Lego has launched a highly detailed, 1:1 scale Game Boy set, developed through a close collaboration with Nintendo, including input from original hardware designers. This product, which meticulously replicates the console's tactile experience, reinforces Lego's strategy of leveraging iconic intellectual properties and nostalgia to create premium collectibles, following the success of its NES set. The partnership's depth and focus on authenticity suggest continued strong performance in the licensed toy market and potential for further successful ventures in gaming IP.
We've already been chatting excitedly about Lego's very lovely Game Boy set. It's absolutely one of the best things they've put out in a while and, to celebrate the launch, two of Lego's designers, Carl Merriam and Simon Kent, have been chatting with those fine folks over at Gizmodo about the process of recreating an iconic piece of gaming history. Now, we can tell you that the most exciting thing about the Lego Game Boy is just how close it manages to get to the look, feel, and weight of the original console just right. In fact, it gets them so right that someone has already modded the thing to play actual Game Boy games. It really does hit all those nostalgia buttons, and in order to get it so close to the OG, the designers say they worked closely with Nintendo itself throughout development. “Nintendo was very involved,” explained Lego design director Kent: “We have a team that works in Japan… they basically allow us to connect to different IP teams or hardware teams or even creative teams within Nintendo to get the right information to make the product as best as it can be. We also met with the hardware designer that I think may have worked on the original or certainly was connected to the original.” With Nintendo's seal of approval, and with input from someone who was seemingly connected to the design of the original (the Game Boy's original designer, Gunpei Yokoi passed away in 1997), the next challenge for the team behind the set was just how little room they had to work with if they wanted to keep the 1:1 scale - which, of course, was essential. “We don’t really have a lot of room to do a lot of stuff, and we played around with all kinds of different functional ways to make you be able to do something with the games,” Merriam, who's also worked on Super Mario Lego sets, told Gizmodo. For what little room they did have — and it's one of the best things about the build as you make your way through its five bags — they certainly got down to some ingenious designing. With little touches such as how the D-Pad sits on a rubber piece to give it a perfect bouncy and responsive feel, or how the 'A' and 'B' buttons have been set to feel exactly like those on the console. Nevermind the fact that they're shoehorned in some awesome lenticular screens and carts that "click" in exactly the right way when you insert them into the back. Indeed, with this in mind, Mirriam says that he designed some 30 to 40 of the D-Pad and various switches to work on how they felt. Oh, and those Start and Select buttons? They're Lego tyres from all the way back in the 1960s! As good as the finished product is, it's also revealed that there were discussions about adding more, as Kent continues: “We wanted to sort of incorporate everything that was mobile about the Game Boy...We had discussions on whether we should add any peripherals that can plug into it. Should it come with some headphones? Should it come with a little light? But, in the end, we wanted to keep it simple and focused very much on… taking fans’ favourite games and playing them anywhere.” In discussing how to work on the company's second shot at a Nintendo console (after the superb NES set in 2020) without being influenced by the endless fan-made versions of the Game Boy in Lego that are already out there and online, Kent said that: “If you search for anything related to intellectual property, there’s probably a Lego version of it out there somewhere...we are very careful for that exact reason. We deliberately don’t look at fan-related material because we want to focus on the actual real thing and do what we think is the right thing with the partner who we are collaborating with.” Merriam adds that, “One of the most interesting differences between being a Lego fan and the Lego designer is that we’re designing a product for people to build at home, and to make the experience of building the product fun is a totally different challenge than just making something look like the source material." Indeed. Pushed on whether there were any further Nintendo consoles or sets en route, neither designer gave up any details, but on the strength of both this and the NES console set, we can't wait to see what comes next. Have you picked up the Lego Game Boy? Happy with it? Make sure to let us know what you think! [source gizmodo.com] Comments 13 It's a great collaboration, and it's very true that the engineering of enjoyable building is a completely unique skill set. Hopefully the leaked $60 Pokemon set is a Pokeball to sit alongside the LEGO Game Boy! @BrewsterTea the $60 set is an Eevee, the $200 set is a pikachu with a pokeball, the $650 set is the kanto starters. But we’re getting 20 regular and 8 promotional Pokemon sets throughout 2026 so I bet one of the promo sets will be a ball. Watched some reviews for this one and it's kind of...lame once you get over the novelty of building a to-scale Gameboy with Lego. Now, the build itself is crazy well realized. It looks right, people say it feels about the right weight - if you remove the batteries from your Gameboy lol - and they did put some effort into sort of aping the chips inside. But I think if I buy the set it'll be down the line and to mod it /make it functional. In that same line of thought I almost wish they made it more expensive and turned it into a slightly fancier Gameboy... Uh, not-so-mini like those little consoles we got around 2020 or so. And it shows based on what I've seen and heard (including this very article of course), kudos to Merriam, Kent and Nintendo - looking forward to eventually getting it myself if I can and happy for others getting it, too! Tried getting my hands on one last weekend at the local toy store, but they were all out of stock. I guess I'll have to get one online To be honest, I'm glad they kept the set relatively simple, because it also means the price point could be kept affordable. I mean, this set is a whole lot simpler than the NES set, but also more readily available to most people, due to the low costs. I can't wait to add mine to my collection and display it when I finally make some room in my extended book/game case. I'm really curious to see what people come up with in terms of unofficial carts and lenticular screens. It'd be neat to see a custom-printed Metroid or Pokémon set, and you know someone's already considering a Sonic Game Gear game or something... SOUND not being aligned with the rest of the type to the left of it just looks so bad and I don't know how that wasn't addressed. Do a Megadrive next! I assembled mine over the weekend. It was a fun build, and the weight and feel are indeed almost 1:1 with the original. I never owned the OG Game Boy, but I've handled a couple of units. I also absolutely love which lenticular screen they chose for Link's Awakening. It's an iconic scene from one of my favorite 2D Zelda entries. @canaryfarmer you mean, exactly like the original Game Boy? They should have also done the Light Boy accessory: https://videogamesnewyork.com/gameboy-light-boy-by-vic-tokai-inc/ Next, do all the Game & Watches! Games & Watch? Those! Never really understood why people would buy a lego console. I get Nostalgia and stuff, but a lego console? @atmb82 I have yet to see a photo where it's raised higher 😁 please link, I'd like to see! Leave A Comment Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment... The launch of the Lego Game Boy set exemplifies a highly successful and repeatable strategy centered on premium, nostalgia-driven collectibles. The product's development, characterized by a deep collaboration with Nintendo that involved its IP, hardware, and creative teams, underscores a commitment to authenticity that differentiates it from standard licensed merchandise. This approach, which follows the successful 2020 Lego NES set, meticulously replicates the tactile experience of the original console, from the D-pad's feel to the 'click' of the game cartridges. The resulting 'strongly positive' sentiment score (0.75) and anecdotal reports of the product being out of stock confirm strong consumer demand. While the single product launch carries a low market impact score of 0.15, it validates a potent business model for monetizing iconic intellectual property, reinforcing brand value for the IP holder (Nintendo) and setting a high competitive benchmark in the toy and collectibles industry.
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Request a DemoOverall Sentiment
strongly positive
Sentiment Score
0.75
