View source for Game Boy Camera

{{Short description|Accessory for the Game Boy handheld game console}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2015}}
{{Infobox information appliance
| name         = Game Boy Camera
| image        = Game Boy Camera 7997.jpg
| image_size   = 200px
| caption      = A blue Game Boy Camera.  Various other colors were also available.
| manufacturer = [[Nintendo]]
| family       = [[Game Boy line]]
| type         = [[Video game accessory]]
| generation   = [[Fourth generation of video game consoles|Fourth generation]]
| releasedate  = {{vgrelease|JP|February 21, 1998<ref>{{cite web | title=ポケットカメラ及びポケットプリンタの概要 | trans-title=Overview of Pocket Cameras and Pocket Printers | website=Nintendo | url=https://www.nintendo.co.jp/corporate/release/1997-99/971121b.html | language=ja | access-date=October 21, 2025}}</ref>|NA|June 1, 1998<ref name="sales"/><ref name="GBC at Nintendo">{{cite web|url=https://www.nintendo.com/gb/gb_camera/index.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19980530121628/http://www.nintendo.com/gb/gb_camera/index.html |archive-date=May 30, 1998 |title=Game Boy Camera |publisher=[[Nintendo of America, Inc.]]}}</ref>|PAL|June 4, 1998}}
}}

The '''Game Boy Camera''', released as {{nihongo foot|'''Pocket Camera'''|ポケットカメラ|lead=yes|group=lower-alpha}} in Japan, is an accessory for [[Nintendo]]'s [[Game Boy]] game console. It was released on February 21, 1998, in Japan, and manufacturing ceased in late 2002. As a toy for [[user-generated content]], it can be used to shoot grayscale photographs, edit them or create original drawings, and transfer images between GBC units or to the [[64DD]] art game suite ''[[Mario Artist]]''. The accessory featured a 180°-swivel [[front-facing camera]] that allowed users to capture [[selfie]]s. Its images can be printed to thermal paper with the [[Game Boy Printer]]. The GBC's cartridge contains minigames based on Nintendo's early games such as the [[arcade video game]] ''[[Space Fever]]'' and the [[Game & Watch]] handheld game ''[[Ball (Game & Watch)|Ball]]'', and a [[chiptune]] [[music sequencer]]; photographers have embraced its technological limitations as artistic challenges. 

==Overview==
[[File:Game Boy Camera 7996.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Installed in a [[Game Boy Color]], with the camera rotated]]

The Game Boy Camera (GBC) interfaces with the [[Game Boy Printer]], which utilizes [[thermal paper]] to print saved images. Both the camera and the printer were marketed by Nintendo as light-hearted entertainment devices aimed mainly at children in all three major video game regions of the world: Japan, North America, and Europe. ''[[N64 Magazine]]'' (which has since been superseded by [[NGamer]]) dedicated a monthly section to the device.

The GBC is compatible with all of the [[Game Boy line]] except [[Game Boy Micro]]. Video output is possible via the [[Super Game Boy]] for the [[Super Nintendo Entertainment System|Super NES]] and the [[Game Boy Player]] for the [[GameCube]]. The camera has a 128×128 pixel CMOS sensor,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://web.csulb.edu/~wmartinz/rssc/content/MS_77.html|title=Inside the Gameboy Camera "Eyeball"|author=Arthur Ed LeBouthillier|publisher=Robotics Society of Southern California|access-date=June 24, 2017|archive-date=February 5, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210205162159/http://web.csulb.edu/~wmartinz/rssc/content/MS_77.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://people.ece.cornell.edu/land/courses/ece4760/FinalProjects/f2012/qs44_twc55/qs44_twc55/datasheets/MITSUB_image_sensor.pdf|title=Mitsubishi M64282FP Datasheet|access-date=June 24, 2017|archive-date=January 17, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210117024619/https://people.ece.cornell.edu/land/courses/ece4760/FinalProjects/f2012/qs44_twc55/qs44_twc55/datasheets/MITSUB_image_sensor.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> and can store 128×112, grayscale digital images using the 4-color palette of the Game Boy system.

The Game Boy Camera line has five different standard colors of models: blue, green, red, yellow, and clear purple (Japan only). There is a limited edition gold themed for ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time]]'', which contains unique stamps, and was available only in the United States through a mail-order offer from ''[[Nintendo Power]]''.

