Nintendo was developing a Game Boy Color expansion between 1999 and 2002 that would make it possible to communicate via radio signals. Page Boy will enable this mobile device to use the Internet and send emails, among other things.

Page Boy has not been released to the market and as far as we know no working prototype has been made, but extensive details about the addon and its development have emerged. Game historian Liam Robertson talks about it in a new episode on his YouTube channel Do you know the games.

The addon was designed by Wizard in 1999. The company contacted Nintendo and the two sides worked on Page Boy for three years. It was a clickable accessory on the back of the Game Boy Color, into the cartridge slot. The Page Boy itself also has a slot for cartridges, so that toys or other accessories can be inserted.

According to Wizard and Nintendo’s plans, the Page Boy with Game Boy Color should allow you to visit websites, check the weather, and see sports scores. Nintendo also had plans to give users access to digital editions of the Nintendo Power magazine.

Sending messages went far beyond just texting. For example, Vmail is designed for Page Boy; An email where users can add animations and sounds, for example to send a birthday message with the accompanying melody. Users can also take and send selfies using the optional Game Boy camera. There was also an ambitious plan for Game Boy TV, where Nintendo could broadcast live information about new games.

Page Boy was supposed to work with the same radio frequencies that were used at the time pagers used. This was ultimately the technique that failed the concept. Nintendo envisioned users could communicate with each other all over the world, but there was no cost-effective network for use in Japan or Europe. The technique used was suitable only for North America. Nintendo canceled the project sometime in 2002.