35 years ago, Nintendo shook the games industry up with the release of its Game Boy handheld–a device that made video games more mainstream than ever thanks to its simple design and library of must-play titles. If you’re looking to relive the golden age of Nintendo’s iconic portable console, you should check out The Game Boy Encyclopedia, an upcoming book that explores the hundreds of games released for the handheld across its lifespan. The giant compendium launches November 30, and is available for preorder now.
$41.85
Written by veteran video game journalist Chris Scullion, The Game Boy Encyclopedia looks at every game released in the West for both the Game Boy and its 1998 successor, the Game Boy Color, which tallies up to around 1,150 games in total. Inside the book, each game is covered with screenshots and trivia factoids, resulting in a definitive look at the system over its long and storied run. Preorders for the book are available at Amazon.
If you’re looking for some more gaming history, you can check out Scullion’s other books on other influential video game consoles and their libraries. You can complement the GameBoy book with the NES, SNES, and N64 encyclopedias. The The SNES book also includes section dedicated to the Nintendo’s biggest flop, the Virtual Boy, and its small 22-game library. All three books are available now, but the N64 Encyclopedia is getting a new paperback edition on November 30.
On the Sega side, fans can return to the company’s 16-bit era with this book on the Sega Genesis. There’s also a Dreamcast encyclopedia that covers over 600 games from the short-lived system. The physical edition is currently sold out and only available in used condition from Amazon, but you can grab the digital Kindle version for $15.
The Video Game Encyclopedia Series
- The Sega Genesis Encyclopedia
- The Sega Dreamcast Encyclopedia
- The NES Encyclopedia
- The SNES Encyclopedia
- The N64 Encyclopedia
- The GameBoy Encyclopedia | Preorder, releases November 30
More video game books
Bitmap Books also has a very good selection of reads dedicated to classic video games and modern masterpieces. The publisher recently covered interactive terror with the release of From Ants to Zombies: Six Decades of Video Game Horror, and it has also published books on retro consoles, the gorgeous box art of video games, and more. These are beautifully designed books that are meant to be both educational and showpieces in your collection, and each release is typically a chunky read that goes into exhaustive detail on its subject matter.