In September 2020, information was leaked of an unreleased ''[[Hello Kitty]]'' version of the camera.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://kotaku.com/new-nintendo-leak-includes-several-unreleased-game-boy-1845017212|title=New Nintendo Leak Includes Numerous Unreleased Game Boy Games|date=September 10, 2020|access-date=December 29, 2020|archive-date=September 11, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200911011754/https://kotaku.com/new-nintendo-leak-includes-several-unreleased-game-boy-1845017212|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Functionality===
[[File:Car photo taken by gameboy camera (nearest-neighbor upscaled).png|thumb|A photo of a [[Ford Tempo]] taken with the GBC]]
The camera is controlled, images are manipulated, and minigames are played by Game Boy software running from the camera's attached cartridge. Individual photographs can be taken and edited with features including a delay timer, time lapse, trick lenses like mirroring and scaling, montage, and [[Panoramic photography|panorama]] for stitching together component photos into one large image. The user can further edit the images by placing Nintendo's stamps, or by freehand doodles. Images can be combined as frames of an animation. Images can be interconnected with clickable hyperlinks in "hot spots" mode.

Images can be transferred via the [[Game Link Cable]], to be printed on the [[Game Boy Printer]], copied between GBC units,<ref name=EGM107>{{cite magazine |title=Nintendo Adds Color |magazine=[[Electronic Gaming Monthly]]|issue=107|publisher=[[Ziff Davis]]|date=June 1998|page=26}}</ref> or copied via the [[Nintendo 64 controller]]'s [[Transfer Pak]] to a [[64DD]] floppy disk. The Japanese GBC is optionally integrated into the ''[[Mario Artist]]'' suite of multimedia games for the 64DD peripheral. There, users can create drawn and 3D-animated avatars of themselves based on photographs taken with the camera, integrate these personalized avatars into various 64DD games including ''Mario Artist'' and ''[[SimCity 64]]'', or post art on the Internet through [[Randnet]].<ref name="Camera Connection">{{cite web | title=GDC: Miyamoto Unveils Camera Connection | date=March 18, 1999 | url=http://ign64.ign.com/news/7393.html | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010610193803/http://ign64.ign.com/news/7393.html | archive-date=June 10, 2001 | publisher=IGN | access-date=November 20, 2015}}</ref> Third-party vendors have reverse engineered the GBC system to create modern transfer methods such as [[USB]], [[SD card]]s and [[Wi-Fi]].<ref name="Instagram GBC"/><ref name="Astro GBC"/>

The GBC cartridge's software has numerous references to other Nintendo products. There are a few differences between the North American and Japanese versions, including the unlockable B album pictures and the stamps that can be placed on pictures.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Game Boy Camera {{!}} NinDB |url=https://nindb.net/gb/game-boy-camera/index.html |access-date=2023-02-24 |website=nindb.net |archive-date=May 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210516125214/https://nindb.net/gb/game-boy-camera/index.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> The software has a few [[Easter egg (media)|Easter eggs]], some of which have been described as "creepy", like disturbing pictures the developers made with it. <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cracked.com/article_19332_7-creepy-video-game-easter-eggs-youll-wish-were-never-found_p2.html#ixzz1TARF4q5R|title=7 Creepy Video Game Easter Eggs You'll Wish Were Never Found|last1=Yezpitelok|first1=Maxwell|last2=M. Asher Cantrell|date=July 25, 2011|work=Cracked.com|access-date=November 21, 2015|archive-date=January 23, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210123202729/https://www.cracked.com/article_19332_7-creepy-video-game-easter-eggs-youll-wish-were-never-found_p2.html#ixzz1TARF4q5R|url-status=live}}</ref>

Nintendo reportedly had plans to release a successor to the Game Boy Camera for the Game Boy Advance called the GameEye<ref>[[Nintendo Power]] June 2003 Issue.</ref>{{page needed|date=February 2020}} which would take color photos and feature connectivity with the [[GameCube]] through a game titled ''[[Stage Debut]]'', but neither the GameEye nor ''Stage Debut'' were released.

