The Nintendo Switch was just released last week, but most peoplehave only been able to enjoy it vicariously through YouTube reviews or TV commercials. Unless you were able to beat the rush for a pre-order, or took your chances with long lines and low inventory at your local Best Buy or GameStop, the chances of getting your hands on a Switch have been slim.In fact, the Switch has been selling so well that it has officially become Nintendo's fastest-selling console ever ' moving more units in North America in its first two days than even the Wii. Time will tell if the Switch will come anywhere near the Wii's mind-boggling 100 million units sold worldwide, but it is certainly off to a promising start.With Nintendo seemingly back on top of the gaming world, it seems as good a time as any to reflect on a product they couldn't transfer their golden touch onto. I'm not talking about consoles with middling sales like the GameCube or Wii U. Though not particularly successful, they had their corner of the market and each had a number of hit games. No, I'm talking about the handheld time forgot; the Game Boy that, if you weren't paying attention, came and went without leaving a trace. I'm talking, of course, about the Game Boy Micro. Take a look:SEE ALSO:This $4 podcast app is way better than Apple's ' take a lookThe Game Boy What'Released in September 2005, the Game Boy Micro was the final system in the hallowed Game Boy line. It arrived two years after the Game Boy Advance SP, which managed to move over 40 million units and received near-universal critical acclaim. The Micro was Nintendos best-looking Game Boy. To this day, it remains Nintendos only handheld with a metal body, and it boasted interchangeable faceplates so you could customize your system at a moments notice. Back when flip phones were trying to get smaller and smaller, the Micro didnt buck the trend. Its name was fitting, as it measured just two inches tall, four inches wide, and only 0.7 inches deep. Its two-inch screen was nearly a full inch smaller than the SPs, but featured a stronger backlight and richer colors than the SP or its predecessors. During its surprise announcement at E3 2005, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime described the new handheld as just a hair bigger, and two thirds the weight of an iPod Mini. At only $99, with access to the entire Game Boy Advance library, it seemedprimed for success.The Game Boy Micro sounds pretty good! What went wrong'The Micro was dead in the water. Despite its beautiful design, critics complained about its too-small screen and said that its compact chassis caused hand cramps after extended play sessions. In order to fit the internals into such a small body, Nintendo opted to sacrifice backward compatibility, meaning that users with large collections of Game Boy and Game Boy Color games wouldnt be able to use them on the new machine. Though it achieved decentinitial sales in Japan, the Micro never took off in Europe and North America. It ended up selling only 2.42 million units over its brief lifespan, paling in comparison to 36.2 million sold by the Game Boy Advance and the 43.57 million sold by the Game Boy Advance SP.But if the Game Boy Advance consoles were so popular, how did the Micro fall between the cracks'Did I forget to mention that this happened almost a full year prior to the Micro's release'See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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