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Game Boy Game Link Cable

First written November 3, 2024

Released alongside the original Game Boy in 1989, the Game Link cable allowed for two or more Game Boy systems to be linked together for multiplayer play. The original Game Boys used a larger type of cable and port that was electrically compatible with the Pocket and future machines that used the smaller "second generation" connector. The Game Boy Advance uses a backwards-compatible port that allows for older Game Boy games to also communicate over it in addition to new Game Boy Advance accessories and a new cable.

Game Link Cable (DMG-04) (1989)

The original Game Link Cable, model DMG-04, connect two of the "large" link cable ports used on the original DMG-style Game Boys.

With the original and Play it Loud Game Boys being the only ones available with link cable ports until 1996, and many early Game Boy systems including a cable, a decent number of these cables are hanging around.

Four Player Adapter (DMG-07) (1990)

 

Released in 1990, the Four Player Adapter allowed for the connection of four original-connector link cables and attached systems. Some games, like F-1 Race which was sometimes bundled together with the adapter, began to support four player multiplayer using this adapter. In fact, the game Faceball 2000 is notable for letting you chain multiple adapters together to make a 15 player game of Faceball.

The particular port that the cable is plugged into determines what player number the Game Boy it is attached to is, as opposed to assigning each additional Game Boy the next lowest available number.

Conversion Connector (MGB-004) (1997)

When the Game Boy Pocket was first released with the second generation link cable connector, every other Game Boy and every existing cable used the existing "large" standard, so a converter to adapt existing cables to connect to your new Game Boy sort of made sense. Nintendo would make a similar adapter that goes in the reverse direction, allowing a second generation Pocket/Color cable to connect to an original Game Boy port.

This converter stayed in production into the later 1990s, with this version of the box being dated 1999 and mentioning its compatibility with the Game Boy Light and Color.

A specific Game Boy Pocket to Pocket link cable was released in white in Japan as the MGB-008.

Universal Game Link Cable (MGB-010) (1998)

Sold with the Game Boy Printer in North America and Europe, this link cable has a second generation connector on one end with a junction box that splits out into both a first and second generation connector on the other. This cable allowed any Game Boy to connect to a second non-DMG Game Boy (or, indeed, the Game Boy Printer). Only one of the connectors on the short end of the cable can be used at once, of course. There was also a traditional Game Boy accessory boxed released of this cable, but it is less common than the later Universal Game Link Cable Set, sold in at least three packaging variations in North America alone.

Game Boy Color Game Link Cable (CGB-003) (1998)

In 1998 the Game Boy Color received its own black second generation link cable. These are electrically identical to the earlier MGB-008 but in black instead of white.

Universal Game Link Adapter (DMG-14) (1998)

A small adapter that connect to one end of a second generation link cable and adapts it into the original large Game Boy plug. A plastic clip can be used to hold the connector to a standard second generation cable.

In the United States and Europe the Universal Game Link Adapter was sold with a CGB-003 Game Boy Color Link Cable as the Universal Game Link Cable Set. As the back of the box outlines, it can be used to connect any combination of Game Boys and accessories other than two original DMG-style Game Boys (the chart leaves off a Pocket-to-Pocket connection, but that is also possible, as well as connections between other second-generation port devices, and, of course, the as-yet-unreleased third-generation port-having devices that were backwards compatible with Game Boy and Game Boy Color games, (second-generation) link cables, and accessories).

In addition to the blister-pack style packaging, this link cable set was also sold in a Game Boy-branded Game Link style box and in a Pokemon-themed Game Boy Color-billed box.

Game Boy Advance Game Link Cable (AGB-005) (2001)

With the new 32-bit Game Boy Advance premiering in 2001 a new third generation expanded version of the link cable port was introduced that offered new functionality for the Game Boy Advance while remaining backwards-compatible with older games and cables. This still means, however, that a matching generation of cable must be used with Game Boy or Game Boy Color games versus Game Boy Advance games. When playing Game Boy games in a Game Boy Advance, a cable with a second generation end must be connected to the Advance. Two Advances can communicate between older games as long as they are using a Game Boy Color or Pocket cable*.

The Game Boy Advance cable has a protruding peg that prevents the cable from being used with any prior generations of Game Boy port. The cable has a junction box in the middle that allows for additional cable to be plugged together, eliminating the need for a separate adapter to chain multiple cables and more than two Game Boys together. One end of the cable has a smaller purple end that can be plugged into the junction box and the other has a wider grey plug that cannot physically fit, enforcing a specific order and location on the chain for each subsequent Game Boy Advance. This third generation port was used on the Game Boy Advance and Game Boy Advance SP, with the later Game Boy Micro being the only device to use the short-lived fourth generation standard, which had its own Micro-to-Micro cable as well as an adapter to convert one of its ends to a third generation end.

*Actually, there is a backwards-compatibility built into the Game Boy Advance link cable standard that was apparently undocumented - if you take two multiplayer-type Game Boy Advance link cables, plug the smaller purple connector into the other cable's junction, and use the larger grey ends in the Game Boy Advances, they will function together as a second generation cable for older Game Boy games.

Third-Party Link Cables

In addition to Nintendo's direct offerings, other companies offered cables that were either cheaper or of a more interesting design than Nintendo's basic black affairs. Some link cables split off into both the large original and smaller second generation link cables on both ends, being truly universal without any adapters. A rainbow of link cables to match the colorful look of the Game Boy Color rose in popularity alongside other inexpensive addons to cater to the Pokemon boom of the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Pokemon gave the link cable port new life in the late 1990s, and the game's immense popularity, compatibility back to original Game Boy hardware into the second generation, and the release of the Game Boy Color in 1998 unearthed many old link cables and sold many new ones - I suspect that the average early Game Boy player only ever used their link cable for Tetris, if at all, and the average later Game Boy player probably only used it for Pokemon.

Indeed, here are two neat cables from Kemco of Japan that are decorated with Pokemon figures. The figures are actually covers for the cable ends and can be removed and swapped around. These were approved by Nintendo and, of course, associated with Creatures and Game Freak.

In addition to the Pikachu cable, which was released outside of Japan, Japan also got a Togepi cable and a three-pack set of one of each of the second-generation starters as cable covers (these harder to find than either of the cables, which can still be found new in packaging from time to time). When in use, the Pokemon peek over the screen, checking out what you are doing in game.

I have heard it described that game link cables were typically only, or at least primarily, used for head-to-head play, and Pokemon certainly has these features, but the mutually beneficial trading mechanics were a newer idea for link cable usage... indeed, I noticed an advertisement for the original Japanese Super Game Boy notes that "Combat games" using a link cable are not possible.