Game Boy Oddities

On its 20th birthday, 13 strange lives of the most popular gaming handheld ever.

By  |  Monday, April 13, 2009 at 11:36 pm

See all: Original Site, Slideshows


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A Hero’s Return

During the Gulf War, Nintendo distributed thousands of Game Boys to American soldiers. One such handheld (seen above) almost bought the farm during a bombing raid on an American barracks. Amazingly, though, the unit still works, and it’s now on display at the Nintendo World Store in New York. There, it continuously runs Tetris and serves as a dramatic reminder of the Game Boy’s durability.

Photos courtesy Gillian Gunson (L) and Marcin Wichary (R)

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37 Comments For This Post

  1. fess Says:
    April 14th, 2009 at 5:07 pm

    fake,

    the video from the them shows the kid “tripping out” on his hand while he’s sedated, which a real firm would not have left in.

    second, it claims a patent which has nothing to do with the pedisedate. http://www.google.com/patents?vid=USPAT6697363

  2. fess Says:
    April 14th, 2009 at 5:16 pm

    well, the end of the video lists a different patent, which actually seems to be about an inhalation device.

    http://www.google.com/patents?vid=USPAT5697363

    so. I guess that lends some legitimacy to the thing.

    Still the trippy hand thing seems a pretty weird thing to include in the video about it being a great medical tool.

  3. Abhi Shah Says:
    April 16th, 2009 at 10:34 pm

    yeahhhhh … thats what i am talking about
    http://abhi.com.np/blog/

  4. jusum Says:
    April 30th, 2009 at 4:04 am

    would be a very cool trick to get more japanese buyers. janome is the leading brand in all of asia I think. for me, who loves nintendo’s handhelds and my sewing machines are smiling when seeing this. true or not, awesome idea!

  5. Zoe-chan Says:
    May 3rd, 2009 at 12:33 pm

    You forgot the gameboy fishfinder…

    http://www.gamersgraveyard.com/repository/gameboy/peripherals/pocketsonar.html

  6. Yosp Says:
    June 7th, 2009 at 5:28 pm

    I used to have the gum package, those were some memories.

  7. Anna Says:
    July 11th, 2009 at 12:02 pm

    I am 101% sure I have seen the see-through game boys in Denmark, even in different colours as mentioned.

  8. dave Says:
    July 23rd, 2009 at 3:07 pm

    I stumbled into this page, which at first glance, appeared like something I wanted to read… then I discovered the first page was already over, and there were seven more like it. I then pressed “Stumble” again.

    I hope you’ve learned your lesson.

  9. Adam Says:
    August 15th, 2009 at 11:44 am

    yeah i saw this when i went to NYC a few weeks ago. I’m sure if it was a game boy pocket it wouldn’t have made it, those original game boys are like solid bricks.

  10. Chris Says:
    August 17th, 2009 at 11:51 pm

    Heh–the ones commenting on the see-through GB. Notice that the one shown is a *back-lit* original GB (they just happened to get the clear case version for the pic).

    The sewing machine one is kind of neat. The race-radio one…interesting, and for some reason reminds me of the old TV Tuner add-on for the Game Gear. The glucose tester thing…interesting, but a a bad idea, I think–if nothing else, it’d encourage the kid to stick themselves way too often. :-/

    As far as the Pedisedate…frankly, you’ve got it completely bass-ackwards, unfortunately. It isn’t a Game Boy addon as such. It’s a sedative inhaler for children that can have pretty much any handheld or music player attached to it (which if you would have seen if you actually read the site you linked to) to distract the kid from the process of being sedated–not sure about the technical aspects, but I’m presuming the only reason there’s even a hookup at all is because they figured they might as well put headphones in the set along with the inhaler ‘snorkel’. Also keep in mind this in no way, shape, or form a general consumer item, either–it’s meant entirely for licensed medical practitioners only.

  11. acabaca Says:
    September 17th, 2009 at 5:54 am

    Another oddity: The Finnish musician Huoratron composes and plays his songs on two modified Nintendo Gameboys.

    http://www.myspace.com/huoratron

  12. oyunlar Says:
    September 22nd, 2009 at 12:05 pm

    thanks for this post, really good..

  13. hothit Says:
    October 4th, 2009 at 7:24 am

    Wow, I think that game boy lose in the market many year ago.

