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Game Boy: The Box Art Collection
Whether you're an old-school Game Boy fan, or discovering the wonders of Nintendo's million-selling portable system for the very first time, Game Boy: The Box Art Collection is the book for you – it's a vibrant celebration of some of the finest cover artwork for this monochrome marvel, which kick-started the handheld games industry.
Despite the fact that we live in a world where the average smartphone makes the Game Boy look like an abacus, in purely technical terms, Nintendo's trailblazing handheld still manages to capture the attention of gamers all over the world – and flicking through these pages, it's easy to see why. It's home to some of the most famous names in the videogame business, such as Mario, Zelda, Donkey Kong, Metroid, Mega Man, Castlevania, Gradius and Final Fantasy, and many of its best titles hold up surprisingly well by modern standards – with technology this basic, developers of the period needed to make sure the gameplay was compelling and addictive.
We've worked closely with some of the world's most renowned Game Boy collectors to pull together a varied selection of titles that spans both Western and Eastern tastes. We've tried to strike the right balance between the two, and we hope you'll enjoy seeing some familiar pieces of art rubbing shoulders with covers for games you perhaps know from the dim and distant past, but have never before seen presented in the packaging shown here.
The other notable addition is the inclusion of screenshots on each page, giving you the opportunity to see what the games in question actually look like. As if that wasn't enough, we've gone to the extra effort of professionally translating the titles of Japanese games into Romaji – something that, to our knowledge, has never been properly attempted before in any English-language book. Game Boy: The Box Art Collection also includes a foreword by Gameboycameraman, a collector's interview and an extensive feature on the history of the Game Boy.
At 372 pages long, Game Boy: The Box Art Collection also boasts a metallic silver textured cover with a metallic blue foil logo. As with all our books, we use thread sewn binding for extra durability and print lithographically on high-quality paper to showcase the gorgeous visuals as they deserve.
Despite the fact that we live in a world where the average smartphone makes the Game Boy look like an abacus, in purely technical terms, Nintendo's trailblazing handheld still manages to capture the attention of gamers all over the world – and flicking through these pages, it's easy to see why. It's home to some of the most famous names in the videogame business, such as Mario, Zelda, Donkey Kong, Metroid, Mega Man, Castlevania, Gradius and Final Fantasy, and many of its best titles hold up surprisingly well by modern standards – with technology this basic, developers of the period needed to make sure the gameplay was compelling and addictive.
We've worked closely with some of the world's most renowned Game Boy collectors to pull together a varied selection of titles that spans both Western and Eastern tastes. We've tried to strike the right balance between the two, and we hope you'll enjoy seeing some familiar pieces of art rubbing shoulders with covers for games you perhaps know from the dim and distant past, but have never before seen presented in the packaging shown here.
The other notable addition is the inclusion of screenshots on each page, giving you the opportunity to see what the games in question actually look like. As if that wasn't enough, we've gone to the extra effort of professionally translating the titles of Japanese games into Romaji – something that, to our knowledge, has never been properly attempted before in any English-language book. Game Boy: The Box Art Collection also includes a foreword by Gameboycameraman, a collector's interview and an extensive feature on the history of the Game Boy.
At 372 pages long, Game Boy: The Box Art Collection also boasts a metallic silver textured cover with a metallic blue foil logo. As with all our books, we use thread sewn binding for extra durability and print lithographically on high-quality paper to showcase the gorgeous visuals as they deserve.
372 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
March 5, 2023
The box art collected here ranges pretty wildly in quality, but the book itself is extremely well done. The design is clean and beautiful, and the photography makes everything seem quite a bit more elegant than you’d expect. There’s tons of text content about the history of the console, interviews with collectors, and information about each title, along with screenshots from each game. I’m fascinated by what people are able to create within very limited constraints, and the Game Boy was one of the technically limited consoles. It’s nice to see such a tribute to that work in such a polished package.
March 7, 2022
Very similar to Super Famicom: The Box Art Collection except for one major exception (okay two, as this features Game Boy games instead of Super Famicom ones): it has European and North American releases as well as Japanese ones. The cover art photography is still great, and it also includes screen captures for every game (a third difference!). As much I love the Super Famicom book (and I do love it), I think the Game Boy edition just had a lot more going for it. I hope Bitmap Books makes more books in this series (NES/Famicom, Master System, and Genesis/Mega Drive are begging for editions).
June 9, 2021
An absolutely essential collection of Gameboy Box art and descriptions needed for a fan of the Gameboy era. This was fantastic to read through, I loved the history behind each game. Nicely put together.
March 4, 2023
Great visual book that contains the history of the system, interviews with collectors and high quality pictures of many of the most iconic games art. The texture and quality of the cover and the book in general is great.
March 7, 2025
Everything you want in a book like this. Some 600 games listed with in-game screen shots, box art and brief description for each. Nothing more, nothing less
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews