Yeah that's probably true. I guess this isn't really a practical product to produce at a mass market price point.
No! Don't kill my hope!
Here are the OG (Original Gameboy) specs:
Technical specificationsCPU Custom 8-bit Sharp LR35902 at 4.19 MHz. This processor is similar to an Intel 8080 in that none of the registers introduced in the Z80 are present. However, some of the Z80's instruction set enhancements over the 8080, particularly bit manipulation, are present. Still other instructions are unique to this particular flavor of 8080/Z80 CPU. The IC also contains integrated sound generation.
- RAM: 8 kB internal S-RAM (can be extended up to 32 kB)
- Video RAM: 8 kB internal
- ROM: On-CPU-Die 256-byte bootstrap; 256 kb, 512 kb, 1 Mb, 2 Mb, 4 Mb and 8 Mb cartridges
- Sound: 2 pulse wave generators, 1 PCM 4-bit wave sample (64 4-bit samples played in 1Ă—64 bank or 2Ă—32 bank) channel, 1 noise generator, and one audio input from the cartridge. The unit only has one speaker, but headphones provide stereo sound.
- Display: Reflective STN LCD 160 Ă— 144 pixels
- Frame Rate: Approx. 59.7 frames per second on a regular Game Boy, 61.1 on a Super Game Boy
- Vertical Blank Duration: Approx 1.1 ms
- Screen size: 66 mm (2.6 in) diagonal
- Color Palette: 2-bit (4 shades of "gray" {light to very dark olive green})
- Power: 6 V, 0.7 W (4 AA batteries provide 15–30+ hours)
- Dimensions: 90 mm (W) × 148 mm (H) × 32 mm (D) / 3.5″ × 5.8″ × 1.3″
- Weight: 220 g
Tell me with a straight face you can't make one of those at mass market prices, 29 years later
I'd love a Gameboy Mini and these would make a great and very likely list:
DK 94
Super Mario Land
Link's Awakening
Duck Tales
Kirby's Dream Land 1
Metroid 2
Mole Mania
In addition, my own picks:
Tennis
Baseball
World Cup Soccer
Golf
F-1 Race
Alleyway
Dr. Mario
Kirby's Pinball Land
Radar Mission
Battletoads
Pocket Bomberman
Mortal Kombat (why not)
[no way are they throwing in Pokemon]
and maybe one more each of action, rpg, & sidescroller and you've got a very appealing, diverse, and nostalgic handheld. That'd be what, 22 games? Right in the sweet spot. Ya got lots of sports, some platformers and adventure, puzzle games, a few third party games, and a bloody fighting game that parents will love. I'd definitely buy that, but would I pay more than $60 when a 2DS is a little bit more? And what about multiplayer?
Also, there are tons of great GBC games, so I think they'd make a separate mini just for that.
Comment below if you think I missed something and thanks for reading.