This Bizarre Game Boy Accessory Is Actually Extremely Rare
Gamers know this statement to be universal: Nintendo has dominated the handheld gaming scene ever since it introduced the Game Boy in 1989. The bulky portable console quickly rose to prominence due to its quality pack-in games, ports of classic home console titles, and fresh interpretations of classic Nintendo IPs. It may have taken a whole lot of AA batteries to power on and its color scheme may have been a bit hard on the eyes, but the Game Boy paved the way for its handheld successors and challengers to the throne (the Sega Game Gear, Atari Lynx, Tiger Electronics Game.com, etc.).
The Game Boy wasn't just known for playing games, however. It introduced a number of new features as new peripherals were developed for the device. The Game Boy Camera and printer allowed fans to take photos, play minigames, and activate unique features within certain games. The Super Game Boy made its miniature cartridges playable on a television screen. The Game Link Cable was a hit among schoolyard kids as it let them enjoy multiplayer gaming sessions by hooking up their systems together. And then there's the Handy Boy, which added a super useful square magnifier to the Game Boy to increase its screen visibility.
There's one Game Boy add-on that's pretty obscure and a chore to find for even the most avid retro gaming collectors. That device is the Game Boy Pocket Sonar.
Bandai is responsible for creating and releasing the Game Boy Pocket Sonar
The Game Boy Pocket Sonar was released as a Japan-exclusive back in 1998. Its creation is owed to Bandai and the full name attached to that obscure peripheral is Gyogun Tanchiki: Pocket Sonar. The Pocket Sonar came as a hefty, blue cart that was outfitted with built-in sonar hardware. The included sonar — which helped to detect fish underwater — wasn't the only feature of this quirky product. It also came with a fish encyclopedia and even threw in a fishing minigame to boot. It was a real treat for fishermen at the time; that is, if any of them actually used it.
Getting your hands on a Game Boy Pocket Sonar these days means you should expect to pony up a few hundred dollars. Prices for the add-on device on eBay regularly stay in the lane of $300, with the highest asking price coming in at $348.