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edited by Rachel Braunstein
The Most
Piece of Tech Ever Made We humans have made huge technological advancements throughout history. From the wheel to being able to reconstruct DNA, with each passing year, we make huge leaps in the technological sphere. How surprised would you be if I told you that one of the most durable pieces of technology isn’t something used by the military, or some sort of contraption made to keep world leaders safe? Well, little did you know that a Game Boy; a handheld console made in 1989 may be one of the most resilient pieces of tech ever made by humans.
Our story starts in 1991 during The Gulf War, a somewhat controversial event in which the United States of America led a coalition of 35 different countries to defend Kuwait from an Iraqi invasion. During this war, a young medic named Stephan Scoggins brought along a Game Boy to distract himself from the conflict while off duty. One day, he stored it in his barracks and, unfortunately, it got bombed to the ground. At least, nothing seemed to be left. But it was soon discovered that one small rectangle lay within the ruin: his Game Boy managed to survive. Instead of trying to see if it could power up, Scoggins sent it to Nintendo, the company who created the Game Boy, to see if they could do anything to repair it.
By Alexander Lystukha Staff Writer
When Nintendo received the device, they assumed that it was unfixable: the whole plastic case had melted and was warped, the motherboard was even visible from the exterior. The “A” and “B” buttons as well as the D-Pad were completely melted and logically, unusable. Even with all this damage, they decided to insert a cartridge of the popular game Tetris to see if it could load anything. To their surprise, the screen flickered to life, and tiny blocks started to fall from the top of the screen: the Game Boy had no trouble displaying this game. Ever since that day, Nintendo has decided to put this miraculous Game Boy on display in the Nintendo store located in New York City for the public to see but, unfortunately, it got removed around June 30th, 2023. Rest assured, Nintendo kindly provided Stephan Scoggins with a new Game Boy. They themselves couldn’t believe how physically strong the Game Boy was, but they recommended to the public that they do not set the device on fire, as mentioned in the Nintendo Power’s article in July 1991.
