Just days after the first report came out of Japan, Nintendo of America has officially announced the existence of the Color Game Boy.

　　In the announcement made Tuesday, Nintendo confirmed that the Color Game Boy will launch in 1998 in Japan, North America, and Europe later this year. According to Nintendo, the Color Game Boy uses a proprietary technology to display sharp, color graphics indoors or outdoors. The technology lets the Color Game Boy display 56 colors simultaneously out of a 32,000 color palette - a vast improvement over the current four-color display.

　　Older games will play on the Color Game Boy in a user-defined color from a palette of 10 different hues, much like how regular Game Boy games are colorized on the Super Game Boy for the SNES.

　　Nintendo's announcement also states that the unit will have future expansion possibilities, including connecting with the N64.

　　Nintendo chairman Howard Lincoln said in a statement, "For years, our players have asked us for a Game Boy that could play their favorite games in color. But the technology and the high demand on battery life made it impossible. As the first to surmount the technical obstacles, we're able to introduce a whole new generation of color games to the millions of people who love Game Boy."

　　It's expected that the Color Game Boy will make its official debut along with launch games at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in May. For more details on the Color Game Boy, please see our previous stories from earlier this week and late last week.