10 Nintendo Gaming Innovations That Changed Everything

2. Portable Gaming

With the advent of smartphones and tablets, people take for granted that they can play video games wherever and whenever they like. Back in the 70s, the best you could do was play with a calculator.

Nintendo's forays into portable gamingcame with the aforementioned Game & Watch series of portable devices. Dozens of games were released on Game & Watch units, and they proved the forebear for one of Nintendo's biggest successes, the Game Boy. Released in 1989, the grey brick with the green screen was a huge hit, and combined with its later iterations, sold over 118 million units worldwide. The flagship title was Tetris, which played a big part in the console's success.

The Game Boy may be gone now, but its influence is still felt today, with mobile gaming the quickest growing sector in the industry. In a way, you can thank the Game Boy for Angry Birds.