Nintendo has often been accused of keeping its fans on their toes when it comes to announcements, and it’s fair to say that nobody was expecting the Kyoto veteran to reveal (alongside The Pokémon Company) a tiny Game Boy-sized music player earlier this year.
Released to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the Pokémon series, Game Boy Jukebox / Game Music Collection is a tiny replica of the classic monochrome handheld that comes with 45 equally tiny cartridges, each of which, when inserted into the device, plays a song from Pokémon’s 1996 debut.
Powered by three LR44 button cell batteries and described by The Pokémon Company as “an audio tour through Kanto”, this unusual little trinket is certainly very effective when it comes to triggering nostalgia – anyone who grew up with the early Pokémon adventures is sure to crack into a smile upon hearing these classic (but very low-tech) tunes and sound effects. However, the audio quality isn’t fantastic and there’s no option to plug in some headphones.
Just as the original Game Boy represented creator Gunpei Yokoi’s “lateral thinking with withered technology” ethos, this device employs a gloriously straightforward mechanism to play each of its 45 audio tracks.
The carts are literally pieces of plastic with nothing inside. Each one has a unique pattern where the connector would be, and this pushes down onto a set of six pins inside the Game Boy Jukebox’s cartridge slot – all the songs are already in the device’s memory. Flicking the power switch at the top triggers the power-on sequence and plays the tune. Alas, the buttons and D-pad are purely cosmetic and don’t do anything.
For reference, here are all the songs and sound effects included on the carts:
- Title Screen
- Pallet Town Theme
- Professor Oak
- Professor Oak’s Laboratory
- A Rival Appears
- Road to Viridian City: Leaving Pallet Town
- Battle! (Wild Pokémon)
- Victory! (Wild Pokémon)
- Pewter City Theme
- Pokémon Center
- Pokémon Healed
- Viridian Forest
- Guide
- A Trainer Appears (Girl Version)
- Battle! (Trainer Battle)
- Victory! (Trainer Battle)
- Caves of Mt. Moon
- Road to Cerulean City: Leaving Mt. Moon
- Cerulean City Theme
- Pokémon Gym
- Road to Bill’s Home: Leaving Cerulean City
- Jigglypuff’s Song
- Vermilion City Theme
- The S.S. Anne
- Road to Lavender Town: Leaving Vermilion City
- The Poké Flute
- A Trainer Appears (Boy Version)
- Battle! (Gym Leader Battle)
- Victory! (Gym Leader Battle)
- Cycling
- Lavender Town Theme
- Pokémon Tower
- Celadon City Theme
- Game Corner
- A Trainer Appears (Bad Guy Version)
- Rocket Hideout
- Silph Co.
- The Sea
- Cinnabar Island Theme
- Pokémon Mansion
- Evolution
- The Final Road
- Final Battle! (Rival)
- Hall of Fame
- Ending Theme
The carts have a scene from the game printed on the rear, so when inserted into the device, the ‘screen’ appears on the front of the Game Boy Jukebox. It’s a shame a lenticular image wasn’t used (as is the case on the Lego Game Boy), as this would have lent the image a little bit of life.
There’s no denying that the Game Boy Jukebox is a charming little piece of merchandise, and it’s important to remember that it was created expressly to celebrate the legacy of Pokémon, but I still feel like this is a huge missed opportunity for both The Pokémon Company and Nintendo.
The Game Boy is a foundational piece of gaming tech for me, and I’d love to see it reproduced with modern technology – even in ‘micro’ form, as Sega did with its fun-but-flawed Game Gear Micro.
I realise this would potentially cannibalise the Nintendo Switch Online subscription service, on which Nintendo periodically releases Game Boy titles – but I’d imagine most fans would want to support both, should a functional Game Boy reproduction ever make it to market.
For now, I’ll have to make do with the Game Boy Jukebox, which, once the initial novelty has worn off, will no doubt simply sit on a shelf looking adorable but ultimately gathering dust. Not quite a complete waste of plastic, it’s very close.
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