===Minigames===
{{More citations needed section|date=December 2017}}
*''Space Fever II'' is a sequel to the early Nintendo arcade game ''[[Space Fever]]''. In this minigame, the player controls a spaceship which fires missiles at other ships throughout three unique levels, followed by a boss at the end of each level. The first boss is a giant face of a man with horns, the second boss is a giant face of a mustachioed man, and the third boss is the Game Face. Once all three of the bosses are beaten, the cycle will restart with increased difficulty.<ref name="Guinness">{{cite web|url=http://mashable.com/2014/05/15/game-boy-camera/|title=Take a Pixelated Look at NYC Through a Game Boy Camera|last=Koerber|first=Brian|date=May 15, 2014|website=[[Mashable]]|access-date=February 19, 2020|archive-date=January 23, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210123230536/https://mashable.com/2014/05/15/game-boy-camera/|url-status=live}}</ref> At the beginning of the game, two spaceships appear; shooting the "B" ship will enter the ''Ball'' minigame, and shooting the "D" ship will enter ''DJ''. By avoiding both of the ships, the player will begin playing ''Space Fever II''. After scoring 2,000 points there, a new minigame called ''Run! Run! Run!'' will be unlocked, where a new ship marked with a "?" will appear at the beginning.
*''Ball'' is a juggling game, in which the player moves the hand around to catch and throw balls. It is a variation of the [[Game & Watch]] game ''[[Ball (Game & Watch)|Ball]]'', only with [[Mr. Game & Watch]]'s head replaced with the Game Face. The background music to this game is "[[Mayim Mayim]]", an Israeli folk song.
*''DJ'' is an open-ended [[music video game]] with a music sequencer known as Trippy-H where players can mix and create simple [[chiptune]]s. The Game Face is the DJ.
*''Run! Run! Run!'' is the bonus minigame. The Game Face is attached to a cartoon body, and the player races against a mole and a bird for the finish line. By clearing this minigame in under 22 seconds, the credits are unlocked.

==Development==
[[File:JupiterAndMoonsGBC.png|thumb|Jupiter and its moons taken with a GBC through a 10" telescope]]
Initially, the Game Boy Camera was not well received within Nintendo. However, Masato Kuwahara approached [[Creatures, Inc.]] President [[Hirokazu Tanaka]] regarding the development of the software for the device, which solidified the project.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ds.ign.com/articles/967/967456p1.html |title=GDC 09: Nintendo Prototypes that Never Made It |publisher=[[IGN]] |date=March 27, 2009 |author=Harris, Craig |access-date=June 15, 2009 |archive-date=January 22, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120122060017/http://ds.ign.com/articles/967/967456p1.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The camera's built-in software was co-developed by [[Nintendo Research & Development 1]] and the Japanese company [[Jupiter (company)|Jupiter]], with Tanaka directing the project.<ref>{{cite journal  |date=June 1998 |title=Der Mann hinter der Kamera! |journal=Club Nintendo |publisher=Nintendo of Europe GmbH |author=Claude Moyse, Markus Pfitzner |issue=Ausgabe 3 |pages=15 |language=de}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jupiter.co.jp/product/game/gb/pokekame.html |title=ポケットカメラ |publisher=[[Jupiter (company)|Jupiter Corporation]] |access-date=November 17, 2009 |archive-date=March 3, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303182031/http://www.jupiter.co.jp/product/game/gb/pokekame.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite video game |title=Game Boy Camera |developer=[[Nintendo Research & Development 1]], [[Jupiter (company)|Jupiter Corporation]] |publisher=[[Nintendo of America, Inc.]] |date=June 1, 1998 |scene=staff credits}}</ref> The Game Boy Camera was launched with an initial MSRP of {{currency|49.95|USD}}.<ref name=EGM107/><ref>{{Cite web |title=CNN - New Game Boy takes digital photos - Mar. 18, 1998 |url=http://www.cnn.com/TECH/computing/9803/18/gameboy_camera/index.html#:~:text=It%27s%20difficult%20to%20imagine%20the,suggested%20retail%20price%20of%20$49.95. |access-date=2022-04-04 |website=www.cnn.com}}</ref>

==Legacy==

The Camera sold close to 500,000 units in its first three weeks of availability in Japan.<ref name="sales">{{cite web|url=http://headline.gamespot.com/news/98_03/18_gbcam/index.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20001016122154/http://headline.gamespot.com/news/98_03/18_gbcam/index.html|title=GB Camera Gets June Launch|website=[[GameSpot]]|archivedate=October 16, 2000|date=March 18, 1998|accessdate=October 29, 2022}}</ref><ref name=EGM107/>

As one of the earliest consumer digital cameras, the GBC has been legitimized for [[user-generated content]], especially photography. Modern computer connectivity has required experimentation for image retrieval.<ref name="Instagram GBC"/><ref name="Astro GBC"/>
[[File:Sky trees game boy camera color.png|thumb|An example of a color photo taken with a GBC using red, green and blue filters]]

