Game Boy Color and the Rise of Casual Gaming

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This chapter explores the popularity of the Game Boy Color as an affordable gaming system, appealing to both kids and casual adult gamers while leaving the core gaming market to home consoles. The speakers also reminisce about their experiences with the Game Boy Color and discuss the successful investment strategy of Tiny in niche internet businesses.

In the 1980’s Nintendo was on top of the world, with the NES achieving over 90% market share of home video games globally. So how did they fall ALL the way down to ~10% in just a few short console generations? And how did they then build themselves back up (and down and up again) to the top of the world again? Spoiler: it all hinged on one very small, yet very large and durable platform… the Game Boy. Fire up your favorite portable entertainment device and tune in for the epic story of Nintendo’s fall from grace and journey back to the top — capped off by our robust discussion of where they go from here, and whether this 130+ year old company may still (!) be misunderstood and mis-valued.

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Carve Outs:

Kara Swisher in Vanity Fair (and our old episode with her!)
Hardcore History (finally!)
The Tetris movie
Daryl Morey on Invest Like the Best

Sponsors:
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‍Note: Acquired hosts and guests may hold assets discussed in this episode. This podcast is not investment advice, and is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. You should do your own research and make your own independent decisions when considering any financial transactions.