Their plan was to update the Game Boy, make it sleeker, throw in a crisper screen, and present the product to a new generation. Another innovation was the Pocket Monsters software they released with it. Kids love to trade, and the game capitalized on that trait perfectly - over six million copies were sold in Japan.

In 1997, a remarkable seven million Game Boys were shipped, far outselling the N64. Last year, over nine million Game Boys were sold, and in the run up to last Christmas Pocket Monsters was selling double the amount of the top PlayStation title, Metal Gear Solid.

With a franchise this valuable, Nintendo's intention was now to improve and refresh the product, and keep it in the public eye. In March 1998 they announced plans that fans had waited years for - they would revamp the Game Boy and make it full colour.

A monthly production of one million units was planned. Highly optimistic? Launched in Japan on October 21, in four days they'd already cleared 155,000 units. By the end of the year, total worldwide sales had reached five million.

Number-crunching aside, the facts are simple; total Game Boy hardware sales now amount to some 65 million, far exceeding the PlayStation's measly 50 million. The library of games now exceeds 1,000 and total software sales top 270 million. The technology might be laughably outdated, but the entertainment it provides remains unsurpassed.