Game Boy Mini Classic Might Be Latest Entry In Nintendo Retro Console Pipeline

Almost everything that was cool or hip a long time ago eventually comes back in style. So it goes with retro gaming, and no company knows that better than Nintendo, which has been rebooting classic games with miniaturized versions of legacy consoles, including its original Nintendo Entertainment System (NES Classic Edition) and Super NES (SNES Classic Edition). So what's next? Perhaps a reborn version of its Game Boy, one of the industry's first handheld gaming system.

Fun fact: Milton Bradley's Microvision released in 1979 is actually the first the handheld game console to use interchangeable cartridges (and it was also featured in the movie Friday the 13th: Part II). But while Nintendo does not own that distinction, the company is credited with popularizing the concept of a handheld game console, with its original Game Boy released a full decade later on April 21, 1989. Since then, Nintendo has released increasingly sophisticated mobile consoles, culminating in the Switch, its first true hybrid game system.


We would not be surprised if Nintendo gave birth to a Game Boy Classic Edition, and not just because it would be a logical release given its recent success with retro gaming. The other reason is because it has been discovered that Nintendo filed a trademark in Japan with an accompanying image of a Game Boy device.

The trademark does not specifically reference a "Game Boy Classic Edition" or offer up any real details, but there is no mistaking the rendered image for anything but a Game Boy system of some sort.


Given how popular the Game Boy was, it seems reasonable to think there be demand for a modern remake pre-loaded with original games. That has certainly been the case with the NES Classic Edition, which notched 2.3 million shipments in just five months, and will rack up even more when Nintendo resumes production next year.

Nintendo seems to have struck gold in bringing back old consoles. Demand for the SNES Classic Edition has also been through the roof so far, with stores selling out of units just as quickly as they are received. There has also been chatter of Nintendo launching an N64 Classic Edition, though nothing has yet been announced.