Forget Xbox One and PS4, nothing beats Game Boy

Behold, Internet mortal, the first episode of Adventures in Tech, CNET's new show that takes you on a visual safari, directly into the untamed jungle of your favourite tech topics.

Our premiere feature takes a look at Nintendo's late '80s icon: the magnificent Game Boy, which deployed smart hardware and one shape-spinning supergame to became the industry's most unlikely success story.

Hit play on the video above to dive inside the Game Boy's four-colour folklore, nab yourself some impress-your-pals knowledge, and have your nostalgia gland massaged by some of Nintendo's classic '90s adverts. Go on, click play. It feels great.

Teach us, oh Game Boy

The Xbox One and the PlayStation 4 are almost upon us -- but in these souped-up, polygon-crunching times, we'd do well to remember the lessons that the Game Boy taught us.

Detonate a nostalgia bomb with our gorgeous Game Boy pictures

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Nintendo's handheld was elegance cast in plastic, stripped of the battery-hogging colour display that dragged down rivals like the Sega Game Gear and Atari's Lynx. It was a streamlined, low-powered masterpiece, finely honed to deliver pure gaming entertainment.

The latest crop of consoles bundle everything, plus the kitchen sink. They're monstrously powerful, but you wouldn't use the world "elegant" to describe the Xbox One. The console itself is big enough to crush a duck, or even a decent-size goose, and the cable that powers the new Kinect sensor is as thick as Carl Weathers' Arnie-wrestling arm.

Can you think of any other devices that have proved unlikely winners? Let us know in the comments, on Facebook, or find me on Twitter.