To mark Pokémon's 30th anniversary, Nintendo and The Pokémon Company have released a palm-sized music player resembling a miniature Game Boy. The device plays authentic tracks from the original Pokémon Red and Blue games using swappable cartridges. It was announced during a special livestream by composer Junichi Masuda.
Pokémon's 30th anniversary, observed on February 27, 2026, features various nostalgic releases from Nintendo and The Pokémon Company. Among them is the Pokémon Game Music Collection, a collectible music player designed to mimic the iconic Game Boy handheld. The device, available starting today from the Pokémon Center website and in-person at Nintendo Stores, costs $70 in the US, though it requires separate purchase of button batteries.
Announced by longtime series composer Junichi Masuda during the Pokémon Presents livestream, the player emphasizes fidelity to the original Game Boy audio. Masuda noted that "special care has gone into the audio sounding like it did on the Game Boy." It includes 45 individual cartridges, each containing a different melody or sound effect from the Pokémon Red and Blue soundtrack, along with a boot-up ping for authenticity.
The palm-sized jukebox features a fake dot-matrix screen: when a cartridge is inserted, it displays a screenshot from the games, creating the illusion of gameplay. However, the device functions solely as a music player, with no interactive gaming capabilities. This release follows other non-playable Game Boy replicas, such as last year's Lego model, and coincides with the addition of Game Boy Advance remakes of Pokémon Red and Blue to Nintendo Switch Online.
The collectible has sparked interest for its nostalgic design, though some observers express a desire for a fully functional Game Boy revival with preloaded classic games.
