In 1989, a big gray brick with a tiny monochrome screen became gaming's new smash hit

This is part of a special series where NPR looks back at our coverage of major news stories in the past.

Japanese company Nintendo introduced the Game Boy, its first portable gaming device to take game cartridges, in 1989. Early models boasted a two-inch screen and ran on an 8-bit system. As long as players had four AA batteries to power the Game Boy, they could play anywhere, anytime.

The Game Boy entered the American market on July 31, 1989, and sold 1 million units within a few weeks. Nintendo included Tetris in the U.S. game cartridge bundle and the game became a massive success among players, eventually selling 35 million units of the game with the Game Boy. Other early titles included Super Mario Land, Alleyway, Baseball and Tennis.

In 1990, NPR’s Lars Hoel talked with adults who enthusiastically played Tetris on their Game Boy before (and sometimes during) work. One business executive said, “[…] I just put on Tetris and I get my heartbeat racing, I get my competitive spirit going and then I’m ready to take on the world.”

Nintendo released many iterations of the Game Boy, including the Game Boy Pocket, the Game Boy Color and the Game Boy Advance, before ending its production of the device in 2005. By that point, Nintendo had sold nearly 120 million units worldwide.