Game Boy Color Under the Tree

Nintendo stopped by the videogames.com offices with a couple serious distractions Wednesday morning. It brought the Game Boy Color with a Mario demo (and the color version of Zelda that may or may not come to the US).

The Game Boy Color is not much thicker than the standard black and white Game Boy, and its minimal added bulk actually makes for a better grip on the device. We played around in the first level of Mario (the old NES version) on the GB Color , and while it's the same old Mario, that's a very cool thing.

The colors were fairly bright, and best yet, the contrast dial is gone because the screen stays viewable, through Sharp's proprietary Super Mobile LCD tech, whether you're inside or outside - just like Nintendo promised.

In another experiment, we watched the backward compatibility in action. We plugged in our old GB version of Bomberman and saw a minor, but nonetheless existent color palette come to life. The Nintendo rep also mentioned that forward compatibility is another feature of the Game Boy Color .

The GB Color is scheduled to be released in Japan and the US simultaneously on November 23, 1998. The price is to be US$79.95. Gamers can expect to pay pretty much the same for GB Color titles as they currently pay for standard Game Boy games: about $29.95.