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Is the Game Boy the Toughest Product Ever Made?

Posted by kdawson on from the electronic-cockroaches dept.

An anonymous reader writes "CNET is running an article about tough technology, which aptly includes the Nintendo Game Boy, a device so tough that mine still works after many years. 'There's no two ways about it: the original Game Boy is one of the hardest gadgets ever conceived. Rumor has it this beige behemoth isn't made of plastic, but from the skulls of fallen Gurkhas. If you ever saw one that was broken, it's because it lost a boxing match with a nuclear bomb — on points.' So do you agree that the Game Boy is the toughest consumer electronics device ever made?"

23 of 547 comments (clear)

  1. Pet Rock... by rthille · · Score: 5, Funny


    I still have my pet rock, 30+ years later...

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    1. Re:Pet Rock... by show+me+altoids · · Score: 5, Funny

      Game Boy covers Pet Rock. You lose!

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      I feel sorry for people that don't drink, because when they get up in the morning, that's as good as they're gonna feel
    2. Re:Pet Rock... by capnchicken · · Score: 5, Funny
      I read somewhere that Chuck Norris jokes weren't funny anymore, except for these ones:

      • Chuck Norris doesn't have a chin underneath his beard; just a giant pussy.
      • Before the boogeyman goes to sleep, he checks his closet to make sure Chuck Norris folded all of the clothes correctly.
      • Chuck Norris won't suck your dick for money; he will gladly do it for free.
      • Chuck Norris doesn't doo push-ups; he's too old.
      • Chuck Norris ruins every party he goes to because he is a born again christian fundie.
      • When Chuck Norris endorses a presidential candidate, it's Mike Huckabee

      I'll get Karma burn for not posting as AC, but I'd rather have that then someone calling me out for being afraid of Chuck Norris and posting as AC.
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  2. Phones (back when the phone company owned them) by myawn · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Back in the stone age when you didn't own your phone, but just leased it from the phone company, those things were darn near indestructible.

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    1. Re:Phones (back when the phone company owned them) by HTH+NE1 · · Score: 5, Funny

      And their armored cousin, the public pay phone, was no slouch either. Trust me, you don't want to lose one of those in the toilet.
      --
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    2. Re:Phones (back when the phone company owned them) by G-funk · · Score: 5, Funny

      It wasn't broken at all, was it?

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  3. Blah by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    http://www.aqualion.com/blog/uploaded_images/football-777893.jpg

    I've had this for over 25 years. Still works.

  4. The more important question is... by lanthar · · Score: 5, Funny

    Will it blend?

  5. Spent a week in the lake by NickisGod.com · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I remember my brother dropped his Gameboy in a lake accidentally when he was younger. It was under water for a week until friends of ours with scuba gear found it.

    That damn thing worked after we dried it out for a couple days and popped fresh batteries in it. It was missing a couple lines on the display, but it worked.

    Granted, it was fresh water, but still.

    1. Re:Spent a week in the lake by Kazoo+the+Clown · · Score: 5, Informative

      Actually, water isn't all that harmful to electronics (at least, when powered off) if a little care is taken.

      Eons ago I was a repair tech fixing oscilloscopes for Tektronix. Standard procedure for ANY piece of gear coming in the office was it went into the "wash rack." We took off all the side panels, hosed it down using essentially the same equipment you use in a self-serv car wash (w/soap & water), rinsed it, then it went into the dryers (I forget the exact temp, but as I recall it was relatively low, less than 150F I think). The only important thing we needed to remember is to put it in the dryers such that certain power transformer cans had their opening facing down (otherwise they could fill with water and three days then wasn't enough to dry it out). After that, we plugged it in and fired it up. This included both the ancient vacuum tube equipment and modern IC circuit-board equipment, including CRTs and the like. I suppose current gear with LCDs may get waterspots on the panels, and certain components might be uniquely sensitive. Mechanical devices such as VCRs might have grease on some moving parts that could be an issue but nothing Tek made at the time had that problem, and if they did the solution would likely be to re-lube the device.

      The important thing if you drop your ipod or whatever into the toilet, is to take out the batteries as soon as possible and open it up to the extent possible and leave it out to dry for a week or so. Movies & television shows that show dropping something electrical into water causing lots of sparks is mostly special-effect pyrotechnics and not reality. If it's plugged into AC though, unplug it from the wall first before you reach into the water, or you may get zapped...


      Tap water does conduct electricity so if it gets wet when it's powered on it could cause shorts that may damage things, but probably only with sensitive circuitry, as water looks like a resistor not a dead short so many circuits could survive it without damage. Battery powered units should be powered off ASAP though, as it could cause things to heat up. Yank out the batteries completely right away as well to minimize such adverse effects...

