Product package:Nintendo Game Boy Product Package: The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening

The innovative Nintendo Game Boy transformed the electronic games market by popularizing handheld gaming. Nintendo scored a huge hit with the 1985 release of the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), a home video game console that delivered a fun, high-quality gaming experience and made the Nintendo brand dominant during the late 1980s and beyond. Gaming hardware was (and still is) the cornerstone of the interactive entertainment industry, but it is the games, stored on external media, that lead to sales and market share. Popular NES game titles, such as Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda, captivated video-game players in Asian and North American markets alike. The system sold more than sixty million units during a decade-long production run. Following the incredible success of the NES, Nintendo released the cartridge-based handheld Game Boy in 1989. The Game Boy was lightweight with a built-in screen, controls, and speaker. The unit's small size made it highly portable, just the right size to fix in a backpack or jacket pocket. Until this point, video games were played either on a cabinet game in an arcade or on a home console attached to a television. Now, a player could bring their Game Boy to school, to summer camp, and to the back seat of the family automobile. While there were many successful games on this new hand-held phenomenon, one that stands out is The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening. Continuing in the footsteps of its predecessors, the fourth entry in the Zelda franchise recounts the story of a boy named Link. This time, however, Princess Zelda and the treacherous Ganon were nowhere to be seen. Released in 1993 for the Game Boy, and in 1998 for the Game Boy Color, Link's Awakening was a significant entry to the series. This game was unique for taking place within a dream. The story begins with a shipwrecked Link waking up on the unfamiliar Koholint Island. After discovering that the only way he can return home is by awakening the mysterious Wind Fish, who lies sleeping within an egg at the top of a mountain, Link embarks on a quest in order to return to Hyrule. The game ends with Link discovering that the entire story was actually a dream. This is the first Zelda game that does not take place in Hyrule, as well as the first entry to remove Zelda from the picture. The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening sold over six million copies, making it one of the most successful games in the franchise.