Nintendo Gameboy

A 265 piece Lego set designed for anyone who remembers holding a green and black screen up in the evening to catch the last bit of sunlight, straining to see a tiny sprite character, terrified that the dimming red LED would mean the end to the virtual worlds that needed saving! 

Designed by Nintendo toy, hardware, and game inventor Gunpei Yokoi, the Nintendo Game Boy was a massive hit when it was released in 1989, spawning a portable game family that lasted until 2010 and sold more than 200 million units to children and adults all over the world. But, as great as its descendent Game Boy Color, Pocket, Advance, Advance SP, and Micro are, there is nothing quite like the original gray brick! The Game Boy was designed to be cheap to manufacture and repair, rugged and durable, and easy to develop for — and quickly earned an insurmountable install base lead against its more technologically-advanced competitors by selling more than 100 million units itself. Dozens of early game development companies got their start creating Game Boy experiences, and many millions of children first met Mario and Bowser, Link and Zelda, and Pikachu and Jigglypuff on a Game Boy's green and black screen.

Just like the actual portable gaming system, my Lego design features a green screen with contrast dial, five control buttons (a directional pad, two game buttons, and "start" and "select"), a headphone port with volume dial, and a cartridge slot for all of your favorite childhood games. Just like the original Game Boy, this creation comes bundled with everyone's favorite addictive puzzle game: Tetris! The approachable and addictive Tetris brought in many new gamers from outside of Nintendo's core audience, and was critical to its early success. The four recreated batteries and game cartridge can be inserted and removed, and if it does not work at first, make sure you blow into it!