In 1991 the Gulf War was raging and Sister Stephan Coggins was sent to Iraq to serve in the army. To pass the time when he’s not on duty, he takes his trusty Game Boy (first version) with a few cartridges in the package. But what had to happen happened: Stephan Coggins’ barracks became the target of an Iraqi scud. The nurse finds his portable console in the rubble and sends it to Nintendo with a note for the teams, explaining that the device and some game cartridges were the only victims of the bombardment, hoping the technicians can do something. The front of the Game Boy is completely charred, the plastic buttons and directional cross are melted; It is impossible to use them and therefore play with the device. However, the screen and motherboard are mostly intact, as Nintendo engineers determine when they turn on the Game Boy with the Tetris cartridge inserted.
“When we received Stephan’s Game Boy from the Middle East, we immediately thought there was nothing we could do. The back of the console was fine, but the front was charred and blistered from the heat. We still have the Tetris game cartridge in, connected to a battery [NDLR : le Battery Pak est un accessoire pour le Game Boy à brancher sur le côté de la console pour remplacer les piles] and turned on the device. Then we heard the famous message! It was wonderful!”
Nintendo has since gifted Stephan Coggins a Game Boy and a Tetris game in recognition of his service during Operation Desert Storm. As for the famous surviving Game Boy, it was exhibited at the Nintendo store in New York for 30 years, running Tetris while proving the durability of Big N-designed consoles. Would a Switch have survived the same treatment? ? Nothing is less certain…
The end of an era?
However, the Gulf War Game Boy has been missing for a few days. He was sent to Nintendo of America’s headquarters in Redmond, Washington, according to an employee at the store where he was one of the centerpieces. We still don’t know why this legendary Game Boy was removed from its showcase (technical problem? A whim of the company’s great minds?). We definitely hope that one day he will find his place there as he has become a symbolic figure of the world video game heritage.
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