Game Boy Color Nearly Had A Live Video Add-On Accessory

A cancelled Game Boy Color peripheral was recently uncovered that would have let players receive broadcasts directly from Nintendo.

Historically, Nintendo has always been quite an experimental company when it comes to video games hardware. It led the charge on handheld consoles and motion controls. And the Nintendo Switch is a result of all of its previous consoles combined.

But it has also had its fair share of failures too. The Famicom Disk System was an expansion to the Famicom that would use floppy disks. But it was never released outside of Japan. The Virtual Boy attempted VR before it was cool, but was limited by hardware at the time. And now it turns out that Nintendo had once attempted to make a device that could host live video: the Page Boy.

YouTube video

A recent video from Liam Robertson on DidYouKnowGaming uncovered the lost Game Boy Color peripheral. And it went into plenty of detail about it. Last year Liam Robertson discovered the Work Boy, a keyboard expansion for the Game Boy. The “game” connected to it contained things like an address book and appointment book. The Page Boy would have a similar function, but also used the same radio wave frequencies as pagers. That would then allow communication between Game Boy Color devices. 

It would also theoretically let users read issues of Nintendo Power on the console. And there was also the potential to receive live broadcasts directly from Nintendo. Other functions included a weather app, and sending messages to other Game Boy Colors. And you would even be able to ask Mario questions. Ultimately though, the Page Boy never released, once again something a bit ahead of its time.

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Featured Image Credit: Nintendo