Mar 5 2008Gameboy Survives Bombing, Still Works
What you see is a Gameboy that survived a barracks bombing during the Gulf War and currently resides at the Nintendo World Store in NYC. As is evident by the Tetris screen, it still works! Now that, my friends, is quality. This clearly proves beyond a shadow of a doubt one of my most recent theories -- that Gameboys really do save lives. Okay, so maybe it doesn't prove that at all. But it does prove that Tetris was an awesome fucking game doesn't it? Yes, it most certainly does that.
Video of the unit in action after the jump.
Game Boy - Damaged in Gulf War [deviantart]
Thanks to Ambird, who is a wonderful artist, for the tip
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Reader Comments
1. pressmeister - March 5, 2008 11:04 AM
FAKE!
2. Bill - March 5, 2008 11:05 AM
I've seen this GameBoy before. They keep it at the Nintendo World Store in New York City. I remember when this was first posted in Nintendo Power, I was like "That's awesome! This thing can withstand ANYTHING!". This goes to show that it really lives up to it's nickname, 'The Brick'.
3. guate6 - March 5, 2008 11:05 AM
They sure don't make things like they used to...try that with any other console...wait, try dropping any other console and you're out a lot of money.
4. samuel - March 5, 2008 11:09 AM
and how did the screen survive being melted (even though it is less likely to sustain being heated) one might ask....
5. samuel - March 5, 2008 11:12 AM
oh yeah, the protective screen that goes over it..... DURP!!
give me a break. mine fell off and constant attempts to sticky tape it back on were barely successful, leading me to not use one at all....
yes i am retarded. so are you. leave me alone.
6. ASDF - March 5, 2008 11:13 AM
This is a bad fake. I mean seriously, the perfect little hole for the red power led didn't melt? None of the buttons melted?
7. Bill - March 5, 2008 11:22 AM
No, really. This is a REAL object. Is it really so hard to believe that this still works after being through some fire? I read this story about 18 years ago in Nintendo Power, and yes, they procured the GameBoy for the Nintendo World Store. And yeah, if you didn't notice, the protective screen is melted away completely. They probably popped it off and that's why the red LED still works.
And yes, video game systems of today couldn't take this sort of abuse. Put a DS in a fire and see if it works.
8. samuel - March 5, 2008 11:23 AM
nooooooooooo
it's either real or a really GOOD fake. i'd like to see you make a melted gameboy (no really).
ps. plastic shrinks when melted. ie holes would open up instead of close
gagagagaggaag
9. Bill - March 5, 2008 11:24 AM
Taken at the Nintendo World Store.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAnIRxgODy4&eurl=http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/gadgets/torched-gulf-war-game-boy-still-works-225690.php
10. whistle - March 5, 2008 12:51 PM
Whoever is playing Tetris in that video must be on downs or something.
11. Skatelip - March 5, 2008 12:57 PM
Is the phrase "still works" meant to be taken literally?
I'm curious if the button and directional pad actually function. If all you can do is watch the demo on screen it wouldn't really be a "Game"boy.
And yes, it is proof that nothing can kill the power of Tetris.
12. Bill - March 5, 2008 1:10 PM
No one's playing in the video. They just turn the game on and call it a day. Just like every other version of Tetris since this one, if you let it sit there, it will have a demo play.
13. Ian - March 5, 2008 1:49 PM
This ain't no joke. I too remember reading about this a thousand years ago in the pages of Nintendo Power.
Man does time fly...
14. Boydi xXx - March 5, 2008 2:38 PM
That is so fake, you can see where the cover comes off on the wooden bit. Yeah right that, that gameboy would've survived a bombing!
Boydi xXx (:
15. Boydi xXx - March 5, 2008 2:38 PM
Is it charging in the picture?
Boydi xXx
16. Tap - March 5, 2008 2:59 PM
Anyone who thinks this is fake can visit the mini-museum at Nintendo World in New York City and see the unit on display. I've been to Nintendo World several times over the past three years and this is one of their permanent exhibits. They also have Swarovski-encrusted DS consoles, Japanese consoles and some rare items, like this GameBoy signed by the Zelda creator:
http://picasaweb.google.com/stephenscott/NewYorkUSA/photo#5079034235974962498
17. eumaledictio - March 5, 2008 3:48 PM
This reminds me of the Nintendo Power magazines in the early nineties that every now and then contained letters to the editor with photos of people's gameboys that got really messed up but kept working. The house fire one from one issue looked worse than this one, even, but the screen still came on, though I believe the buttons were completely ruined - I remember another one where someone accidentally dropped it out of the second story window and smashed the screen and part of the casing, but the music still played when you inserted a cartridge and turned it on.
18. guate6 - March 5, 2008 6:49 PM
#11: the fact that it survived (not a fire) an EXPLOSION is pretty badass. So "still works" is a relative term.
And I say again, they sure don't make 'em like they used to.
19. JagedNS - March 5, 2008 7:48 PM
hmmm only thing this proves is that Gameboys are made of recycled cockroaches.
ewwwwwwww
20. ambird - March 6, 2008 7:54 PM
you're welcome :]
21. youshallneverknow - March 9, 2008 6:23 PM
TESTICLES!!!
22. Anonymous - March 9, 2008 11:40 PM
This is fake, and just because you can go to the Nintendo Power World Store and see it doesn't mean it's real.
23. puttputt - March 11, 2008 12:49 PM
THE OWNER WAS BURNED TO A CRISP.
24. Ashley - March 12, 2008 7:53 PM
Fake! The video was filmed on a sound stage in Oklahoma. All the other comments to this were Photoshopped and if you're reading this you're really a hologram.
If it's on the internet it couldn't POSSIBLY be real. Get out your tinfoil hats, friends, it's time to start whining about how it could have possibly been faked.
25. Ray - April 11, 2008 12:30 AM
I remember seeing this in Nintendo Power too!!
Brings back good memories, that was a looong time ago.