In what would become a regular development with every Nintendo handheld system, many hardware manufacturers saw the weak points of the Game Boy as an opportunity to fulfill the demands of certain customers by providing something to improve the game-playing experience. In the early years of the Game Boy, several accessories were released to solve some or all of the deficiencies of the system. Many accessories would try to enhance the brightness and contrast of the screen, but there were a few that tried to improve upon the original design in every way.
I wonder how successful these accessories were. Certainly, the original Game Boy design was deficient in many areas, most of all the blurry screen. However, the fact that the Game Boy graphics were created with just four shades of gray meant that there was enough contrast to see somewhat clearly what was going on-screen, and the portable was released with a pair of headphones for the player, which also eliminated the need for audio equipment.
Nevertheless, some manufacturers gave it their best, and in 1991, when Konami was in the middle of releasing a slew of blockbuster games on the Game Boy (including Sarawareta Ebsumaru), they took it upon themselves to release a special accessory. Or maybe I should say, a Hyper accessory: the Hyperboy.
By 1991, Konami had more experience building hardware, and, reading coverage about it, as well as the advertisement for the accessory, it seems that the concept behind the Hyberboy was more than just providing a better portable gaming experience. Twenty-six years before the launch of the Nintendo Switch, the Hyperboy promised a similar, albeit more far-away concept: a gaming system that could transform to fit the needs of both indoor and outdoor, console and portable gaming.
The only problem, of course, was that in 1991, that dream was simply just that. The Atari Lynx and the Sega Game Gear tried to persuade players that the portable systems delivered a console-like experience, but in the case of the Game Boy, games had to work really hard to make this statement believable (although it was certainly possible, looking at what Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins and the Game Boy port of Parodius Da! achieved), and anything more ambitious, like what the Hyperboy promised was, well, simply hyperbole.
It is very possible that even Konami did not hold such lofty ambitions for the Hyperboy; it would not be difficult to believe that someone brought the concept to them, or a manager or executive at the company happened to chance upon the accessory made by a smaller company, and purchased the rights to manufacturing and distribution to make what could be an easy profit. The Hyperboy packaging shows that the accessory was manufactured in Taiwan, very possibly by Taiwan Gakken Electronics, Ltd., which manufactured the LaserScope for Konami. The LaserScope was a lightgun-like accessory with perhaps a more lofty design, and in comparison, the Hyperboy is not a genius marvel of engineering: it is simply a shell that fits snugly on top of the original Game Boy.
The origin of the name of the product probably comes from the fact that the Hyperboy improves upon all aspects of the design of the Game Boy: the screen can be adjusted to different angles, and is magnified thanks to a large magnifying lens that also happens to be illuminated by two small bulbs by the lens. The sound of the Game Boy is also improved thanks to two 200 mW speakers that are a definite upgrade from the tinny speaker on the actual portable. Moreover, the control system itself is given an arcade-like facelift, with a joystick that can be toggled between 4- and 8-way input and bigger buttons. (Despite the relative rarity of the accessory, one can find a surprising number of articles and videos about the Hyperboy online–Nintendo Life’s in particular is a recommended overview.)
Similar products had appeared on the market by that time (and would do so later on–the Handy Boy, released in 1994, springs to mind), but what was unique about the Hyperboy was that it tried to reframe the Game Boy video game experience to a console, stationary experience at home. And it asked to do so at quite the price: at 5,880 yen, the Hyperboy was not a casual impulse buy. One can imagine that the audience that Konami was marketing this accessory to was not children or young adults who had the time and freedom to play the Game Boy outdoors. It was the adult owners who appreciated the portable qualities of the Game Boy, but who also might be tempted to play games sitting at a desk or table after work.
However, given the cost of the Hyperboy and the audience Konami was targeting, it was perhaps optimistic to expect the accessory to become a significant success. As the advertisements and the coverage point out, such an accessory would be aimed at players who enjoyed games that required careful movement and pixel-level reflexes–shooting games such as Gradius, for example. but the problem is that the Game Boy simply did not have so many games that required pixel-perfect precision. Moreover, people interested in those games who could afford the Hyperboy could also, most likely, also afford other game systems such as the PC Engine that had higher resolutions and a bigger library of shoot-em-up games and other high-reflex games.
The Hyperboy filled a very specific niche among Game Boy owners, but one factor that modern-day people might not understand these days is that the 1980s and early 1990s (the so-called “Bubble Economy”) were a period of astonishing affluence for Japan in general, and even more so for people who were financially comfortable. With this in mind, perhaps the release of the Hyperboy makes more sense: in an environment in which people could afford to buy something relatively expensive just to satiate their curiosity, those who could afford the accessory would probably buy it. The Hyperboy was an acknowledgment that portable gaming had become more sophisticated in comparison to its simple mini-game-like roots of handheld LCD portable gaming machines of the past.