  6. This one survived the first Gulf War by simdan · · Score: 5, Interesting

    A bit lightly toasted. The page has a link to a YouTube video on it as well.

  7. Creative Media by techpawn · · Score: 5, Interesting
    Zen Jukebox:

    1. Dropped in bucket of paint from hip height: still worked
    2. Dropped in bucket of paint thinner from chest height: Removed paint from earlier drop, still worked
    3. No vista support... Coaxed drivers on vista anyway... STILL WORKS BABY!
    --
    Ask not what you can do for your country. Ask what your country did to you
  8. Nintendo Wii Controller by pembo13 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Apparently, more weapon than controller it is capable of withstanding high speed impact with stationary objects, LCD/plasma TVs, dry wall, idiots, etc.

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  9. Re:I dunno about that by EveryNickIsTaken · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I've got really bad luck with electronics... Not including the normal upgrade process, only replacements for faulty units, I've had about 6 ipods, more than 10 cell phones, 3 palm pilots, 2 PSPs, 3 xbox360s, 2 Wiis, about 6 Laptops, a dozen monitors (CRT), countless harddrives (well over 20), and several new headphones, keyboards, mice, digital cameras, drive enclosures and powerbricks. Many were replaced under warranty, but still. Hmm. Sounds like a user issue to me.
  10. Toughest device? by Punk+CPA · · Score: 5, Funny

    I would have to nominate my flash drive. I left it in my pants one time, and it survived a trip through the washer and dryer. I should really have hand-washed it, though: it shrank from 1 gb to 512 mb.

  11. Re:You never owned a Game Boy by GoodbyeBlueSky1 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Anyone who did knows that they're not beige ;) Anyone who played one for a while knows the color of the case changed over time from white to beige to yellow to brown to ewwimnottouchingthatanymore.
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  12. Re:Not That Tough by TyrainDreams · · Score: 5, Funny

    That or your head is just that dense...i mean clearly you smashed things into your head...its probably pretty tough...

  13. Not so much by boowax · · Score: 5, Funny

    My brother's forehead Christmas Day 1990 1
    Gameboy 0

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  14. What, no IBM keyboards?! by Rearden82 · · Score: 5, Funny

    I nominate the IBM Model M keyboard and its brethren as being among the most bulletproof gadgets ever made. They weigh 5 pounds, mostly because the keys are mounted on a solid steel plate. And not only are they indestructible, but they're delightful to type on.

  15. Re:Not That Tough by Spokehedz · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I bought the first Gameboy, and I still have it to this very day. I bought the external battery pack (filled with 4xC NiCad) and the carrying case that looked like a gigantic Gameboy.

    It still works. All of it. I have had to replace the batteries in the external battery pack, but that is it. I mean, the damn thing is almost 20 years old. It still turns on just fine.

    Also, the guys with the blowing in cartridges and stuff... Well, if you didin't carry the thing in your pocket like a goober then you woulden't have to do that. Mine works, and it has been sitting on my shelf for the last 10 years.

    I just pulled it out of the plastic bag, put some batteries in it, and stuck in both Quarth and RC Pro Am into it. No corrupted graphics at all.

    Sure they are toys. But they are also MY toys. I want them to work. I have all my consoles, and they all still work. Even the Virtualboy... Which was a good idea, but just failed in the execution.

    Nintendo knows its market. They realized that kids are a lot harder on consoles than adults--and their market is kids. So, all of their stuff is remarkably hardy. Except for the Virtualboy. That thing broke if you dropped it hard enough. Well, it did have rotating mirrors... Lets not mention the VB again, shall we?

  16. Re:Not That Tough by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Colour? What is this colour you speak of? Original gameboys are monochromatic, with the dial only serving to shift you between darker and lighter shades of snot-green.

  17. Re:Um, what? by Captain+Original · · Score: 5, Funny

    If you take out Tetris, it will work fine!

  18. Nokia 5165 by theoriginalturtle · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I'd vote for this as one of the toughest ever made. One time I got home late at night and somehow left the phone on the roof of the car. Overnight, it snowed about five inches. I didn't feel like shoveling the driveway, so I just got in, gunned the engine and after a few back-and-forth runs, made it out onto the road. Got to work, couldn't find the phone. Finally, after I got home again, I took my cordless house phone outside and dialed the Nokia. Underneath the packed snow, under the car, there was a green glow and a faint ring. I dug the Nokia out, wiped it off, and it still worked. Sure, the stubby antenna had broken (easily replaced) but the screen wasn't cracked and it could still make calls. I still have that phone in a drawer somewhere and in the battery on the back there are still deep grooves from the grit on the tires rubbing through the plastic.

    What really got me was that I figured I had driven over the thing about eight times.

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