic Show
Dr. Mario
Wario Land II
Taz-Mania 2
New Trivia!
Pingu: Sekai de Ichiban Genki na Penguin
Mole Mania
Madden NFL 96
Game & Watch Gallery 2
Dirty Racing
Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3
Faceball 2000
Final Fantasy Legend II
Avenging Spirit
Pokémon Green Version
Yoshi's Cookie
Kirby's Dream Land 2
The Simpsons: Itchy & Scratchy in Miniature Golf Madness
Trip World
Kwirk
The Real Ghostbusters
Shaq-Fu
WWF Raw
Game & Watch Gallery
Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters
Pokémon Red Version
Castlevania Legends
Qix
Blaster Master Jr.
Pac-In-Time
subdirectory_arrow_right Nintendo Entertainment System (Platform), Super Nintendo Entertainment System (Platform)
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Popular conceptions about Nintendo's release history in Europe claim that their hardware was never released in the former Eastern Bloc until the 21st century. Rather, these countries instead saw the proliferation of various clone consoles called "Famiclones", such as the Dendy (a Taiwanese-built bootleg that achieved widespread popularity in the Commonwealth of Independent States, made up of the ex-republics of the former Soviet Union) and the Pegasus (which became as popular in Poland as the Dendy did in Eastern Europe). However, while Famiclones did indeed dominate the Eastern European gaming market during the 1990s, Nintendo was not only aware of this, but actively attempted to halt the spread of bootlegs in these regions in favor of officially sanctioned products.
In 1994, Nintendo made a deal with Steepler, the Dendy's distributor in Eastern Europe, to permit continued sale of the Dendy in exchange for equal distribution of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and Game Boy in the Commonwealth of Independent States; official Russian releases of these systems even included Dendy stickers on the packaging to reflect the arrangement. Meanwhile, in various other parts of the former Eastern Bloc, Nintendo made deals with other third-party distributors; among others, the NES, SNES, and Game Boy saw official releases in Poland, Hungary, and the former territories of Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia during 1993–1994.
In 1994, Nintendo made a deal with Steepler, the Dendy's distributor in Eastern Europe, to permit continued sale of the Dendy in exchange for equal distribution of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and Game Boy in the Commonwealth of Independent States; official Russian releases of these systems even included Dendy stickers on the packaging to reflect the arrangement. Meanwhile, in various other parts of the former Eastern Bloc, Nintendo made deals with other third-party distributors; among others, the NES, SNES, and Game Boy saw official releases in Poland, Hungary, and the former territories of Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia during 1993–1994.
Joshua Rogers video about Nintendo in Eastern and Central Europe:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q75Re7deJC0
Russian-language articles about the Nintendo/Steepler deal:
https://web.archive.org/web/20190427025842/https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/94004
https://web.archive.org/web/20240601223552/https://dtf.ru/games/970617-legenda-o-slone-kak-it-kompaniya-steepler-sozdala-dendy-i-osnovala-rossiiskii-konsolnyi-rynok
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q75Re7deJC0
Russian-language articles about the Nintendo/Steepler deal:
https://web.archive.org/web/20190427025842/https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/94004
https://web.archive.org/web/20240601223552/https://dtf.ru/games/970617-legenda-o-slone-kak-it-kompaniya-steepler-sozdala-dendy-i-osnovala-rossiiskii-konsolnyi-rynok
subdirectory_arrow_right Neo Geo AES (Platform), Sega Mega Drive/Genesis (Platform), Arcade (Platform), Game Boy Color (Platform), Super Nintendo Entertainment System (Platform), Sega Game Gear (Platform), PlayStation (Platform), Nintendo Entertainment System (Platform), Game Boy Advance (Platform), Sega Master System/Mark III (Platform)
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In 2018, rapper Soulja Boy attempted to sell his own line of video game consoles, called the SouljaGame line, sold for $149.99 for a console and $99.99 for a handheld. Advertising claimed that the consoles would be compatible with a variety of consoles' games, including modern platforms like the PlayStation Vita, Nintendo 3DS, and Nintendo Switch. They obviously did not have such compatibility, and were rather a generic retro emulator console one could find on small business-oriented retail websites such as Wish and AliExpress loaded with pirated and modified games sold at a markup. Game libraries featured included the Neo Geo, NES, SNES, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, Sega Genesis, Sega Master System, Sega Game Gear, and PlayStation. The only difference from these pre-existing consoles is a photograph of Soulja Boy printed onto the box. He would eventually stop selling SouljaGame consoles, with the website for the console redirecting to Nintendo's 3DS website.