  14. promote Says:
    October 4th, 2009 at 7:27 am

    Thank for this story.. Why it has 14 page , it is difficult to read.

  15. Marc Says:
    November 7th, 2009 at 3:47 am

    I used to own a digital game boy watch (I was about 7). I was shaped like a game boy with all the buttons and had one racing game built into it, and a digital alarm.

  16. Marc Says:
    November 7th, 2009 at 5:32 am

    Wow I found one on ebay 🙂 http://tinyurl.com/y9ok7nx – good to see a photo, was quite a cool gadget back in the day.

  17. Deenox Says:
    January 7th, 2010 at 4:55 pm

    Thank you for eccentricity, some are new to me.

  18. promoteweb Says:
    January 22nd, 2010 at 4:20 am

    I used to own a digital game boy watch (I was about 7). I was shaped like a game boy with all the buttons and had one racing game built into it, and a digital alarm.

  19. โตโยต้ายาริส Says:
    January 22nd, 2010 at 4:23 am

    yeah i saw this when i went to NYC a few weeks ago. I’m sure if it was a game boy pocket it wouldn’t have made it, those original game boys are like solid bricks.

  20. เกมส์ทําอาหาร Says:
    February 21st, 2010 at 6:45 am

    […] stumbled across the PediSedate while putting together a list of the weirdest accessories ever invented for the Game […]
    hahahahaha..haha..

  21. cheap laptop Says:
    February 24th, 2010 at 6:33 pm

    Thanks for good information that comes out to read.

  22. Chandra Says:
    March 1st, 2010 at 1:42 am

    Awesome! Thanks for sharing! interesting..

  23. travel Says:
    March 16th, 2010 at 12:58 am

    Thanks for share. Technologizer has put together a list of some of the weirdest accessories, variations and tributes to the most.

  24. Raphaël Confiant Says:
    March 21st, 2010 at 9:05 pm

    Thank you for the great story.

  25. MikeTheInfidel Says:
    April 14th, 2010 at 5:16 pm

    The guy who photoshopped the PSPBoy is actually named MaDSouL. He makes music: http://team-duck.com/madsoul/

  26. SEO Says:
    May 28th, 2010 at 12:18 pm

    Very interesting post – I’m definitely going to bookmark you! Thank you for your info

  27. iPad Apps Says:
    June 29th, 2010 at 12:42 am

    Classic! Well, I still have my old game boy kept inside my box. However I'm now staying in front of my computer plating OnLive game.

  28. Sell Gold For Cash Says:
    August 4th, 2010 at 10:22 am

    I still remember getting my original gameboy back when I was a kid. Really got me into the world of gaming for the first time. In fact I think I still have it stored somewhere.

  29. Email Marketing Says:
    August 6th, 2010 at 12:20 pm

    These old games are sweet!! Do you remember when you use to have to blow inside the game cartridge to get the game to work? Awww that fun gaming days.

  30. Work home business Says:
    August 10th, 2010 at 12:14 pm

    I forgot about gameboys, these are awesome! I used to play these things everyday. Good memories.

  31. routers home Says:
    August 16th, 2010 at 8:58 am

    there is also the gameboy fishfinder

  32. skin clinic brisbane Says:
    August 18th, 2010 at 10:52 am

    Nintendo has always been a favorite of mine, even though there have been countless updates and other systems developed, I still prefer the Nintendo NES and game boy.

  33. mick stop Says:
    September 24th, 2010 at 12:38 am

    My dad said that there are some "odd things" in the wizard of oz like a little boy peering around a tree in one of the tin man scenes. Does anyone know any others besides the hanging midget one? Where are they exactly (I gotta check 'em out of course)

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    September 24th, 2010 at 1:30 am

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  35. qigong Says:
    October 2nd, 2010 at 7:02 am

    This site is very helpful for me. Thank you. Its very interesting and colorful.

  36. su. Says:
    October 5th, 2010 at 12:45 am

    would be a very cool trick to get more japanese buyers. janome is the leading brand in all of asia I think. for me, who loves nintendo's handhelds and my sewing machines are smiling when seeing this. true or not, awesome idea!

  37. help Says:
    October 6th, 2010 at 1:07 am

    hello readers

20 Trackbacks For This Post

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