In an interesting turn of events, it is possible that the Hyperboy was also distributed outside Japan–bypassing the North American market and heading to Europe. Gimiak on Retroage.net reports that the accessory was as expensive as the Game Boy itself. As well as the list of European languages in the back of the box, note the more modern Konami logo in the top left of the front of the box, and the Nintendo Seal in the bottom left. If I were to speculate about this happening, I would venture that the units sold in Europe might have been leftover inventory from less-than-spectacular sales in Japan. However, I should stress that this is just speculation.
One curious detail about coverage about it and especially advertisements about the Hyperboy was that it was very odd to see that Konami did not advertise any of its Game Boy games with the accessory. “HYPERBOY” was pushed at every opportunity in red, bold capital letters, but the only photos in the advertisements and the packaging featured the accessory or a young boy (with ridiculously short pants) playing it. Marketing the Hyperboy as a general, open accessory for any game publisher was a generous decision on Konami’s part–but one wonders if their games might have had a larger presence in the market if they had been pictured or mentioned in the advertisements. Hyperboy and Sarawareta Ebisumaru existed in separate universes, although perhaps that is to be expected. However, it is strange that Konami did not market the accessory alongside Nemesis or Parodius Da!
Coverage
IDEA
Your portable game machine ally has arrived!
The advantage of portable game consoles is that you can enjoy playing games anytime, anywhere. However, being portable, they’re not suited very well to games that require you to sit back and relax. This is especially the case with shooting, as the screen is too small to see. A controller that’s integrated into the main body of the console can’t manage to let the player keep up with the quick movements in trying to catch sight of a single pixel. This is where the Hyper Boy, made by Konami, comes in. It’s a joystick that wraps around the body of a Game Boy. As one would expect from Konami, they have carefully considered the feelings of shooting game fans. The Hyperboy also has a lens that enlarges the screen by a factor of 1.5, and a battery-powered light that allows you to play in the dark. Huh? I don’t remember the Game Boy having an interface to connect a controller to it, though.
As a matter of fact, the Hyperboy simply connects the joystick to the Game Boy’s integrated D-pad directly. Not what you were expecting? But that’s what you get for 5800 yen. Oh, and I forgot to mention that it doesn’t have a turbo function. Instead, the D-pad [sic: the joystick] allows the player to set movement to 4 or 8 directions.
As an added bonus, here is another peripheral device that will be great for Game Gear players. This is the Wide Gear shown in the photo above. From Sun Denshi [Sun Corporation, parent company of Sunsoft], the makers of the Wide Boy [for the Game Boy], comes a version made specifically for the Game Gear. The price: 1780 yen. The only other portables left for a Wide accessory are the PC Engine GT and the [Atari] Lynx. Maybe some other company will produce something for these two sometime soon…*
↑ Konami’s Hyperboy is scheduled for release on November 15, so you’ll have to wait a while. This will be really handy! [Translator’s note: it would eventually come out two weeks later, on November 29.]
↑ Sun Denshi’s Wide Gear. A relative of the Wide Boy, one might say…
(From the October 18, 1991 issue of Famitsu p. 9)
Advertisement
KONAMI
My Game Boy is now HYPER!
New ideas are born from the spirit of play. Beautiful design comes from the pursuit of function. Ideas and design come together to create the HYPERBOY! This will make the Game Boy fun again.
A joystick that doubles the fun
You can play the Game Boy with a joystick, and it comes with a 4-way and 8-way switching lever for easy operation.
A 1.5x screen magnifier
The Hyperboy enlarges the Game Boy screen 1.5 times. This makes it easier to see enemy attacks and raises your energy level while you’re playing.
Powerful 200mW stereo sound.
Amplified stereo sound streams from the 200mW speakers. The overwhelming power piles on the pressure on your playing sessions!
Attach your Game Boy to it!
- Lights up the game screen, so you can play in the dark.
- The screen angle can be fine-tuned to your liking.
- The Game Boy’s link cable terminal, rechargeable adapter, and volume controls can be accessed with no issues when the Game Boy is attached to the Hyperboy.
- Features a removable lens cover and replaceable light bulbs.
The Hyperboy is for use only with the Nintendo Game Boy.
- Game Boy sold separately.
Specifications
- Weight: 600 g (approx.)
- Size: 245mm (L) x 164mm
x 173.8mm (H) - Lens magnification: 1.5×
- Maximum speaker output: 200mW
- Variable screen angle: 15 degrees
- Uses 2 light bulbs (2xD batteries required)
- 2xD batteries and 1 spare light bulb included
Release date: November 29, 1991 List price: ¥5,800 (excluding tax)
HYPERBOY™️
(From the November 29, 1991 issue of Famitsu, p.84)
(All translation by me.)
Project Goemon 