Soulja Boy selling SouljaGame line article:
https://variety.com/2018/gaming/news/soulja-boy-selling-cheap-consoles-1203084022/
Soulja Boy ends sales of SouljaGame line article:
https://www.ign.com/articles/2019/01/02/soulja-boy-stops-selling-souljagame-game-consoles
SouljaGame unboxing and teardown showing the packaging:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fo-qNU7Qu3k
Rerez video reviewing the console SouljaGame was based on, showing the console list:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqXuAuTFXpA#t=595
https://variety.com/2018/gaming/news/soulja-boy-selling-cheap-consoles-1203084022/
Soulja Boy ends sales of SouljaGame line article:
https://www.ign.com/articles/2019/01/02/soulja-boy-stops-selling-souljagame-game-consoles
SouljaGame unboxing and teardown showing the packaging:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fo-qNU7Qu3k
Rerez video reviewing the console SouljaGame was based on, showing the console list:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqXuAuTFXpA#t=595
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The Game Boy "Controller Kensa" cartridge is a test cart that allowed Nintendo Service Representatives to check the buttons on a Game Boy (or a SNES controller if it is in a Super Game Boy). This cart has unused test music and unused graphics from the games Alleyway and Super Mario Land.
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Lionel Simmons missed two games for the Sacramento Kings in his 1991 NBA rookie season due to tendinitis in his wrist and forearm from playing the Game Boy too much.
subdirectory_arrow_right Tetris (Game)
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After the second phase of the Gulf War ended in early 1991, Dr. Stephan Scoggins, a medic during the war, mailed his Game Boy to Nintendo of America hoping to get a replacement after it was damaged when his tent burned down in a fire. While the back of the console was in fair condition, the front was melted, severely charred and blistered, and the technicians that received it initially determined it could not be fixed. As an experiment, they inserted a copy of Tetris and powered it on, and to their surprise, the console still worked. The D-Pad, A and B buttons were nonfunctional, but the Start and Select buttons worked as normal. The magazine Nintendo Power sent Scoggins a replacement Game Boy "as a special 'Desert Storm' courtesy", and his letter asking for a replacement along with pictures of the console were featured in the magazine's July 1991 issue. The damaged Game Boy was not discarded; it was later displayed at the Nintendo New York store in New York City since its opening in 2001. As a testament to the console's durability and longevity, it remained powered on, looping the title screen and attract mode demo of Tetris, and receiving timely maintenance for over 20 years, until it was returned to Nintendo of America's headquarters in Redmond, Washington in 2023.
Footage of the Game Boy at Nintendo New York in 2006:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBeTXPaewMo
[Below links and info provided by MehDeletingLater.]
Esquire article:
https://www.esquire.com/lifestyle/a27183316/nintendo-game-boy-survived-gulf-war/
G.I. Jobs article (Stephan Scoggins letter taken from Nintendo Power: Volume 26 [July 1991] - Page 7):
https://www.gijobs.com/gulf-war-game-boy/
Game Boy's removal from Nintendo New York (Note: Scoggins clarifies in the second link that a widely reported origin of the Game Boy being damaged in a bombing at his barracks is not true. He confirmed there was a bombing in the area he was stationed in, but that the Game Boy was damaged in a separate incident when his tent caught fire):
https://www.siliconera.com/the-gulf-war-game-boy-says-goodbye-to-nintendo-new-york-store-removed/
https://www.theverge.com/2023/6/30/23780549/gulf-war-game-boy-nintendo-nyc
Stephan Scoggins archived personal website biography:
https://web.archive.org/web/20230701201035/https://www.stephanscoggins.com/biography/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBeTXPaewMo
[Below links and info provided by MehDeletingLater.]
Esquire article:
https://www.esquire.com/lifestyle/a27183316/nintendo-game-boy-survived-gulf-war/
G.I. Jobs article (Stephan Scoggins letter taken from Nintendo Power: Volume 26 [July 1991] - Page 7):
https://www.gijobs.com/gulf-war-game-boy/
Game Boy's removal from Nintendo New York (Note: Scoggins clarifies in the second link that a widely reported origin of the Game Boy being damaged in a bombing at his barracks is not true. He confirmed there was a bombing in the area he was stationed in, but that the Game Boy was damaged in a separate incident when his tent caught fire):
https://www.siliconera.com/the-gulf-war-game-boy-says-goodbye-to-nintendo-new-york-store-removed/
https://www.theverge.com/2023/6/30/23780549/gulf-war-game-boy-nintendo-nyc
Stephan Scoggins archived personal website biography:
https://web.archive.org/web/20230701201035/https://www.stephanscoggins.com/biography/