Game Boy Camera

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Game Boy Camera, known in Japan as Pocket Camera (ポケットカメラ^?), is a Nintendo accessory for the handheld Game Boy gaming console and was released in 1998. It is also compatible with the Game Boy Pocket, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance. The camera can take basic, grainy, black & white digital images using the 4-color palette of the Game Boy system. It interfaced with the Game Boy Printer, which utilized thermal paper to print any saved images, making a hardcopy. 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 N64 Magazine (which has since been superseded by NGamer) dedicated a monthly section to the device.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 Game Boy Camera comes in five different standard colors: blue, green, red, yellow and clear purple(Japan only) There was also a limited edition gold The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time version, which contains different stamps from the standard versions and was available only in the USA through a mail order offer from Nintendo Power.

The game has numerous references to other Nintendo products. Also, 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.^[1] The camera's built-in software was developed by the Japanese company Jupiter^[2]. The developer of the Pokémon series Game Freak is also mentioned during the Game Boy Camera's start-up, although this is likely due to the appearance of some Pokémon characters as "stamps" that can be used on pictures.

The Game Boy Camera was featured in the 1999 edition of Guinness World Records for being the world's smallest digital camera^{[citation needed]}, though this record has since been broken. Nintendo reportedly had plans to release a successor to the Game Boy Camera for the Game Boy Advance called the GameEye^[3] which would take color photos and feature connectivity with the Nintendo GameCube through a game titled Stage Debut, but neither the GameEye nor Stage Debut ever saw release. The Game Boy Camera would be the only handheld Nintendo product to feature a camera until the release of the Nintendo DSi.

Contents 1 Gameplay 1.1 Shoot 1.2 View 1.3 Play 1.4 "Start" and "Select" options 2 Development 3 In popular culture 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Gameplay

There are three main parts of the interface:

• Shoot
• View
• Play

[edit] Shoot

Shoot contains the following choices:

• Shoot (Take a picture)
• Items
  • Self-Timer (Take a picture automatically after a delay)
  • Time-Lapse (Take pictures automatically at regular intervals)
• Magic
  • Trick Lenses (Mirror and zoom effects)
  • Montage (Take two pictures and mix them together)
  • Panorama (Take multiple pictures and combine them in a row or column)
  • Game Face (The picture taken will appear at least once in every game on the camera, usually as the main character)
• Check (View your pictures)
• Run (Fake option)

[edit] View

View contains the following choices:

• Album (View the albums stored in memory)
• Show
  • Slideshow (Display and edit a slide show of the current album)
  • Animation (Choose background music and view pictures in sequence to make it look like they are moving)
  • Hot-Spot (Link pictures together by clicking on certain spots of the picture)

Hot-Spot can be used in a number of creative ways. For example, it could be used for creating a game where a player can go from one photo of a room in a house to another by pressing certain spots on the photos. The location of the hot-spots are customizable by accessing the Special menu via the Select options and choosing "Hot-Spot". In this mode, up to five one-eyed blobs can be placed on each picture, which become invisible hot-spots during "Hot-Spot" mode. Each blob can be programmed to send the player to a different photo and include a visual transition and a sound effect. Then, in Hot-Spot mode, when the player presses one of the hot-spots, he or she will be sent to a photo of another room, where additional hot-spots will send the player to additional photos, and move him or her throughout the virtual house.

[edit] Play

Play is a built-in Space Fever II minigame, which is the sequel to the Space Fever arcade game. At the beginning of the game, two spaceships will appear, one marked with a "B" and one with a "D". Shooting the "B" ship will send players to the Ball minigame. Shooting the "D" ship will send players to DJ mode, an open-ended music video game. By avoiding both of the ships, the player will begin playing Space Fever II. After scoring 2,000 points in Space Fever II, a new minigame called Run! Run! Run! will be unlocked. Once unlocked, a new ship marked with a "?" will appear alongside the "B" and "D" ships at the beginning of each new game of Space Fever II. Access Run! Run! Run! by shooting the "?" ship.

• Ball is a juggling game, in which the player moves his or her hand around to catch and throw balls. It is very similar to the Game & Watch game of the same name, only with Mr. Game & Watch's head replaced with the "Game Face".
• DJ is a music sequencer known as "Trippy-H" where players can mix and create their own simple chiptunes. The "Game Face" is the DJ.
• Space Fever II is an homage/sequel to an early Nintendo arcade game. 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 (who bears a slight resemblance to Luigi), and the third boss is the "Game Face". Once all three of the bosses are beaten, the cycle will start over again, only harder.
• Run! Run! Run! is the bonus minigame, which is obtained by reaching a score of 2,000 or more in Space Fever II. The "Game Face" is attached to a cartoon body, and the player races against a mole and a bird for the finish line.

[edit] "Start" and "Select" options

The following are options that appear when Select is pressed on the main screen:

• Doodle
  • Stamp (Decorate a picture with stamps)
  • Paint (Draw on a picture)
• Link
  • Print (Set printing options and print a photo using the Game Boy Printer)
  • Transfer (Send and receive photos from a friend's Game Boy Camera by linking two Game Boys via a Game Link Cable)
• Special
  • Hot-Spot (Hot-Spot configuration mode)
  • Compose (Split and fuse pictures)
• Edit
  • Album (Delete pictures)
  • Animation (Animation configuration mode)

The following are options that appear when Start is pressed on the main screen:

• Username (Input name, sex, and birthdate)
• Record (Photo and trade stats)
• Hi-Score (Minigame high scores)
• Credits (Staff credits)

The start options appear as planets and asteroids.

[edit] Development

Initially, the Game Boy Camera was not well received at Nintendo. However, Kuwahara approached Creatures, Inc. President Hirokazu Tanaka regarding the development of the software for the device, which solidified the project.^[4]

[edit] In popular culture

• The Game Boy Camera was used to take the photographs for the album cover of Neil Young's Silver & Gold

• The Game Boy Camera was featured prominently in the Hong Kong zombie film Bio-Zombie.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• .sav converter converts gb camera sav files into gif images.
• Game Boy Camera at NinDB
• Photos taken with Game Boy Camera and printed on the Game Boy Printer
• Photos taken with the Game Boy Camera and transferred directly to the PC
• Photos taken with the Game Boy Camera and in in some cases animated.
• Game Boy Camera Video Output Tutorial By Gijs Gieskes
• M64282FP data sheet Game Boy camera lens data sheet
• The Pellucid World, Pixielation Experimental Game Boy Camera films
• "Why" by Epichunt Pop music made with a Game Boy Camera and vocals
• Game Boy Camera - Idiot's Guide Helpful guide to using the Game Boy Camera's functions
• Trippy-H Blog A site dedicated to Trippy-H, the music sequencer found in the Game Boy Camera

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