LEGO Game Boy Designers Discuss Collaborating With A “Very Involved” Nintendo

We’ve been enthusiastically discussing Lego’s delightful Game Boy set. It truly stands out as one of the finest releases in some time and, to commemorate the debut, two of Lego’s creators, Carl Merriam and Simon Kent, have been conversing with those wonderful individuals over at Gizmodo regarding the journey of recreating a legendary segment of gaming history.

Now, we can inform you that the most thrilling aspect of the Lego Game Boy is its remarkable ability to mirror the appearance, sensation, and heft of the original console accurately. In fact, it accomplishes this so well that someone has already modified it to play genuine Game Boy games.

It certainly evokes all those nostalgic emotions, and to achieve such fidelity to the original, the designers mentioned they collaborated closely with Nintendo itself throughout the creation. “Nintendo was highly engaged,” elucidated Lego design director Kent:

“We have a team located in Japan… they essentially enable us to connect with various IP teams or hardware teams or even creative teams within Nintendo to fetch the right information and develop the product to its utmost potential. We also engaged with the hardware designer who I believe may have contributed to the original or at least had ties to it.”

With Nintendo’s endorsement, and feedback from someone seemingly linked to the original design (the Game Boy’s creator, Gunpei Yokoi, passed away in 1997), the subsequent hurdle for the team behind the set was the limited space they had to operate in while maintaining the 1:1 scale – which, of course, was crucial.

“We don’t really possess extensive space to implement many features, and we experimented with numerous functional methods to enable interaction with the games,” Merriam, who has also worked on Super Mario Lego collections, explained to Gizmodo.

For the minimal space they had — and this is one of the highlights of the assembly process as you navigate through its five bags — they certainly managed to devise some clever designs. With nuanced elements such as how the D-Pad rests on a rubber component to provide a perfect bounce and responsive sensation, or how the ‘A’ and ‘B’ buttons replicate the original’s feel. Not to mention they included impressive lenticular screens and cartridges that “click” perfectly when inserted into the back.

Indeed, with this consideration, Merriam noted that he engineered approximately 30 to 40 variations of the D-Pad and different switches to fine-tune the tactile experience. Oh, and those Start and Select buttons? They are Lego wheels dating back to the 1960s!

While the final product is remarkable, it was also disclosed that there were conversations about incorporating additional features, as Kent elaborates:

“We aimed to include everything that was portable about the Game Boy… We contemplated whether we should include any accessories that could connect to it. Would it come with headphones? Should it include a small light? However, ultimately, we opted to keep it uncomplicated and zeroed in on… allowing fans to enjoy their favorite games anywhere.”

In reflecting on how to approach the company’s second attempt at a Nintendo console (following the impressive NES set in 2020) without being swayed by the multitude of fan-made Lego Game Boy versions already available online, Kent stated:

“If you search for anything related to intellectual property, there’s likely a Lego adaptation of it somewhere… we are quite cautious for that precise reason. We intentionally avoid fan-generated material because we want to concentrate on the authentic product and do what we believe aligns best with our collaborating partner.”

Merriam adds that, “One of the most fascinating distinctions between being a Lego enthusiast and a Lego designer is that we’re creating a product for individuals to construct at home, and ensuring the experience of assembling the product is enjoyable poses a totally different challenge than merely replicating the original source material.” Indeed.

Pressed on whether there are any further Nintendo consoles or sets on the horizon, neither designer disclosed any specifics, but based on both this and the NES console set, we’re eagerly anticipating what’s coming next.

Have you acquired the Lego Game Boy? Satisfied with it? Be sure to share your thoughts with us!