Support NeoGAF

[IbizaPocholo]

Nintendo's Game Boy Color Almost Had Internet, Live-Streaming, and Email

An accessory was planned for Nintendo's Game Boy Color that would have allowed consumers the ability to surf the web, live-stream, and use email.

gamerant.com

Video game historian Liam Robertson details the PageBoy in his newest video, uncovering lost images and information of the unreleased Game Boy Color add-on. Originally, the PageBoy was planned to use radio transmission technology to allow its users to access the web, read gaming magazines, weather reports, sports stats, and even watch live television. It would even allow its users to message and contact others with a PageBoy as well, using the same kind of technology that pagers used, hence the PageBoy's name.

Nintendo was excited by the technology at the time as it would truly put it on the precipice of the tech world, essentially allowing its users access to the first smartphone without the whole actual phone aspect. In 1999, Nintendo worked with a newly created group entitled Wizard to help kickstart and manage the device, working to see if the Game Boy Color add-on could indeed be created and if it would be profitable for the gaming giant.

Ultimately, the PageBoy's reliance on radio transmission tech and its use of radio towers only really widely present in the United States killed any chance of the creation of the device. While Nintendo was extremly impressed by users' ability to send images using the Game Boy camera and the company's own ability to send live video to PageBoy owners, radio transmission was going to severely limit the add-on's appeal. Nintendo was adamant about the Game Boy's universal appeal and simplicity, and the PageBoy would ultimately work against that philosophy.

The Big N ended up scrapping the PageBoy's development in July 2002 after much deliberation.

 

[Ebidramon]

I bet it almost had an OLED screen, and HDMI 2.1 support too.

 

[johnnyKage5]

One thing I regret was not owning a game boy colour. The game boy I had was a gift from my parents but I never got the later versions until I payed for them myself. I totally missed the game boy colour that came out after the one had.

 

[Y0ssarian]

How? The switch doesn't have that stuff now

 

[Coolwhhip]

I almost dated Audrey Hepburn.

 

[Georges Chiellins]

Yeah yeah, the company that still can't, in 2021, offer normal online services for its most up to date platform, was going to do livestream and other things... on a game boy color.

Right.

FFS, the Dreamcast offered a better online experience than the Switch. That's how far behind Nintendo is.

 

[GeekyDad]

 

[Drew1440]

Browsing the Internet on an 8Mhz cpu, who needs a PDA?

 

[Skifi28]

I almost wasn't born, unfortunately for the rest of you I was.

 

[GymWolf]

So a gameboy color was close to have more features than a damn switch?

 

[Tams]

Honestly, I don't care that the Switch doesn't have an accessible built-in browser (it clearly has one as some games show).

The DS had a good browser (by the old Opera team, and before Chromium took over and wasted resources). It was fun to use, but even then not needed.

So, back on topic, I understand why they didn't go ahead with this. It wouldn't have been a good experience, and few would have used or even been able to use it. The Internet in many ways just wasn't there yet.

 

[nightmare-slain]

good thing it didn't. it's a device for playing games so that's where all the focus should go. same goes for Switch. i don't care if there is no browser or whatever. It's a gaming console so as long as it plays games I'm happy. PS4 has a browser but i have never used it. I got by fine on my PS2 with a browser too. I buy consoles to play games. If i want a browser on my gaming hardware then that's what a PC is for.