Game Boy, The Ball Admitted To National Toy Hall Of Fame

Nintendo's Game Boy portable console has been added into the Strong National Museum of Play's National Toy Hall of Fame, alongside the ball. The gaming device, primarily designed by Nintendo engineer Gunpei Yokoi and introduced in 1989, "transformed the electronic-games market by popularizing handheld gaming," according to the museum's announcement of the induction. The ball has been used in innumerable activities across the entirety of known human history, with pictorial evidence dating back at least to ancient Egypt. Along with this year's third inductee, the Big Wheel tricycle, Game Boy and the ball join a group of toys now 44 strong, including the Atari 2600, the View Master, checkers, and the stick. The Rochester, New York-based museum has added toys to its Hall of Fame on an annual basis since 1998. The Rochester, NY-based Strong National Museum of Play made headlines in the gaming press earlier this year when it opened the National Center for the History of Electronic Games, a facility exclusively dedicated to the preservation and exhibition of video games, gaming systems, and related materials. Since then, the Center has continued to add to its collection, recently acquiring 114 classic arcade cabinets.