The cover art of [[Neil Young]]'s 2000 album ''[[Silver & Gold (Neil Young album)|Silver & Gold]]'' was taken using a Game Boy Camera.<ref name="Human Highway, April 2000">{{cite web |url=http://www.human-highway.org/pages/album/S%26G.html |title=Neil Young – Silver & Gold |publisher=Human-highway.org |date=April 25, 2000 |access-date=May 1, 2023 |archive-date=August 13, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180813182941/http://www.human-highway.org/pages/album/S%26G.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2000, a professional photographer created a color workflow similar to the world's earliest color photography, to process GBC's grayscale photos through red, green, and blue filters to produce a color photograph.<ref name="Awesome">{{cite magazine | first=Alan | last=Devenish | date=June 28, 2014 | url=https://www.wired.com/2014/06/game-boy-camera-color/ | magazine=[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]] | title=Awesome Portraits and Landscapes, Shot With a Game Boy Camera | access-date=February 19, 2020 | archive-date=August 11, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200811052455/https://www.wired.com/2014/06/game-boy-camera-color/ | url-status=live }}</ref> An artist using a Game Boy Camera and three colour process has developed a series of works since 2012, focussing on how the interplay between what the abstracted images reveal and conceal about the photographed environment. As well as using the Game Boy printer within his practice.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-06-20|title=Untitled Photo-set [Gameboy Camera](2012)|url=https://jimlockey.com/works/untitled-photo-set-gameboy-camera2012/|access-date=2020-06-20|website=Jim Lockey|language=en|archive-date=January 20, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210120221011/https://jimlockey.com/works/untitled-photo-set-gameboy-camera2012/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2018-09-24|title=jimlockey.co.uk|url=http://jimlockey.co.uk/art/seenunseen.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180924195639/http://jimlockey.co.uk/art/seenunseen.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2018-09-24|access-date=2020-06-20}}</ref> A PhD student performed astrophotography of scenes including Jupiter, through academic telescopes using GBC.<ref name="Astro GBC">{{cite web | first=Alex | last=Pietrow | date=February 7, 2017 | title=2bit Astrophotography with the Game Boy Camera | url=https://trulyscience.com/2bit-astrophotography-with-the-game-boy-camera/ | access-date=February 19, 2020 | archive-date=October 3, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201003012501/https://trulyscience.com/2bit-astrophotography-with-the-game-boy-camera/ | url-status=dead }}</ref> In 2017, a research engineer developed a [[neural network]] application to automatically convert GBC monochrome images into color images.<ref name="GBC neural">{{cite web | title=Neural network converts Game Boy Camera images into color photos | date=February 21, 2017 | url=https://www.dpreview.com/news/3403233741/neural-networks-convert-game-boy-camera-images-into-color-photos | first=Allison | last=Johnson | work=DPReview | access-date=February 19, 2020 | archive-date=November 12, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112030113/https://www.dpreview.com/news/3403233741/neural-networks-convert-game-boy-camera-images-into-color-photos | url-status=live }}</ref> Several modern [[smartphone]] [[Mobile app|app]]s have modes to simulate GBC image quality.<ref name="8-bit Pocket">{{cite web|url=https://kotaku.com/8-bit-pocket-camera-turns-your-iphone-into-a-game-boy-c-5787807|title=8-bit Pocket Camera Turns Your iPhone Into A Game Boy Camera|last=McWhertor|first=Michael|date=March 31, 2011|work=[[Kotaku]]|access-date=February 19, 2020|archive-date=January 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210124070028/https://kotaku.com/8-bit-pocket-camera-turns-your-iphone-into-a-game-boy-c-5787807|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2016, an [[Instagram]] artist included the vintage GBC hardware in his repertoire of high-technology stylized filters, creating a new gallery dedicated only to GBC photography, because its primitive camera "forces you to find a way to take beautiful pictures".<ref name="Instagram GBC">{{cite web | title=Meet the Instagram phenom making art with a Game Boy Camera from 1998 | first=Michael | last=Rougeau | date=October 22, 2016 | url=https://www.digitaltrends.com/photography/game-boy-cameraman-instagram-interview/ | access-date=February 19, 2020 | archive-date=December 5, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201205165046/https://www.digitaltrends.com/photography/game-boy-cameraman-instagram-interview/ | url-status=live }}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Game Boy Pocket Sonar]]
*''[[Mario Paint]]'' (1992), a [[Super Nintendo Entertainment System|Super NES]] art game
*''[[Mario no Photopi]]'' (1998), a [[Nintendo 64]] art game for editing and printing photos from digital cameras
*[[Miiverse]], Nintendo's former global online art community

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

{{Game Boy line}}
{{Nintendo hardware|Game Boy}}

[[Category:1998 video games]]
[[Category:Game Boy games]]
[[Category:Game Boy-only games]]
[[Category:Minigame compilations]]
[[Category:Nintendo games]]
[[Category:Products introduced in 1998]]
[[Category:Digital cameras]]
[[Category:Game Boy accessories]]
[[Category:Games with Transfer Pak support]]
[[Category:Photography games]]
[[Category:Shoot 'em ups]]
[[Category:Video games developed in Japan]]
[[Category:Creatures (company) games]]