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→Mobile / ARM: why it's best
|discontinued = 2003
|predecessor = [[Game & Watch]]
|successor= [[Virtual Boy emulators|Virtual Boy]]<br/> [[Game Boy Advance emulators|Game Boy Advance]]
|emulated = {{✓}}
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{{for|other emulators that run on the Game Boy/Game Boy (Color hardware)|Emulators on GB/GBC}}
The '''[[wikipedia:Game Boy|Game Boy]]''' (GB) and '''[[wikipedia:Game Boy Color|Game Boy Color]]''' (GBC) are 8-bit, fourth-generation handheld consoles released by Nintendo on July 31, 1989 and November 18, 1998 respectively and retailed for {{Inflation|USD|89.95|1998}}. The Game Boy has a Sharp LR35902 core CPU at 4.19 MHz. It had a monochrome display that could only show four shades of grey, albeit with a olive green tinge on the original. The Game Boy Color uses the same LR35902 core as the original; while it is clocked at 8.38 MHz, it can be underclocked to 4.19 MHz for backwards-compatibility purposes. It was named such from its color screen, but it also had a larger memory size and a faster CPU. The hardware similarities allow cross-compatibility between the two platforms and they are often treated as one. They would both be succeeded by the backward-compatible [[Game Boy Advance emulators|Game Boy Advance]].
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| [[BizHawk]]<br/><small>(Gambatte_Speedrun)</small>
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| [https://gitlab.com/TASVideos/BizHawk/-/pipelines Dev builds]<br/>[http://tasvideos.org/BizHawk/ReleaseHistory.html {{BizHawkVer}}]
| align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS|Web}}
| [https://buildbot.libretro.com/nightly/ libretro core]<br/>[https://sourceforge.net/projects/gambatte/files/gambatte {{GambatteVer}}]
|{{~}}<abbr title="Libretro core supports RetroAchievements">*</abbr> ||{{~}} ||? ||{{✓}} ||{{~}} <ref group=N name=active>[https://github.com/libretro/gambatte-libretro/tree/master Libretro core] is still active.</ref> ||{{~}}
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|[[Mesen|Mesen]]|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS}}|[https://github.com/SourMesen/Mesen2/tags 2.0.0#development-preview1builds {{MesenVer}}]
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| [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.philj56.gbcc beta41]<br/>[https://github.com/philj56/gbcc-android/actions/workflows/build-apk.yml <abbr title="Latest development version">git Artifacts</abbr>]
|{{~}} ||{{~}} ||? ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}[https://play-lh.googleusercontent.com/_5D9uMlRlL-DJ_anXEyJHtI3IriwCFVPgg2zgwhkaG-uYwkjYeTqmiuUZwpomTYKsuo=w1024-h768-rw Printer] [https://youtu.be/ESYolQ761Dw?si=2c-yAHAAcWQSei1a Kirby Camera]
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|[[Game Play Color]]
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==Hardware features and accessories==
:''[https://shonumi.github.io/articles/art34.html Shonumi: The State of Emulation - 2024]''
<div style="overflow-x:auto;width:100%">
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;width:100%"
===Motion Control (Tilt Sensor)===
Two Game Boy Color games featured a built-in tilt sensor: Kirby Tilt 'n' Tumble and Command Master. These games cannot be played without support for this feature. [[VisualBoy Advance|VBA]] and [[KiGB]] have a "Motion Sensor" option to map four directional keys to emulate the cartridge tilting, but the controls aren't analog. [[BGB]] can emulate the tilting features with the use of the mouse. [[SameBoy]] allows to use the mouse, as well as a joystick, and on the Cocoa frontend, is supporting controller's motion controls. [[mGBA]] supports controller's motion controls and allows to assign stic's X an Y axes. Hiyoko, the official GBC emulator for [[Nintendo Switch Online]], emulates motion controls for Kirby Tilt 'n' Tumble by translating gyroscope input either from the console itself (when playing in portable mode) or from a detached Joy-Con or Switch Pro Controller (when playing in docked mode).
*[[List of games that support tracked motion controllers#GameBoy Color Emulation]]
===Rumble===
===Multiplayer===
* '''Link Cable:''' [[BGB]], [[KiGB]], some versions of [[VisualBoy Advance#VBA-M|VBA-M]] and [[TGB Dual|TGB-Dual]] supports link cable. It can also be used for Netplay on the corresponding [[RetroArch]] core. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_multiplayer_Game_Boy_games#Two-player_games_via_the_Game_Link_Cable Two-player games via the Game Link Cable list].
* '''4-Player Adapter:''' Currently only [[GBE+]] and DoubleCherryGB supports it. * '''Faceball 2000 16-Player Link Cable:''' There is a 16-Player adapter as well, but it went unreleased outside of unused code in some games, but it is emulated by ''DoubleCherryGB'' emulator and allows to play Faceball 2000 in local splitscreen and as such isnvia netplay.* '''Multiplayer Hacks:'''t emulatedDoubleCherryGB emulates virtual link-cable devices that allow Tetris Battle Royal and Kwirk Multiplayer up to 16 players on local splitscreen and via netplay.
===Online features===
* '''Game Boy Pocket Sonar:''' Japan only cartridge released by Bandai. It is a sonar-enabled device used for fishing with a fishing game included. Only GBE+ [https://shonumi.github.io/articles/art13.html supports] this feature. A similar cartridge was released for the WonderSwan (still unemulated).
* '''Barcode Boy:''' An obscure Japan-only barcode-scanning device released by Namcot (then-Namco's consumer division) in 1992. A total of 4 games were released to utilize this accessory. KiGB and GEST claim support for this device, but they only feed random data to Game Boy until the game accepts it as a valid barcode. GBE+ has [https://shonumi.github.io/articles/art7.html proper emulation] with the ability to read barcodes from binary files. DoubleCherryGB also has full support. All barcodes are hardcode. After each scan the next barcode is loaded.
* '''Barcode Taisen Bardigun:''' Another Japan only barcode-scanning device with the dedicated game. GBE+ [https://shonumi.github.io/articles/art6.html supports this accessory].
* '''Singer Sewing Machine:''' There is link cable support for the Singer IZEK Digital Sewing Machine. The IZEK was unique in that it came bundled with a specially coloured Game Boy and a cartridge for interfacing with the machine.<ref name="IZEK_1">{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlhJKMXU7tg&t=5m25s|title=Game Boy Part 2 - Did You Know Gaming? Feat. Jake of Vsauce3|publisher=Youtube|accessdate=2018-08-10|date=2014-05-24}}</ref><ref name="IZEK_2">{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-Epj2_eJdA|title=Singer IZEK Digital Sewing Machine - Gameboy Color Controller (Game Boy Color) Review|publisher=Youtube|accessdate=2018-08-10|date=2014-06-24}}</ref> Despite the IZEK's rarity, support for it has been added in a recent GBE+ release.<ref>[https://shonumi.github.io/articles/art22.html Edge of Emulation: Game Boy Sewing Machines]</ref>
